总统乔·拜登白宫表示，周二晚上将接待一群穆斯林领导人，讨论“对社区具有重要意义的问题”以色列美国在加沙对哈马斯的战争。
白宫闭门会议结束后，将举行小型开斋晚宴，与穆斯林政府工作人员而不是社区领袖一起庆祝斋月期间每日斋戒的结束。
副总统哈里斯、穆斯林政府高级官员和他的高级成员将加入他的行列国家安全白宫新闻秘书卡琳·让·皮埃尔向记者介绍了这次会议。
她补充说:“为了延续白宫纪念斋月的传统，就像他上个月所做的那样，会议结束后，我们将与一些穆斯林政府高级官员一起主持一个小型的开斋、祈祷和开斋活动。”
与前几年相比，这些活动是纪念伊斯兰教最神圣的斋月的一次规模非常小的聚会。前几年，总统将举办数百场招待会，并在客人和媒体面前发表讲话。
与穆斯林社区领袖的会面和开斋晚宴都不在拜登的公开日程上。
与此同时，政府与阿拉伯裔美国人和穆斯林社区之间的紧张局势仍在加剧，原因是拜登支持以色列打击哈马斯。在哈马斯于10月7日对以色列发动突然恐怖袭击后，加沙战争接近六个月。据以色列官员称，超过1200人在那次袭击中丧生。
周二，拜登在威斯康星州面临另一场抗议投票，那里的团体正在组织人们在民主党初选中投票给“未受教育的人”，而不是拜登。密歇根州和明尼苏达州也展开了类似的抗议战争的活动。
拜登-哈里斯竞选团队和政府都扩大外联去过这些社区。其中一项努力是，拜登竞选团队官员计划在初选前在密歇根州举行一次会议，由于当地阿拉伯裔美国人和穆斯林领袖取消了.
让-皮埃尔说，穆斯林领导人在白宫的聚会被视为“工作组会议”，并应“社区成员的要求”决定私下举行。
“他们认为这样做很重要，所以我们就这样做了，”她说。“我们倾听了，我们听到了，我们调整了形式以做出回应，这样我们就可以从他们那里获得反馈。……这是他们想要的，我们理解这一点。”
上个月，拜登通过反思以色列-哈马斯战争和加沙日益严重的人道主义危机标志着斋月的开始。
他说:“3万多名巴勒斯坦人被杀害，其中大多数是平民，包括数千名儿童。“有些人是美国穆斯林的家人，他们今天对失去的亲人深感悲痛。近200万巴勒斯坦人因战争而流离失所;许多人急需食物、水、药品和住所。”
“随着穆斯林在未来几天和几周内聚集在世界各地开斋，巴勒斯坦人民的苦难将成为许多人的心头之痛，”他继续说。“这是我最关心的问题。”
Biden to host Muslim leaders at White House followed by scaled-down iftar dinner
PresidentJoe Bidenwill host a group of Muslim leaders Tuesday evening to discuss "issues of importance to the community," the White House said, as he faced growing criticism over his response toIsrael's war against Hamas in Gaza.
The White House meeting, behind closed doors, will be followed by a small iftar dinner to mark the end of the daily fast during Ramadan with Muslim administration staffers but not with the community leaders.
"He will be joined by Vice President Harris, senior Muslim administration officials and senior members of hisnational securityteam," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters about the meeting.
"And to continue the White House tradition of honoring Ramadan, as he did just last month, after the meeting, we will host a small breaking of the fast, prayer and iftar with a number of senior Muslim administration officials," she added.
The events are a very scaled-down gathering to mark Ramadan, Islam's holiest month, compared to previous years, when the president would host hundreds for a reception and deliver remarks in front of guests and the press.
Neither the meeting with Muslim community leaders nor the iftar dinner were on Biden's public schedule.
They are also taking place as tensions remain high between the administration and the Arab American and Muslim communities over Biden's support for Israel in its fight against Hamas as the war in Gaza approaches the six-month mark after Hamas launched a surprise terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7. More than 1,200 people were killed in that attack, according to Israeli officials.
On Tuesday, Biden is facing another protest vote in Wisconsin, where groups are organizing people to cast their ballot for "uninstructed" in the Democratic primary rather than for Biden. Similar campaigns in protest over the war have unfolded in Michigan and Minnesota.
Both the Biden-Harris campaign and the administration haveramped up outreachto these communities in recent months. One of those efforts, a meeting Biden campaign officials had planned in Michigan ahead of the primary,was rebuffed as local Arab American and Muslim leaders canceled.
Jean-Pierre said the gathering of Muslim leaders at the White House is seen as a "working group meeting" and was decided to be done privately at the "request from members of the community."
"They thought it would be important to do that and so we did that," she said. "We listened, we heard, and we adjusted the format to be responsive and so that we can get feedback from them. … This is what they wanted, and we understand that."
Last month, Biden marked the start of Ramadan by reflecting on the Israel-Hamas war and the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
"More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians, including thousands of children," he said. "Some are family members of American Muslims, who are deeply grieving their lost loved ones today. Nearly two million Palestinians have been displaced by the war; many are in urgent need of food, water, medicine, and shelter."
"As Muslims gather around the world over the coming days and weeks to break their fast, the suffering of the Palestinian people will be front of mind for many," he continued. "It is front of mind for me."
