By Nandita Bose and Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House hosted a smaller-scale iftar dinner on Tuesday to celebrate Islam’s holy month of Ramadan after some guests turned the president away due to the Muslim community’s frustrations with his policies towards of the war between Israel and Gaza.
President Joe Biden met with Muslim leaders before having dinner with his administration’s top Muslim officials, first lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband.
“President Biden will host a meeting with leaders of the Muslim community to discuss issues of importance to the community,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday, explaining that these leaders would prefer a meeting rather than a dinner .
The White House “modified the format to make it responsive,” he said.
One of the participants, Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency room doctor who spent at least three weeks in Gaza, told CNN he walked out of Tuesday’s meeting before it ended.
“Out of respect for my community, out of respect for all the people who suffered and who were killed during the trial, I had to leave the meeting,” Ahmad said.
Ahmad, who said he was the only Palestinian-American at the meeting, said there was “not much response” from Biden.
“He actually said he understood, and I left,” Ahmad told CNN.
The event is a stark contrast to last May, when Biden hosted an Eid reception to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Dozens of attendees cheered Biden at the White House as she told the crowd, “It’s your home.”
Muslim members of Congress who attended that event included Reps. Ilhan Omar and Palestinian American Rashida Tlaib, who are now among the biggest critics of his Gaza policy.
Emgage Action, an American Muslim advocacy group, said they declined an invitation to Tuesday’s dinner, citing Biden’s “continued unconditional military aid to Israel,” which they said has led to a “humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions.”
Many Muslims, Arabs and peace activists have been angered by the administration’s support for Israel and its military offensive in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people and caused a hunger crisis in the narrow coastal enclave of about 2.3 million. people.
Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, and the United States has vetoed multiple votes at the United Nations calling for a ceasefire in the assault on Gaza, which began after the Palestinian Islamic group Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October. The United States abstained from the vote. at the end of March.
By Israeli counts, the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 killed 1,200 people. Israel’s subsequent military attack on Hamas-ruled Gaza killed more than 32,000 people, according to the local health ministry, displaced nearly its entire population and led to accusations of genocide that Israel denies.
Muslim and pacifist groups organize an iftar protest in Lafayette Park, near the White House. They said they will distribute dates and bottles of water to break the fast at sunset.