乔·拜登总统在椭圆形办公室发表黄金时段讲话，宣布他正在要求国会通过1050亿美元的援助，主要是对以色列和乌克兰的援助，并表示他致力于将人质带回家，一些阿拉伯和穆斯林美国人表示感到“目瞪口呆”和“沮丧”。
“他甚至没有提到加沙的美国公民。芝加哥地区的居民纳比尔·阿尔舒拉法告诉美国广播公司新闻。
阿尔舒拉法的妈妈娜埃拉·埃尔舒拉法500-600名美国公民中的一员国务院估计在加沙。只有四名人质被哈马斯释放，其中包括两名美国人质。Alshurafa说，他66岁的母亲已经成为美国公民超过25年，并在战争爆发前回家探亲。
Alshurafa说，他的妈妈现在被困在加沙一个有近50名家庭成员的家里。
拜登10月18日在离开以色列的途中告诉记者，“我希望我们也能让一些美国人离开加沙。”
国务卿安东尼·布林肯周日在哥伦比亚广播公司的“面对国家”节目中说，“至少到目前为止，哈马斯阻止[加沙人]离开，这再次表明，它完全无视被困在加沙的任何平民。这是我们几乎每天都在努力的事情。”
Alshurafa说，“我母亲第一次试图离开时，是以色列轰炸了边境。布林肯所说的只是事实的一部分。如果他们一开始就确保美国公民逃出来，他们就不会被困在这里。”
2023年10月12日，美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯在以色列国防部所在地基尔亚对媒体发表讲话。
杰奎琳·马丁/POOL/法新社via Getty Images
阿尔舒拉法说，让以色列公民离开是一个主要的重点和努力。“你有美国，派遣美国公民乘游轮离开以色列有食物和无线网络。然后是边界另一边的其他公民，巴勒斯坦裔美国人，他们也是美国公民，值得生活，他们在挨饿，躲避炸弹。为什么我们对待不同阶层的公民有所不同?"
国务院告诉美国广播公司新闻，“没有比海外美国公民的安全更重要的了。”它说，出于隐私考虑，它无法对具体案件发表评论，但美国正在“与埃及和以色列紧急合作，以促进美国公民及其直系亲属离开加沙的能力。”
至少从10月7日开始1 400名以色列人和近5 087名巴勒斯坦人据以色列当局和巴勒斯坦卫生部称，已有10人死于加沙。
穆斯林和阿拉伯人说即使在拜登早些时候对全国的讲话10月10日，当900名以色列人和700名加沙人被证实死亡时，他没有提到巴勒斯坦人已经死亡。
拜登的信息9天之后转移了他说“我们必须毫不含糊地谴责反犹太主义。我们还必须毫不含糊地谴责伊斯兰恐惧症。对于所有受到伤害的人——那些受到伤害的人，我想让你们知道:我看到你们了。你属于。我想对你们说:你们都是美国人。你们都是美国。”
但一些穆斯林和阿拉伯人认为，这一声明是在芝加哥附近一名6岁的穆斯林男孩被刺死之后发表的，拜登仍然不承认加沙死亡人数是数千人。
“感觉穆斯林的血很便宜。在拜登政府的眼里，所有人的生命都是不平等的。穆斯林公共事务委员会(Muslim Public Affairs Council)政策和战略主任、美国国际宗教自由委员会(u . s . Commission on International religion Freedom)前高级政策分析师Niala Mohammad说，“以色列人的生命比穆斯林人的生命更有先例。
拜登在讲话中承认加沙的巴勒斯坦居民，称他“对巴勒斯坦人悲惨的生命损失感到心碎，包括加沙一家医院的爆炸——这不是以色列人干的。”他还表示，他“获得了一项协议，允许联合国向加沙的巴勒斯坦平民运送第一批人道主义援助。”
一些批评家指出拜登在谈到以色列人和巴勒斯坦人时使用的特定语言。10月11日，拜登说，“我从来没有想过我会看到并证实了恐怖分子斩首儿童的照片。”尽管白宫后来表示，总统引用的是新闻报道和以色列官员的声明，但以色列政府官员从未出示证据证明被证实的婴儿被斩首。
拜登明确表示，他说的是哈马斯，甚至指出恐怖组织“利用巴勒斯坦平民作为人体盾牌，“但是许多穆斯林和阿拉伯人觉得这个词被用在了阿拉伯世界最糟糕的刻板印象上——他们认为这有助于证明像战争这样的行为是正当的——尤其是如果它没有被证明是真的。
“他们说儿童被斩首，试图把穆斯林描绘成野蛮人...它造成的伤害是不可挽回的。它还把被认为与这些人有[错误]联系的群体描绘成野蛮人，”穆罕默德说。
拜登在周四的讲话中明确表示，他一直在努力确保加沙人民获得人道主义援助，一些人认为这还不够快，他说:“我已经获得了联合国向加沙巴勒斯坦平民运送第一批人道主义援助的协议。”
但是穆斯林和阿拉伯人指出了他们认为拜登在战略上遗漏的词语。穆罕默德指出，当俄罗斯切断对乌克兰的电力供应时，美国指责俄罗斯犯有“战争罪”，但当以色列切断对加沙的电力、水和食品供应时，美国却没有使用同样的措辞。
“这是一个选择性的人权议程。这并不代表美国的立场...美国代表民主和人权，”穆罕默德说。
拜登(姓氏)告诉记者“带着所有的愤怒和沮丧，以色列必须遵守战争规则，这一点非常重要...而且还有战争的规则。”他说，他这个星期直接向以色列总理内塔尼亚胡传达了同样的信息。
但是这些话并没有改变许多阿拉伯人和穆斯林的看法——特别是因为他没有呼吁停火。美国有将近350万穆斯林。
“如果拜登现在进入(密歇根州)迪尔伯恩，他将成为不受欢迎的人，”巴勒斯坦裔美国喜剧演员阿米尔·扎尔(Amer Zahr)说，他也是密歇根州迪尔伯恩的进步民主党活动家。
扎尔说，他用迪尔伯恩作为例子，因为那里有大量的阿拉伯人口——将近迪尔伯恩大约11万居民中的55%有中东或北非血统。
扎尔说，他认为拜登已经失去了战场州内外广大阿拉伯和穆斯林社区的信任。
这种信任始于他上任的第一天，当时拜登通过一项竞选承诺结束前总统唐纳德·特朗普所谓的“穆斯林禁令”，该禁令阻止一些人从主要是穆斯林国家进入美国。
“很明显，特朗普不是我们社区的朋友。人们不信任他，但他们从未感到被暗算或背叛。这是一种更糟糕的感觉，”Zahr说。
小企业管理局(Small Business Administration)副局长、拜登政府中级别最高的穆斯林迪拉瓦·赛义德(Dilawar Syed)最近在为6岁的瓦迪亚·法尤姆(Wadea Al-Fayoume)举行的守夜活动中遭到了嘘声。法尤姆在芝加哥附近被刺死，警方称之为仇恨犯罪。他对拥挤的礼堂说，“让我在这里非常明确地说，拜登总统已经非常非常明确地表示，美国没有仇恨的地方。”赛义德继续他的演讲，当他说“总统已经并将继续尽一切力量打击我们国家的伊斯兰恐惧症和反犹太主义”时，赢得了掌声。
民主党策略师瓦利德·沙希德说:“当阿拉伯和穆斯林民主党人和独立人士看到像他们这样的人被美国资助的武器不分青红皂白地轰炸时，他们显然对他们认为应该负责的人，即拜登总统，感到消极。”“[他们]认为拜登总统正在监督对加沙巴勒斯坦人的种族灭绝。”
沙希德说:“我认为白宫的态度，以及在某种程度上媒体对这个话题的态度是，他们中的许多人并不认识一个阿拉伯人或穆斯林美国人。所以他们不知道社区中的痛苦和愤怒有多严重。”
拜登曾说过在他的黄金时段演讲中上周说“尽管困难重重，我们不能放弃和平。我们不能放弃两国解决方案。”
今年早些时候，在白宫举行的一个纪念穆斯林的大型开斋节活动上，拜登谈到了越来越多的穆斯林教徒在政府里。他说，“我已经任命穆斯林美国人担任政府的所有职位...你们中的一些人是第一批拥有你们席位的穆斯林。在我担任美国总统期间看到这一点，我感到非常自豪。”
但是他的政府中的一些公务员现在正被总统的话所困扰。
穆斯林美国人公共服务主席艾哈迈德·马蒂说，联邦政府内部穆斯林之间的互动增加了“十倍”。
马蒂说，该组织由数千名成员组成，包括情报部门和外交部门拥有最高安全许可的联邦政府雇员。
他说，虽然联邦政府中的一些穆斯林和阿拉伯雇员采取了沉默的立场，但许多人希望他们的领导人采取直接行动和发表声明。他说，其他人呼吁“可能的联邦穆斯林雇员罢工或可能的大规模病假，或者人们实际上辞职。”
一些穆斯林和阿拉伯员工也为拜登的行动喝彩。一名阿拉伯裔白宫工作人员告诉美国广播公司新闻，“事实上，我对政府在内部和外部所做的努力印象深刻，这些努力是为了确保阿拉伯裔美国人的声音在他们的信息和决策中都能听到。”
他说，总统的高级顾问上周四与穆斯林和阿拉伯裔美国白宫官员举行了一次听证会，并打算在周一与任何穆斯林、阿拉伯裔和巴勒斯坦裔美国政治官员举行听证会。
拜登还建立了一个新的机构间政策委员会打击反犹太主义、仇视伊斯兰教和其他歧视的努力。
但是多名穆斯林联邦雇员告诉ABC新闻，他做得还不够。他们想要两样东西:呼吁以色列和加沙停火，以及国家战略打击伊斯兰恐惧症，正如白宫在五月发布的反犹太主义。
“对政府来说，如果不双管齐下，既要开始人性化，又要承认美国穆斯林的存在，这将是非常具有挑战性的，”马蒂说，他的小组成员认为。
阿尔舒拉法说，他也希望政府帮助美国公民离开加沙，包括他的母亲。他说，周五早上，在她找到一个有无线网络的地方，让她的儿子知道她还活着后，他和她通了电话。
“我觉得我的政府和拜登抛弃了我，”阿尔舒拉法说。“人们愿意私下表示支持。但当涉及到公共行动时，似乎有某种停顿，某种障碍，阻止人们按照自己的人性和他们所知道的正确行事...我确实感到被背叛了。”
周一，阿尔舒拉法告诉美国广播公司新闻，他的四个大家庭成员被杀害。他的母亲仍然在加沙活着。“我觉得本届政府需要尽快采取行动。时间不多了，”他说。
Why Biden is 'persona non grata' for many Arab and Muslim Americans
After President Joe Biden's primetime address from the Oval Office where he announced he was requesting that Congress pass $105 billion in aid predominantly to Israel and Ukraine and expressed his dedication to bringing home hostages, some Arab and Muslim Americans described feeling "dumbfounded" and "disheartened."
"He doesn't even mention the U.S. citizens in Gaza. It's unbelievable," Chicago-area resident Nabil Alshurafa told ABC News.
Alshurafa's mom, Naela Elshorafa, isone of 500-600 U.S. citizensthat the State Department estimates are in Gaza. Only four hostages, including two from the U.S., have been released by Hamas. Alshurafa says his 66-year-old mom has been a U.S. citizen for over 25 years and went to visit family right before the war broke out.
Alshurafa says his mom is now stuck, huddled in a home with nearly 50 family members in Gaza.
Biden told reporters on his way from Israel on Oct. 18, "I'm hopeful we can get some Americans out as well, out of Gaza."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, "And to date, at least, Hamas has blocked [Gazans] from leaving, showing once again, it's total disregard for civilians of any kind who are - who are stuck in Gaza. This is something that we're working, again, virtually every single day."
Alshurafa says, "The first time my mother tried to get out, it was Israel that bombed the border. What Blinken is saying is only a portion of the truth. If they had made sure U.S. citizens got out in the very beginning they wouldn't have been trapped in the first place."
Alshurafa says there was a major focus and effort to get citizens out of Israel. "You have the U.S., sort of sending U.S. citizensto get out of Israel on a cruise shipwith food and Wi-Fi. And then the other citizens on the other side of the border, the Palestinian Americans, who are also U.S. citizens and worthy of life, they're starving and dodging bombs. Why are we treating one class of citizens differently from another?"
The State Department told ABC News, "There is no higher priority than the safety of U.S. citizens abroad." It said privacy considerations prevent it from commenting on specific cases, but that the U.S. is working "urgently in partnership with Egypt and Israel to facilitate the ability of U.S. citizens and their immediate family members to exit Gaza."
Since Oct. 7, at least1,400 Israelis and close to 5,087 Palestinianshave died in Gaza , according to the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Muslims and Arabs say that even duringBiden's earlier address to the nationon Oct. 10, when 900 Israelis and 700 Gazans had been confirmed dead, he failed to mention that Palestinians had died.
Biden's messagehad shifted 9 days later, when he said "We must, without equivocation, denounce anti-Semitism. We must also, without equivocation, denounce Islamophobia. And to all of you hurting — those of you who are hurting, I want you to know: I see you. You belong. And I want to say this to you: You're all America. You're all America."
But some Muslims and Arabs argued this statement came after a 6-year-old Muslim boy near Chicago was stabbed to death and that Biden still did not acknowledge that the numbers of those who died in Gaza were in the thousands.
"It felt like Muslim blood was cheap. All lives are not equal in the eyes of the Biden administration. There's more precedent given to Israeli lives than there are to Muslim lives," said Niala Mohammad, director of policy and strategy at the Muslim Public Affairs Council and former senior policy analyst for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
In his speech, Biden acknowledged Palestinian residents in Gaza, saying he was "heartbroken by the tragic loss of Palestinian life, including the explosion at a hospital in Gaza — which was not done by the Israelis." He also said he "secured an agreement for the first shipment of humanitarian assistance from the United Nations to Palestinian civilians in Gaza."
Some critics have pointed to the specific language Biden used when speaking about Israelis versus Palestinians. On Oct. 11, Biden said,"I never really thought that I would seeand have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children." Although the White House later said the president was referencing press reports and statements from Israeli officials, Israeli government officials never showed evidence that confirmed babies were beheaded.
Biden made it clear he was talking about Hamas, even pointing out the terrorist group "use Palestinian civilians ashuman shields," but many Muslims and Arabs felt the word played on the worst stereotypes of the Arab world - which they believe can help justify actions like war - especially if it has not been proven to be true.
"They're trying to paint Muslims as barbarians by saying that children are beheaded ... the damage it does is non-retractable. It paints groups believed to be [wrongly] associated with those individuals as barbarians as well," said Mohammad.
Biden in his speech Thursday, specified he had been working to secure humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza -- which some people describe as not soon enough -- saying "I secured an agreement for the first shipment of humanitarian assistance from the United Nations to Palestinian civilians in Gaza."
But Muslims and Arabs point to words they believe Biden is strategically leaving out. Mohammad points to the United States accusing Russia of a "war crime" when Russia cut electricity to Ukraine, but not using the same words when Israel cut off electricity, water and food to Gaza.
"That's a selective human rights agenda. And that doesn't represent what America stands for ... The United States stands for democracy, human rights," said Mohammad.
Bidentold reporters"that it is really important that Israel, with all the anger and frustration … they operate by the rules of war ... And there are rules of war." He said he delivered that same message directly to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week.
But those words have not moved the dial for many Arabs and Muslims -- especially since he has not called for a ceasefire. There are nearly 3.5 million Muslims in the U.S.
"Biden would be persona non grata if he entered Dearborn, [Michigan] right now," said Amer Zahr, a Palestinian-American comedian who is also a progressive Democratic activist in Dearborn, Michigan.
Zahr says he uses Dearborn as an example because of its large Arab population -- nearly55% of Dearborn's roughly 110,000 residentsare of Middle Eastern or North African Descent.
Zahr says he believes Biden has lost the trust of the large Arab and Muslim community in the battleground state and beyond.
That trust which started on his first day in office when Biden followed through with acampaign promiseto end former President Donald Trump's so-called "Muslim Ban" which prevented some people from entering the United States from primarily Muslim countries.
"Trump, obviously, was no friend to our community. And people didn't trust him, but they never felt backstabbed or betrayed. And that's a much worse feeling," Zahr says.
Dilawar Syed, deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration and the highest-ranking Muslim in the Biden Administration, was recently booed at a vigil for Wadea Al-Fayoume, a six-year-old who was stabbed to death near Chicago in what police described as a hate crime, when he told a crowded auditorium, "Let me be very clear here, President Biden has been very, very clear, there is no place for hate in America." Syed continued with his speech, and was met with applause when he said, "The president has and will continue to do everything in his power to fight Islamophobia and antisemitism in our nation."
"When Arab and Muslim Democrats and independents see people with names like theirs being bombed indiscriminately with U.S funded weapons, they obviously feel negative about the person who they feel is responsible, who's President Biden," said Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid. "[They] believe President Biden is overseeing a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza."
Shahid says, "I think the White House's attitudes and to some extent the media's attitudes towards this topic is that many of them don't personally know an Arab or Muslim American. And so they don't know how severe the pain and anger is in the community."
Biden had saidduring his primetime addresslast week that "As hard as it is, we cannot give up on peace. We cannot give up on a two-state solution."
At a large Eid event at the White House earlier this year honoring Muslims, Biden talked about the growing number of Muslims servingin the government.He said, "I've appointed Muslim Americans to positions all across the government ... Some of you are the first Muslims ever to hold the seats you have. And I'm so proud to see this during my time as President of the United States."
But some of the very public servants in his administration are the ones pained right now by the president's words.
Interactions between Muslims within the federal government have increased "tenfold," said Ahmad Maaty, chair of Muslim Americans in Public Service.
Maaty says the group consists of thousands of members, including federal government employees with top security clearances, in the intelligence community, and foreign service.
He says while some Muslim and Arab employees in the federal government have taken a quiet stance, many want direct action and statements from their leaders. He says others had called for a "potential walkout of federal Muslim employees or potential mass sick leave, or folks to actually resign."
There are some Muslim and Arab staffers who applaud Biden for his actions as well. One Arab White House staffer told ABC News, "I've been actually very impressed with what the administration has done internally and externally to try to make sure that the voices of Arab Americans are heard in both in their messaging but also in their policymaking. "
He says senior advisors to the president held a listening session last Thursday with Muslim and Arab American White House appointees and intend to do so Monday as well for any political appointees who are Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian Americans.
Biden also established a newinteragency policy committeeto combat efforts to counter anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other discrimination.
But multiple Muslim federal employees told ABC News he has not gone far enough. They want two things: a call for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza and anational strategyto combat Islamophobia just as the White House released in May for anti-Semitism.
"It'd be very challenging for the administration to start humanizing or acknowledging the existence of Muslim Americans without doing both," Maaty says members of his group believe.
Alshurafa says he also wants the government's help getting U.S. citizens out of Gaza, including his mom. He says he spoke with her Friday morning after she found a location with Wi-Fi to let her son know she was still alive.
"I feel deserted by my government, by Biden," said Alshurafa. "People are willing to be supportive privately. But when it comes to public action, there seems to be some sort of halt, some sort of barrier that prevents people from acting upon their own humanity and what they know is right ... I do feel betrayed."
On Monday, Alshurafa told ABC News that four of his extended family members had been killed. His mother was still alive in Gaza. "I feel like this administration needs to act fast. Time is running out," he said.
