Palestinian Americans In Illinois Reject White House Meeting

The decision comes after refusals from other Arab and Muslim groups across the country amid frustrations over the U.S. role in the war in Gaza.

Palestinian American, Arab American and Muslim leaders refused to meet White House officials in Chicago on Thursday over the White House’s handling of the Gaza war.

“There is no point in more meetings. The White House already knows the position of the aforementioned groups and our allies across the nation,” said a letter with nearly 50 signatories that was published Thursday on the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ website.

“They know because we have made it abundantly clear, including in prior meetings with the White House, but also in press statements, letters to our elected leaders, media interviews, and enormous street action within earshot of the Oval Office,” it said.

Senior members of the White House, including Tom Perez, the White House’s director of intergovernmental affairs; Steve Benjamin, White House director of public engagement; Mazen Basrawi, White House liaison to American Muslim communities; Curtis Ried, the National Security Council chief of staff; and aides Dan Koh and Jamie Citron were set to meet with several members of the Palestinian American and Muslim communities. The majority of those who were invited from those communities declined to attend the Chicago meeting.

The rejection comes after a string of refusals across the country from Arab and Muslim groups over longstanding frustrations over the war in Gaza that has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that left roughly 1,200 Israelis dead and about 240 people taken hostage. Several members of the Palestinian American community refused to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month in Washington to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza. In Michigan, Arab and Muslim community leaders canceled a listening session in February with President Joe Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez.