By Nathan Layne and Andrea Shalal
(Reuters) – U.S. Arab American and Muslim leaders, including some who supported Donald Trump in the 2024 election, criticized the president’s proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza and resettle Palestinians as unacceptable and antithetical to the push for lasting peace.
The leaders largely dismissed Trump’s 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,” Bishara Bahbah, who founded Arab Americans for Trump and helped rally support for him in Michigan and other battleground states, told Reuters.
“We’re opposed to any transfer of Palestinians, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, out of their homeland.”
Bahbah said he still supports Trump, seeing him as the best option to avoid conflict in Gaza. He said his organization changed its name to Arab Americans for Peace two days ago, reflecting its shift in focus following Trump’s election.
Trump outlined the idea for the U.S. to “take over” Gaza during a White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. Trump also floated a proposal to relocate Palestinians to neighboring countries and redevelop the battered territory into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Arab American and Muslim support for Trump likely factored into his wins across several swing states, according to strategists, with the largest impact felt in 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 the Biden administration’s support of Israel in its assault on Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 attacks. Some also credit Trump with orchestrating a ceasefire, even though it happened before he entered the White House.
Rabiul Chowdhury, co-founder of 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 Trump.
“Conflating Trump’s rhetoric with the actions of Biden and Harris is not only disingenuous but outright dishonest,” he said, criticizing 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. Biden also hailed a ceasefire deal that went into effect last month as largely mirroring the framework of a proposal he made last year.
Osama Siblani, publisher of Arab American News based in Dearborn, Michigan, said he didn’t think many people in the community would regret their decision to either back Trump or withhold a vote for Harris due to her support of Israel.
But Siblani, a spokesperson for the Arab American Political Action Committee, which endorsed neither candidate in the 2024 election, likened 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 of their misery,” he told Reuters. “I can’t believe that a president of the United States is making such a suggestion.”
Yahya Basha, a doctor and founder of Muslims for American Progress, said he was not surprised by 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 skeptical that the U.S. 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 Basha, an early advocate for Trump in Michigan.
Instead, he said he believed 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 U.S.
(reporting by Nathan Layne, Andrea Shalal, Jonathan Allen and Andrew Hay; Editing by Frank McGurty and Deepa Babington)
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