Arab American, Muslim leaders decry Trump’s comments on Gaza

WASHINGTON - US Arab American and Muslim leaders, including some who supported Mr Donald Trump in the 2024 election, criticised the

president’s proposal for the US to take over Gaza

and resettle Palestinians as unacceptable and antithetical to the push for lasting peace.

The leaders largely dismissed his comments as unrealistic bluster, however, and said he was unlikely to pay a big political price in the community.

“We believe that his ideas, as well intentioned as they might be, rubbed a lot of people the wrong way,” Mr Bishara Bahbah, who founded the group called Arab Americans for Trump and helped rally support for the US leader in Michigan and other battleground states, told Reuters.

“We’re opposed to any transfer of Palestinians, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, out of their homeland.”

Mr Bahbah said he still supports Mr Trump, seeing him as the best option to avoid conflict in Gaza.

He said his organisation changed its name to Arab Americans for Peace two days ago, reflecting its shift in focus following Mr Trump’s election.

Mr Trump outlined the idea for the US to “take over” Gaza during a White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Feb 4.

He also floated a proposal to relocate Palestinians to neighbouring countries and

redevelop the battered territory into a “Riviera of the Middle East”,

while not ruling out the deployment of US troops.

The move by Arab Americans and Muslims away from the Democratic Party likely factored into Mr Trump’s victory, with the largest impact in the swing state of Michigan, home to the country’s biggest population of Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians.

Many in the community voted against then-Vice President Kamala Harris to protest against the Biden administration’s support of Israel in its assault on Gaza in retaliation for the Oct 7, 2023 attacks.

Some also credit Mr Trump with orchestrating a ceasefire, even though it happened before he entered the White House.

A nationwide exit poll conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations advocacy group showed that 53 per cent of Muslims voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the 2024 election, with Mr Trump and Ms Harris picking up 21 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively.

The poll, which surveyed 1,575 Muslim voters via text message, marked a sharp contrast with 2020, when 69 per cent of Muslim Americans voted for Mr Biden and only 17 per cent went for Mr Trump.

Mr Rabiul Chowdhury, co-founder of the group Muslims for Trump, said that while he was frustrated that no viable long-term solution for peace and rebuilding was being discussed for Gaza, he does not regret backing Mr Trump.

“Conflating Trump’s rhetoric with the actions of Biden and Harris is not only disingenuous but outright dishonest,” he said, criticising the Biden administration’s supply of weapons and other support for Israel while it bombed Gaza.

“If we were to equate Trump’s actions with those of Biden and Harris, the contrast would be undeniable – Trump is the better option.”

Former president Joe Biden’s administration stood firmly by Israel during its assault on Gaza despite repeatedly pushing Israel to do more to curb civilian casualties and allow humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Mr Biden also hailed

a ceasefire deal that went into effect in January

as largely mirroring the framework of a proposal he made in 2024.

Mr Osama Siblani, publisher of Arab American News based in Dearborn, Michigan, said he did not think many people in the community would regret their decision to either back Mr Trump or withhold a vote for Ms Harris due to her support of Israel.

But Mr Siblani, a spokesman for the Arab American Political Action Committee, which endorsed neither candidate in the 2024 election, likened Mr Trump’s rhetoric to that of a “crazy man” and said they would not advance the cause of peace.

“Instead of helping people to recover, he’s trying to take advantage of their misery,” he told Reuters. “I can’t believe that a president of the United States is making such a suggestion.”

Dr Yahya Basha, a doctor and founder of Muslims for American Progress, said he was not surprised by Mr Trump’s comments, given earlier statements by his son-in-law Jared Kushner about Gaza being a good site for a future resort, but remained sceptical that the US would execute those plans.

“I don’t regret anything I did to get Trump elected and I hope we see positive signs in the future,” said Dr Basha, an early advocate for Mr Trump in Michigan.

Instead, he said he believed Mr Trump’s comments were often provocative rather than the basis of policy, citing his comments on wanting to buy Greenland or make Canada the 51st state of the US.

Yemeni-American Samra’a Luqman, a registered Democrat who voted for Mr Trump in 2024 in the hopes he would bring about a ceasefire in Gaza, said she did not support Mr Trump’s proposal for a US takeover.

But she said she still views Mr Trump more favourably compared with the actions of the Biden administration.

“I’m not pleased that I’m hearing things about people being displaced from their homeland for good, but at least they are not being killed off by the thousands or hundreds per day as we have seen in the last year,” said Ms Luqman, a 42-year-old resident of Dearborn, Michigan. REUTERS