Biden urged to 'reverse course' on Gaza by 80 Muslim American groups

Letter to President Joe Biden accuses the US leader of risking his presidential legacy and America's reputation by enabling "Netanyahu government's genocide" in besieged Gaza.



REUTERS

Israel has killed nearly 33,000 Palestinians and wounded 75,300 so far in the blockaded enclave amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities. / Photo: Reuters

Eighty Muslim, Palestinian and allied groups have sent a letter to US President Joe Biden to object to his decisions to transfer additional weapons to Israel and "falsely" certify that the Israeli government's brutal war on besieged Gaza complies with US law.

"Your administration is publicly discouraging Israel from launching a full-scale invasion of Rafah unless there is a plan to somehow protect civilians, but that caveat is essentially a green light for Israel to ethnically cleanse Rafah and then reduce the city to rubble like it has done elsewhere," the organisations wrote in the letter on Wednesday.

The Biden administration refuses to take "any concrete action" to force Israel to stop starving and bombing the civilian population, it said.

"The decisions to flout US law by falsely certifying Israel's compliance and ship more weapons to the [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government represent the latest examples of this pattern."

"The American people do not want a change in rhetoric. The American people want a concrete change in policy," it added.

The letter came one day after the White House was forced to scale back plans for a Ramadan iftar after Muslim American leaders declined to attend.

Dozens of Muslim American community members and their allies braved rain, wind and frigid temperatures on Tuesday to stage a fast-breaking protest outside the White House and demand the president call for an immediate permanent ceasefire to halt the bloodshed in the besieged Gaza.

'We urge you to listen to voices of reason'

The groups urged Biden in the letter to recognise that Israel's actions in Gaza violate US law and to suspend the transfer of all weapons to Israel.

They also asked Biden to use American leverage to secure an "immediate, permanent" ceasefire, the "unimpeded" opening of all land crossings for humanitarian aid, the release of all captives and political prisoners, and to pursue a "just and lasting peace through an end to the Israeli occupation and apartheid policies."

"We urge you to listen to voices of reason and morality inside and outside of the administration."

"Risking your presidential legacy and the reputation of our nation around the world to enable the Netanyahu government's genocide has been a disastrous decision. We implore you to reverse course before thousands more die," they added.

Following Hamaz blitz on October 7 last year, Israel has killed nearly 33,000 Palestinians and wounded 75,300 so far in the blockaded enclave amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to do more to prevent starvation crisis in Gaza. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said recently there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Albanese also addressed allegations that Hamas fighters used rape during their attack on Israel, saying there was an absence of convincing evidence to support the claims.

"What I am very disturbed by was the weaponisation of anything that happened on 7 of October," she said. "Personally, I have not received information. I have read reports that had been written, and I didn't find any convincing evidence."

SOURCE: AA

Palestinian American doctor walks out of White House meeting over handling of Gaza war

BY ALEX GANGITANO - 04/03/24  THE HILL

Demonstrators rally in support of Palestinians, Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington,. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian American doctor, said he walked out of a meeting at the White House on Tuesday evening over President Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Ahmad, an emergency medicine physician who worked in Gaza in January, said he showed up to a stakeholder meeting at the White House, which was set up in place of a Ramadan celebration. Attendees insisted there shouldn’t be any food at the meeting, he added.

“It made no sense for us to sort of break bread while talking about a famine taking place,” he told CNN host Kaitlan Collins. “We had shown up and the president and the vice president, the national security adviser are in the room, and there was very brief comments by the president saying he wants to hear from us and he wants to listen to us.”

Ahmad said he spoke first in the meeting and then walked out. He told Collins he was the only Palestinian in the room.

“Our heart is broken for what’s been taking place over the last six months, and that the rhetoric that has been coming out of the Biden administration, that’s been coming out of the White House, it’s frustrated a lot of people, especially people who are Palestinian Americans, Muslim Americans, Arab Americans,” he said. “We are not satisfied with what has taken place, there has been no concrete steps.”

“I was able to share that with the president and let him know that out of respect for my community, out of respect for all of the people who have suffered and who have been killed in the process, I need to walk out of the meeting,” Ahmad continued. “And I want to walk out with decision-makers and let them know what it feels like for somebody to say something and then walk away from them and not hear them out, not hear their response.”

When asked for Biden’s response to his walk out, the doctor replied, “He actually said that he understood, and I walked away.”

Biden hosted a meeting with Muslim community leaders to discuss issues of importance to the community Tuesday, a White House official told The Hill. After the meeting, to honor Ramadan, the White House hosted “a small breaking of the fast, prayer, and Iftar with a number of senior Muslim Admin officials.”

The scaled-down iftar dinner came after several people who were invited to the event declined, CNN reported. In 2023, the White House hosted nearly 350 people for a reception celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.

Biden has faced protests for months of his handling of the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, and last week was interrupted at two campaign stops — one in Raleigh, N.C., and one in New York City, when he was alongside former Presidents Obama and Clinton for a major donor event.

Democrats are fearful that the war in Gaza is turning into a majority political liability for Biden and other candidates as Americans are increasingly disapproving of Israel’s actions. 

The administration is considering selling Israel up to 50 new F-15 fighter jets, 30 AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missile, as well as Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, The Hill confirmed.

And, earlier this week, seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed in a strike that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu took responsibility for, adding to anger about the situation from Biden critics.