{"id":31658,"date":"2024-02-10T12:51:52","date_gmt":"2024-02-10T20:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=31658"},"modified":"2024-02-10T12:51:52","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T20:51:52","slug":"in-tense-meeting-arab-leaders-in-michigan-warn-white-house-to-change-course-on-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/02\/10\/in-tense-meeting-arab-leaders-in-michigan-warn-white-house-to-change-course-on-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"In ‘Tense’ Meeting, Arab Leaders in Michigan Warn White House to Change Course on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"U.S.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to a crowd on January 27, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo: Sean Rayford\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If President Biden wants a shot here in Michigan, he’s going to need to do something different,” said one leader.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

JULIA CONLEY<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feb 09, 2024 (CommonDream.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week after Arab American and Muslim leaders in Michigan refused a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden’s campaign over the White House’s continued support for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza<\/a>, several representatives of the community met Thursday with a group of top Biden aides\u2014but came away unconvinced that the administration understands the stakes involved in its failure to listen to demands for a cease-fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If President Biden wants a shot here in Michigan, he’s going to need to do something different,” Abbas Alawieh, a senior Democratic strategist and spokesperson for Listen to Michigan, a group that is urging cease-fire supporters in the state to vote “uncommitted” on primary ballots on February 27, told<\/a>HuffPost<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alawieh’s comments came after he, state Rep. Abraham Aiyash (D-4), Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, Wayne County Deputy Executive Assad Turfe, and others met with administration officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alawieh told the outlet that the meeting was “very tense,” with attendees informing U.S. Agency for International Development head Samantha Power and senior presidential adviser Tom Perez, among other officials, of specific demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group reiterated its call for Biden to make a direct demand that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agree to a permanent cease-fire and for the U.S. to immediately reinstate funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine<\/a> Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspension of UNRWA funds<\/a> have left the agency risking a “complete collapse”<\/a> of its humanitarian response in Gaza, where at least 27,947 Palestinians have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces since October 7. More than one million displaced Palestinians have taken shelter in UNRWA shelters, where aid workers are struggling to provide food, medical care, and potable water in the face of Israel’s near-total blockade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammoud said on social media after the meeting that the views of Arab Americans and the majority of Democratic voters who support a cease-fire and increased aid for civilians “have not been accurately captured by mainstream media and have failed to reach the highest office in our government” over the past several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This meeting was held to ensure that the White House and those with the ability to change the course of the genocide unfolding in Gaza very clearly hear and understand the demands of our community, directly from us,” said Hammoud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meeting, said the mayor, the local and state leaders “remained uncompromising in our values and our demands.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I ran for mayor three years ago, it was to ensure the delivery of essential city services, not to be involved in foreign policy discussions.<\/p>— Abdullah H. Hammoud (@AHammoudMI) February 8, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>