WASHINGTON — A Palestinian-American doctor who joined a small group meeting with President Biden at the White House on Tuesday in recognition of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan said Wednesday that he left the Gaza Strip to protest Biden’s support for the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Dr. Thaer Ahmad, a Chicago emergency physician who recently worked in Gaza, said he was the first of six guests to speak at the meeting and mentioned that Gaza residents are “starving” before to raise concerns about an imminent Israeli offensive in Rafah. , the last major city held by Hamas.
“These were very brief comments from the president saying he wanted to hear from us and he wanted to listen to us. And so I spoke first, and I let him know that I come from a community that is in shock,” Ahmad told CNN.
“The rhetoric coming from the Biden administration, from the White House, has frustrated many people – particularly Palestinian-Americans, Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans. We are not satisfied with what happened.
Ahmad continued: “I was able to share this with the president and let him know that out of respect for my community, out of respect for all the people who suffered or were killed in the process, I must step down. Of the reunion.”
The doctor further claimed to have told Biden, “It was disappointing, I’m the only Palestinian here, and out of respect for my community, I’m going to leave.”
“I wanted the chance to stand up and walk away from people who are making decisions the same way they are walking away from my people.”
In response, Biden “actually said he understood, and I left,” added Ahmad, who claimed to have given the president a letter from an eight-year-old orphan from Rafah named Hadeel.
The letter, according to Ahmad, said: “I beg you, President Biden, stop them from entering Rafah. »
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to confirm Ahmad’s account Wednesday during her regular press briefing, saying in response to questions that the meeting “was meant to be private” and declining to say if Biden had read the child’s letter.
“I’m not going to talk about the contents of a private meeting, but I won’t from now on,” she said, adding: “We’re going to keep our part of the promise.”
Another meeting attendee, Philadelphia intensive care doctor Nahreen Ahmed, corroborated Ahmad’s account.
“It wasn’t him as a doctor, it was him as a Palestinian American, having witnessed the atrocities that he witnessed,” she told CNN.
“Thaer and I were both together in Gaza. We have seen far too many people die, arriving dead on arrival at the emergency room.
“I felt like maybe it wasn’t necessarily a meeting where something actionable was supposed to happen or be promised, but that this was it – I definitely felt like that it was a sort of public relations move, to be able to say: “We met”. with the Muslim community,” Ahmed added.
The Philadelphia doctor went on to say that after the guests finished speaking, Biden spoke about Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people — including 33 Americans — and triggered a declaration of war by Israel.
“He kind of came back to that and said, ‘You know, I hear what everyone is saying, but think about the young people who were killed on October 7.’ And that sort of ignored the more than 30,000 deaths in Palestine,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed also told CNN that she was surprised by Vice President Kamala Harris’ reaction after the vice president asked her what people in Gaza were eating.
“I said, ‘Well, most of the time they don’t eat anything.’ But if you ask about pet food, say yes, people eat pet food. And she seemed to hear that for the first time as a confirmed thing,” Ahmed said.
The meeting took place in place of a planned Iftar dinner, which had to be canceled due to the refusal of Muslim community leaders to attend. Biden instead hosted a small meal with Muslim administration staff members, the White House said.
The White House did not provide a list of participants in the more than hour-long meeting with Biden and Harris.
Biden strongly supported Israel in the early months of the war and visited the country on October 18, but he has become increasingly critical of the need to avoid civilian casualties. Last month, the United States abstained from a United Nations Security Council vote demanding an “immediate ceasefire,” allowing it to pass.
Polls show Muslim and Arab Americans, who are mostly Christian, ready to abandon Biden’s bid for re-election in November – as hecklers repeatedly call him ‘Genocide Joe’ at public events .
Arab and Muslim voters are largely present in key states like Michigan, where many residents have family members who died in the fighting.
Former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a Republican Senate candidate of Palestinian descent, revealed in October that several of his young Christian relatives were among the dead after Israel bombed a building adjacent to a historic church from Gaza where they were sheltering.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), also of Palestinian descent, encouraged her fellow Mitten State voters to oppose Biden in the state’s presidential primary in February by voting “no strings attached.” as a warning for the general election. “Uncommitted” received 13.3% of the vote.
Biden called on Israel not to invade Rafah without a plan to address the fact that most of the Gaza Strip’s more than 2 million residents are believed to have fled to the region.
But in the meantime, the White House has approved more weapons for Israel.
Over the past month, the United States has approved the transfer of 1,800 2,000-pound MK84 bombs and 500 500-pound MK82 bombs, the Washington Post reported – in addition to approval by the State Department of a $2.5 billion transfer of 25 F-35A fighters. jet planes and engines.
The administration is also reportedly preparing to approve the sale of 50 F-15 fighter jets to Israel for $18 billion.
New York Post
