2023-11-01 04:49:05
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration is preparing to announce that it will develop a national strategy to combat Islamophobia, according to people familiar with the matter, as Washington faces skepticism from much of the American Muslim community for its strong support. to Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
The White House announcement was initially scheduled to take place during the week in which Biden met with Muslim leaders, but it was postponed, three of the sources reported. Two of them added that the delay was in part due to concerns among the American Muslim community that the government lacks credibility on the issue because of its strong support for Israel’s military, whose attacks against Hamas extremists have also taken a toll. the lives of thousands of civilians in Gaza. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the White House plans.
The launch of the strategy against Islamophobia had been expected for months, after the government unveiled last May a strategy to combat anti-Semitism that also included a small reference to combating rejection of Muslims. The strategy is expected to take months to formalize, following a process similar to the plan to combat anti-Semitism that involved multiple government agencies.
Incidents of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia have spiked in the United States and abroad since the surprise Oct. 7 attack by Hamas extremists against Israel in which more than 1,400 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage, as well as Israel’s subsequent response in Gaza, where it has vowed to use its might to “destroy” Hamas. One of the most notable incidents was the murder of 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume in an attack that injured her mother and which prosecutors say was motivated by Islamophobia.
“There is no place in America for this horrendous act of hate and it goes against our core values: Not to be afraid for how we pray, what we believe or who we are,” Biden said after the attack.
The American Muslim community broadly agreed on the need for a national strategy to combat Islamophobia, according to a fourth person familiar with the matter, who added that the war between Israel and Hamas further complicated the timing of the House announcement. White. The person, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the federal government wants to keep the two issues separate, while some prominent American Muslim groups believe they are interconnected.
Federal government officials indicated last week during a meeting with a small group of religious leaders that things were “moving forward” regarding the strategy against Islamophobia, said Rami Nashashibi, founder of the Inner City Muslim Action Network in Chicago and a participant in the meeting. Officials indicated they would meet with additional community members in the coming days and weeks.
Nashashibi said he believed these proposals “would have no chance” with the Muslim community until the president and government officials condemned members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government, who have publicly called for the eradication of Palestinians. in Gaza and until Washington more aggressively censors hate crimes against Muslims and Arab Americans.
Nashibi and other leaders also want the president to apologize, or at least publicly clarify, his public comments in which he said he “did not trust” the number of Palestinians killed during the Israeli attacks, because the data came from the Ministry of Gaza Health, which is managed by Hamas.
The United Nations and other international institutions and experts, as well as Palestinian authorities in the West Bank who are rivals of Hamas, assure that the Gaza ministry has long made a good faith effort to count the victims under the most difficult conditions. In previous wars, the agency’s counts coincide with UN analyses, independent investigations and even with the balance of Israeli authorities.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated Tuesday that the Biden administration “does not accept the word of the Department of Health,” but acknowledged that there have been “several thousand civilians killed in Gaza” during the conflict.
Nashashibi also noted that the White House strategy could backfire at a time when many members of the community feel that advocating for Palestinian self-determination is unfairly compared to those who promote anti-Semitism and support extremists.
“That mix contributes a lot to an environment where we could see even more lethal outcomes and more attacks,” Nashashibi said. “The White House does not have the credibility to present a strategy against Islamophobia at this time without publicly addressing the points we specifically raised with the president during our meeting.”
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