The 64-page document, which maps out more than 100 executive branch actions, comes weeks before the inauguration of former President Donald Trump, who imposed a travel ban on people from some majority Muslim countries during his first term that Biden rescinded on his first day in office.

It mirrors a comprehensive strategy to fight antisemitism released by the White House in September 2023, and comes more than a year after death of six-year-old boy Wadea Al-Fayoume, stabbed by a man who targeted him and his mother because they were Palestinian-American.

In a foreword to the strategy, Biden called the attacks on the Chicago boy and his mother “heinous acts” and noted a spike in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate crimes, discrimination and bullying that he called wrong and unacceptable.

“Muslims and Arabs deserve to live with dignity and enjoy every right to the fullest extent along with all of their fellow Americans,” Biden wrote. “Policies that result in discrimination against entire communities are wrong and fail to keep us safe.”

The Council on American Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, called the strategy “too little, too late” and faulted the White House for not promising any changes to a federal watchlist and “no-fly” list that includes many Arab and Muslim Americans, and for failing to end the war in Gaza, which has been driving Islamophobia.

Jim Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute, predicted the incoming Trump administration would disown the strategy, but welcomed the White House’s expansion to include anti-Arab hate instead of focusing solely on acts directed against Muslims.

The Trump transition team had no immediate comment on the strategy or whether it would support it.

Trump, who won support from some Muslim voters angry about Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza, has said he will ban entry to the U.S. of anyone who questions Israel’s right to exist and revoke visas of foreign students who are “antisemitic.”

Tensions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups surged on some U.S. campuses after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, with human rights advocates warning of rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate.

Source: Reuters

Former United States President Bill Clinton is facing backlash from US Muslim and Arab Americans after saying Israel has been “forced” to kill civilians in Gaza and suggesting the country was in the Holy Land “first” – before the Palestinians.

Speaking at a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in Michigan, a crucial swing US state with large Arab and Muslim populations who the Democrats are trying to win over, Clinton said he understood people’s concerns about the bloodshed in Gaza, but said Israel had no choice but to inflict large civilian losses, even as it is accused of genocide in the International Court of Justice.

“Hamas makes sure that they’re shielded. They’ll force you to kill civilians if you want to defend yourself,” Clinton said.

“I’m going to do everything I can to convince people they cannot murder their way out of this, either side,” he later added.

Since Israel’s war on Gaza broke out, Israeli forces have killed more than 43,000 people in the Palestinian enclave, the majority women and children. A United Nations-backed commission has accused Israel’s military of “crimes against humanity” during the war, including forced starvation and intentional attacks on civilians, as well as blaming Palestinian groups for war crimes.

Clinton also stirred controversy when he said Israelis were in the Holy Land “first”.

“I got news for [Hamas]—[Israelis] were there first, before their faith existed,” he said, avoiding reference to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homes in 1948, during the war that established Israel.

Insulting and Islamophobic

Arab- and Muslim-American leaders slammed Clinton for antagonizing communities whose votes Democrats have been courting in the razor-tight November 5 US election.

Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of the US’s first Arab-majority city, Dearborn, said remarks by Clinton and other Democratic leaders were not helping the party’s case with his community.

“When you see the remarks of former President Bill Clinton, talking about how Israel is forced to kill civilians … it gets extremely frustrating,” Hammoud told Al Jazeera. “When you have surrogates like Liz Cheney campaigning across the state of Michigan, talking about how even Dick Cheney – the war criminal – is supporting Vice President Harris, is that supposed to be a welcoming message to this community?”

Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel program at the Arab Center Washington DC, wrote on social media: “Hard to think of a more counterproductive way to send this message.”

Robert S McCaw, director of government affairs at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement. “Bill Clinton’s callous and dishonest attempt to justify the Israeli government’s attacks on civilians in Gaza was as insulting as it was Islamophobic.”

Despite traditionally voting Democratic, many Arab Americans are turning away from the party this year due to anger over President Joe Biden’s unwavering support for Israel amid wars in Gaza and Lebanon, a position Harris has maintained.

A recent survey suggests more Arab Americans support Republican candidate Donald Trump than Harris, a trend that could prove important in Michigan.

The Democrats have been accused of being tone-deaf in their comments on Israel and the Palestinians, and focusing their messaging towards pro-Palestinian progressives on warning of the dangers of Trump, rather than action to stop Israel from continuing its wars in the Middle East.

Palestinian American comedian Amer Zahr, who is running for school board in Dearborn, said it is “baffling” how out of touch the Harris campaign is with the Arab community.

“It’s hard to imagine anything more insulting than what Bill Clinton said about us. He invoked the oldest Zionist tropes in some bizarre effort to convince us to vote for Kamala Harris,” Zahr told Al Jazeera.

Source: Al Jazeera

Harris’ national security adviser, Phil Gordon, told the community leaders in the virtual meeting that the administration supports a ceasefire in Gaza, diplomacy in Lebanon and stability in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the vice president’s office said.

Ali Dagher, a Lebanese-American attorney and community leader, said the outreach from Harris’ office was not enough. “It’s too little, too late,” said Dagher, who did not participate in the meeting.

Harris, a Democrat, faces Republican former President Donald Trump on Nov. 5 in what polls show to be a tight presidential race.

President Joe Biden won most of the 2020 Muslim and Arab votes, but their backing of Democrats has fallen sharply during nearly a year that Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza. Activists say Biden and Harris have done too little to stop Israel’s military campaign in the Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, Palestinian health authorities say. Israel was responding to an Oct. 7, 2023 incursion by Hamas gunmen, who Israel says killed around 1,200 people and abducted about 250 hostages. Gaza has suffered a humanitarian crisis with nearly all its 2 million people displaced and widespread hunger in the enclave.

In Lebanon more than 1,900 people have been killed and 9,000 wounded during almost a year of cross-border fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, with most of the deaths in the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government statistics.

Emgage, a Muslim American advocacy group, recently endorsed Harris, while others have urged supporters to shun her. While they have not supported Trump, their choice not to vote or to vote for third-party candidates could hurt Harris, analysts say.

U.S. support for Israel has led to large protests, especially in hotly contested swing states like Michigan that could decide the election. Harris has offered no substantive policy differences on Israel from Biden, who stepped aside as presidential candidate in July.

Source: Reuters

In the wake of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi’s fatal shooting, critics question whether the US will seek justice from Israeli forces.

The fatal shooting of a 26-year-old Turkish American protester in the occupied West Bank has sparked fresh calls for the United States to demand accountability from Israel’s armed forces.

But advocates say justice for US citizens killed by Israeli soldiers has long proven elusive, with many accusing the administration of President Joe Biden of applying a double standard to Israel and its military.

Friday’s shooting claimed the life of 26-year-old Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a dual US and Turkish citizen who was taking part in a demonstration against an illegal Israeli settlement on Mount Sbeih in Beita, a town south of Nablus.

During the protest, witnesses said an Israeli soldier shot Ezgi Eygi in the head, and she collapsed in an olive grove. She later died of her wounds at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus.

Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was among the first US officials to respond to the killing, and she called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to “do something to save lives”.

Blinken himself was asked about the killing at a news briefing later in the day, where a journalist pressed him on the military aid the US continues to provide to Israel.

“I just want to extend my deepest condolences, condolences of the United States government, to the family of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi,” Blinken responded. “We deplore this tragic loss.”

He said the Biden administration would “gather the facts” and “act on it” as necessary.

“I have no higher priority than the safety and protection of American citizens, wherever they are,” Blinken added, echoing a similar statement made by US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew.

Source: Al Jazeera

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Patriot Act, and the surveillance of Muslim communities destroyed all trust between the two sides. The Democratic Party filled this void and offered Muslim and Arab voters a new political home. The nascent political alliance between the two was built upon the vision that Arabs and Muslims were a unique and welcomed component of American society.

But President Biden’s handling of Israel’s war on Gaza has led Muslim and Arab voters to grow disillusioned with the party and feel they are no longer as welcome as they may have once been.

This sentiment was further reinforced by the uncommitted movement that sprung up in protest against Biden’s policies in March.

Efforts to wake up Democrats and the Biden administration highlight a seemingly unnoticed theme within today’s political scene: The Muslim and Arab community does not fear another Trump presidency.

Not only are they a demographic desensitized by historical discrimination in the U.S., but many are immigrants and refugees coming from such horrific situations that they view the potential harms from another Trump presidency as relatively insignificant.

Try telling an Iraqi who fled America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, or a Palestinian who has lived in the shadow of Israel’s brutal occupation, that Donald Trump would be their worst nightmare.

Ultimately, it is this unique outlook on their lives that has enabled them to conclude that Biden and Trump are just not that different.

For example, during his 2020 campaign, Biden promised to re-open the Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem, which had been closed by Trump. Nearly four years have passed, and the administration has not fulfilled the pledge. This was a missed opportunity by the Biden administration to differentiate itself from its predecessor.

Muslim and Arab voters also do not fear Trump because of critical moments in which Biden has appeared apathetic toward Palestinian suffering, just like Trump. The most glaring instance occurred last October when Biden stated he had “no confidence” in the Palestinian death count in Gaza because it came from the Gaza Health Ministry, a source used by Israeli Intelligence. Muslim and Arab Americans were deeply disturbed by such apathy and concluded that Palestinian lives do not matter to Biden and the Democratic Party.

This notion was also reinforced during last week’s presidential debate. Trump attacked Biden and called him “a weak Palestinian, a very bad one.” Trump had used “Palestinian” as an obvious slur. Not only did Biden not condemn such hatred, he seemingly ignored it and retorted with a pitiful response: “That is a bunch of foolishness.”

With that said, both Biden and the mainstream Democratic Party need to ask themselves this one question: Despite our foreign blunders, how do we get Arabs and Muslims to support us in 2024? It seems as if they already asked themselves this question, and concluded that playing the proverbial “Trump card” will somehow intimidate the Arabs and Muslims into voting for Democrats in November.

It will not work, because the dystopian Islamophobic and anti-Arab world that liberals keep warning about is already unfolding right now in Biden’s America.

Consider the evidence from the Council on American-Islamic Relations. According to organization, over 8,000 complaints of anti-Muslim bias were reported last year. Under Biden, pro-Palestine supporters have been beaten, jailed and doxxed for expressing solidarity with Gaza. Some students from Harvard have even been denied their degrees.

Why would Muslim and Arab Americans forgive such repression, especially from an administration they initially believed supported them?

Arabs and Muslims are so hurt now that, even if the embattled president drops out of the race, nothing will restore their lost confidence in the Democratic Party.

To assert themselves politically once more, Muslims and Arabs are prepared to send a message to Democrats, even if it means putting Donald Trump back into the White House.

Although Trump would be worse for the Arab and Muslim communities in the short run (especially on the issue of Palestine), Muslims and Arabs perceive that Democrats’ loss will be a just punishment, forcing the party to recalibrate its views and adopt a more pro-Palestinian stance in the future.

Source: The Hill