Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

Michigan Muslims, Arabs, Activists, Join Americans Nationwide Protesting Biden's Pro-Israeli Genocide in Gaza

January 26, 2024

 

A demonstrator interrupts President Joe Biden during a campaign event  in Manassas, Va., Jan. 23, 2024	US progressive political activist and philosopher Cornel West who runs for president in 2024 is courting votes of Americans resenting Biden's pro-Israel policy, January 12, 2024

 

Michigan Muslim, Arab leaders rebuff Biden campaign team over Israel-Gaza response

ABC News, January 26, 2024

Netanyahu has resumed his genocidal bombing campaign with President Biden's

Biden losing support of Muslim, Arab American voters in Michigan.

Muslim and Arab American leaders in Michigan canceled a meeting with President Joe Biden's campaign team amid increasing opposition to his administration's response to the Israel-Hamas war, multiple people told ABC News.

"We're dumbfounded," the National Executive Director of The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Abed Ayoub, told ABC News. "Why does this administration still believe that we're just going to be willing to meet with them with no movement on their part on our demands? And they've been the same demands since October, and nothing's changed."

Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad Turfe, who had organized the planned meeting between the campaign and the community, was the one who canceled it, a person familiar with the decision told ABC News.

Since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the Biden administration has faced calls for the U.S. to support a permanent cease-fire as emphatic protests over its staunch support of Israel persist.

On Tuesday, as Biden delivered a major campaign speech in Virginia on abortion rights, he was interrupted some 14 times by pro-Palestine demonstrators chanting, "Genocide Joe," and "Cease-fire now!"

Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez traveled to Michigan on Friday to meet with elected officials in the Detroit-area. However, initial plans were for her to meet with 10 to 15 Muslim and Arab American leaders after her staff approached them to discuss growing discontent in their community, Ayoub said.

"We are aware that she is meeting with different individuals," Ayoub said. "It's not a group setting … It's upsetting that they thought they had the right to go ahead and schedule this. They don't speak on behalf of the community."

Several local leaders invited to meet with Rodriguez, including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, declined to do so after pushback from the community.

"Our immediate demand is crystal clear: the Biden Administration must call for a permanent ceasefire to a genocide it is defending and funding with our tax dollars," Hammoud, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "Dearborn residents have tirelessly protested and organized in demand of a ceasefire. As their mayor, I follow their lead."

Hammoud added: "I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a live-streamed genocide backed by our government.

Lexis Zeidan, a Palestinian-American and Dearborn resident said she was also approached by the campaign but she rejected the invite as well.

"I strongly believe that the community has mobilized effectively and strategically over the last four months that we should not be making any decisions or having any conversations without bringing our community into the fold," said Zeidan.

Wayne County, home to Detroit and Dearborn, has the largest rate of Arab inhabitants of any other county in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And Michigan, a state that Biden narrowly won against Trump in 2020 and is critical in the coming election, has the largest Arab population of any battleground state.

Amid reports that Vice President Kamala Harris is privately pushing Biden that he needs to be more sympathetic towards Palestinians, multiple people also tell ABC News that Harris's team reached out for a February meeting in D.C.

Huwaida Arraf, a civil rights attorney, says a senior adviser reached out to her from Harris' team but Arraf immediately declined.

"We have been asking the administration to stop fueling funding enabling this genocide, and we have been stonewalled," said Arraf. "And now because we're getting close to the elections. And Biden isn't doing so well in overall polls. Now they want to talk to us."

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Leaders of the community told ABC News the outreach is too little too late and that the only thing that will appease them is a cease-fire.

"Our position since day one has been clear: without a ceasefire on the table or call for a ceasefire, then we don't see a purpose of meeting," said Ayoub.

Michigan Muslim, Arab leaders rebuff Biden campaign team over Israel-Gaza response (msn.com)

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Arab and Muslim American Leaders in Michigan Just Canceled a Meeting With the Biden Campaign

The president can no longer rely on their dislike of Trump.

ALI BRELAND

ReporterBio

Mother Jones, January 27, 2024 --

A protester waving a Palestinian Flag stands atop a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. during Detroit demonstration in support of a ceasefire in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Matthew Hatcher/AP Images.

A group of Muslim and Arab-American voters and community leaders in Michigan have decided to pass on the meeting with President Joe Biden’s campaign that had been planned for Saturday. Leaders say that they’ve canceled the meeting because of the President’s apparent unwillingness to restrain Israel in its months-long attack on Gaza.

Following weeks of public statements by Arab American and Muslim activists, advocates, and voters that they would not support Biden in 2024 because he backs Israel as it lays siege on Gaza, his campaign attempted to connect with community leaders in the Detroit area, where one of the largest Arabic-speaking populations in the country is located. The campaign hoped to discuss these concerns and had scheduled a meeting between leaders and campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez. 

“We’re dumbfounded,” the National Executive Director of The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Abed Ayoub, told ABC News. “Why does this administration still believe that we’re just going to be willing to meet with them with no movement on their part on our demands? And they’ve been the same demands since October, and nothing’s changed.”

Biden had publicly dismissed the likelihood that Arab and Muslim Americans would not vote for him in the 2024 election if he continued to remain silent about the relentless attacks by the Israeli military on Gaza, in what some have described as an act of genocide on Palestinians (the United Nations is currently hearing a case on this now).  

“The former president wants to put a ban on Arabs coming into the country,” said Biden earlier in January, referring to Trump’s 2017 directive that had banned people from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. “We understand who cares about the Arab population.”

This may have once been true during the 2020 election when Biden received 70 percent of the vote in Arab and Muslim-American counties in Michigan, but polls have shown that since the Hamas attack and the Israeli response, two-thirds of Arab and Muslim-American voters would vote against the incumbent president.

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Following the Hamas attack on October 7,  in which 1,200 Israeli civilians were killed and approximately 240 people were taken hostage—around 132 of them remaining in captivity— Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, including more than 10,000 children and 83 journalists. The Biden administration has declined to intervene, maintaining U.S. aid to Israel. Though recurring stories have been published about the administration’s leaked internal frustrations with Israel, it has hesitated to publicly express concern about the air strikes and military actions within Gaza—an approach that my colleague, Noah Lanard, has noted is unique by the standards of recent American presidents.

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud who had been slated to attend the meeting, expressed his frustration with the Biden administration on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Our immediate demand is crystal clear: the Biden Administration must call for a permanent ceasefire to a genocide it is defending and funding with our tax dollars. Dearborn residents have tirelessly protested and organized in demand of a ceasefire. As their mayor, I follow their lead.”

Arab and Muslim American Leaders in Michigan Just Canceled a Meeting With the Biden Campaign – Mother Jones

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Cornel West courts Muslim and Arab-American voters in quest for presidency

West has said Muslim and Arab communities "hold a special place in my heart."

ByGabriella Abdul-Hakim and Abby Cruz

January 12, 2024, 7:02 PM

Independent presidential candidate Cornel West has been courting a group President Joe Biden may struggle to attract in the upcoming 2024 election: Muslim and Arab-American voters.

Muslim and Arab community leaders rallied around the prominent activist, author and philosopher by recently hosting fundraisers for him in Michigan -- a key battleground state -- and California.

"We got to do something," West said at a rally in Dearborn, Michigan, in December. "That's why I'm here to tell the world and especially straight to Gaza, where they're dealing with a genocidal assault. We believe that a Palestinian baby has the same value as any baby in the world."

Biden has faced mounting criticism over the way his administration has handled the Israel-Hamas war. According to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, 57% of Americans disapprove of how Biden is handling the conflict with an even deeper divide among young voters. Three quarters of young voters between 18 and 29 say they disapprove of the administration's handling of the war.

Progressive political activist and philosopher Cornel West who runs for president in 2024 as an indepe... Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images, FILE

Although there's less reliable polling on the extent of their feelings, some Muslim voters tell ABC News that they are struggling to support President Biden as he seeks a second term. While the president has stated he is campaigning to save "democracy and freedom," West is hoping to seize on that feeling by highlighting his own commitment to Muslims.

Xena Shawarev, a Muslim from Pittsburgh, told ABC News that the 2024 election feels like it could force her to choose the candidate who is the lesser of two evils: former President Donald Trump or Biden.

"It just seems that campaigning that the other side is more evil doesn't represent who's good. It just represents who's less evil. And if we're gonna keep running on who's less evil. I think we're just moving step by step closer to just evil," Shawarev said.

In a statement to ABC News, West said Muslim and Arab communities "hold a special place in my heart."

"Their rich history, deep faith, and resilient spirit are sources of profound inspiration. My roots may be on the chocolate side of town, but we share a struggle for truth and justice," West said. "The goal of my presidential campaign is to represent the voices in all communities who feel disenfranchised within the corrupt two-party system."

West has not broken through any national polls, according to 538's national polling average, but he is getting some financial support. He raised $100,000 at a fundraiser in California last weekend, the event co-sponsor confirmed to ABC News. It's the largest amount he has raised at a fundraiser since he launched his campaign in June 2023.

Independent Presidential candidate and public intellectual Dr. Cornel West is seen calling for a ceasefir... Cristina Matuozzi/Sipa USA via AP

West's history of support

West's support of the Muslim and Arab communities predates the Oct. 7.

In the Gaza Strip, more than 23,300 people have been killed by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to Israeli officials.

In 2014, West called then-President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "war criminals" over the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

In December, he called on the International Criminal Court to launch an immediate investigation into likely war crimes committed by Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

"Dr. Cornel West has for the last 40 years been consistent in his values and his beliefs. And we're just saying to everybody that enough is enough," Dr. Arbazz Muhammad, a co-founder of Muslim Visionaries, the group that hosted West's recent California fundraiser, told ABC News.

"This year for many Muslims, it's about voting our conscience," Muhammad added. "We believe that we're planting the seeds for a long-term vision, where people deal with our community with respect, honor, with dignity, and a commitment to truth and justice."

The Muslim and Arab communities have large concentrations in Michigan, a key swing state. Michigan has one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States with roughly 206,000 registered Muslim voters -- a 22% jump from 2016, according to Emgage, a Muslim political advocacy group. Biden won the state in 2020 by only about 155,000 votes.

Dawud Walid, executive director of Michigan's chapter of The Council on American-Islamic Relations, told ABC News that although a true politician "always seizes his moment," West has been "consistent" in his support for the community.

Will West be on the ballot?

Third-party candidates have a nearly impossible path to the White House. The constitution makes no mention of political parties, but America's traditional two party system has left little room for other candidates to get a substantial following, according to Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center.

"There is no path for a third-party or minor-party candidate to become president of the United States," Perry said. "But you might get the ruling party, right now the Biden White House, to begin to have second thoughts about their views."

To get on a state's ballot, West would have to accumulate enough signatures to satisfy each state's threshold. With a relatively small campaign staff, that is a nearly impossible goal.

The last time America had a new major party was during the Civil War when the Republican Party was created as the anti-slavery party and led by Abraham Lincoln. As the country becomes more polarized, maybe this is the moment another "splinter" party can become a major party, Perry said.

Although West's chances of becoming president are likely nonexistent as a third-party candidate, he could pose an obstacle for Biden, who already has low approval ratings, by siphoning away votes that could ultimately cost him the election.

West, according to Perry, has been able to "see" and "seize" this moment. She said that one benefit of third-party candidates is they can take what's of "concern to people who already may be likely constituents for them, get a megaphone" and have a stage for their message even more than usual.

Cornel West marches with Palestinian-Americans and their allies who gathered at Pershing Square in D... Jacob Lee Green/Sipa USA via AP

West is set to speak at rally on D.C.'s National Mall this weekend. Walid, the executive director of CAIR'S Michigan branch, told ABC News that a vote for the independent candidate would be a "mixture" of simply voting for West and against Biden.

But Amer Zahr, a Palestinian American from Michigan, said he feels it's "too early in the process for our community to throw their support behind one person yet."

Right now, he said his main interest is in "punishing" Biden and the Democrats so that they know his voice is not "worthless."

"Now, who knows what things will look like in six months from now. But right now, people are hurt and devastated," Zahr said. "I would vote for anybody over Biden, including Trump. Biden is currently on the bottom of my list of choices."

Cornel West courts Muslim and Arab-American voters in quest for presidency - ABC News (go.com) 

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Biden Dismissed Arab Voters Threatening Not To Vote For Him. They Say He Shouldn't.

Rowaida Abdelaziz Mon, January 22, 2024 at 5:36 PM EST·

President Joe Biden continues to dismiss reports that Arab and Muslim voters are increasingly vowing not to vote for his reelection, even as those voters vocalize their frustrations with the president and distance themselves from him.

When asked by a reporter last Thursday about the Arab and Muslim groups who have pledged to not vote for him, the president made clear that he was a better choice than former President Donald Trump, who will likely be the Republican presidential nominee.

“Are you concerned with the Arab American votes voting for you during this election because of Gaza? Many say they will not vote for you,” asked the reporter.

“The former president wants to put a ban on Arabs coming into the country,” said Biden, referring to the travel ban Trump implemented that barred individuals from several Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. “We understand who cares about the Arab population.”

But Muslim and Arab votes said Biden is underestimating the community’s long-standing frustration with the White House. Muslim and Arab support for the president has rapidly dwindled since Israeli forces began a bombing campaign in Gaza in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants, with full support from the White House. The U.S. has contributed around $130 billion to Israel since its founding, making the country the largest recipient of U.S. foreign military financing.

Since October, Muslim and Arab organizers and advocacy groups have staged protests, signed petitions, written letters, and taken to social media to announce their disapproval of the president’s Israel strategy. Muslim American leaders from battleground states have vowed to mobilize their communities against Biden’s reelection. People who had their families killed in Gaza said they could not in good faith vote for him. And Muslim and Arab staffers working for Biden in the federal government have expressed their own frustration with the president.

The White House has hosted a handful of meetings for a selective number of Muslim and Arab leaders, but many say those efforts are not enough, citing concerns about the president’s lack of outreach to Muslim and Arab Americans at home, and about the administration not publicly showing sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza.

The White House directed a response for comment to the Biden campaign. The campaign declined to comment.

Youssef Chouhoud, an assistant professor of political science at Christopher Newport University, said Biden’s response to voters turning away was rooted in “undue overconfidence.” Biden presuming Muslim and Arab voters will walk back their vows not to vote for him is “selfish,” he added.

A poll conducted last October found that support for Biden’s reelection has plummeted among Arab American voters, dropping from 59% to 17%, a 42% decrease from 2020. A second poll released in November found that two-thirds of Arab and Muslim Democrats in Michigan said they plan to vote against Biden. While Muslims only make up 1% of the population, many reside in key states — including Michigan, which Biden won by just 150,000 votes in 2020.

Many voters haven’t decided if they’ll vote Republican — especially since Trump has vowed to bring back his travel ban if reelected — or third party, but they say one thing is for sure: They won’t be voting for Biden.

The number of voters who are turning away from Biden is increasing due to the administration’s overall policy and rhetoric surrounding Gaza, Chouhoud said.

“There is a qualitative difference between the way that Biden and his administrative officials talk about Palestinians versus how they talk about Israelis,” Chouhoud said. “Each time it’s happened, it has cut that much deeper.”

Early on in the conflict, Biden publicly cast doubt on the Palestinian death toll ― which at the time totaled more than 6,000 Palestinians, including 2,700 children ― saying he had “no confidence” in the number even though his administration cited it regularly. Last week, the White House released an official statement marking 100 days since Oct. 7, sympathizing with the Israeli hostages Hamas had taken but making no mention of the mounting death toll in Gaza. (At least 25,000 people have been killed as of Sunday, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.)

Muslim and Arab groups met with Biden privately and told the president they supported a cease-fire, voicing concerns that many in their community, including those who had families trapped or killed in Gaza, felt dismissed and ignored. They still haven’t seen any changes from the administration that make them feel heard ― and for many voters, Biden’s lack of public support has reached a point of no return.

“It’s not really a matter of strategic consideration at this point,” Chouhoud said. “It’s a matter of maintaining your dignity when you enter that voting booth.”

Biden Dismissed Arab Voters Threatening Not To Vote For Him. They Say He Shouldn't. (yahoo.com)

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New details on Biden's private apology to Muslim Americans for rhetoric on Palestinian civilians

One meeting attendee "respectfully challenged" the president over his tone.

ByZohreen Shah and Ayesha Ali November 29, 2023, 10:03 PM

Biden apologizes to advocates for response to Israel-Hamas war

ABC News’ Zohreen Shah has details on President Joe Biden’s apology to Muslim American advocates...

As President Joe Biden tries to find a balance between supporting Israel and showing concern for the plight of Palestinian civilians, new details are emerging about how emotions spilled over during a private White House meeting last month between him, his aides and Muslim American advocates.

Just one day earlier, the president publicly questioned the death toll in Gaza reported by the Hamas-run health ministry there in the weeks after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, sparking a war.

"I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed," the president said at a joint press conference with the Australian prime minister on Oct. 25. "I'm sure innocents have been killed, and it's the price of waging a war."

The next day, advocates said, Biden apologized to them during a meeting in the White House Roosevelt Room as they urged him to show more empathy for Palestinians and pushed, unsuccessfully, for him to back a permanent cease-fire.

Four participants described the atmosphere as emotional at times, even tearful, featuring both sharp words and a hug.

There were about a dozen people, total, in attendance for what was supposed to be a 30-minute, strictly off-the-record meeting.

The White House was provided the details from these attendees before this story was published and declined to comment on the record or confirm Biden's exact quotes from the meeting.

Among the guests were Muslim advocates and top White House aides, including Biden's domestic policy adviser, Neera Tanden, and the Small Business Administration's No. 2, Dilawar Syed, the highest-ranking Muslim person in the executive branch. ABC News spoke with five people in attendance, some of whom asked not to be identified by name because of the sensitivities.

The president wasn't a confirmed guest and participants believed they were getting a forum to talk with officials about Islamophobia, the U.S. position on the Israeli government, the Palestinians and related issues.

The meeting had been in the works for roughly a week or two, according to one of the attendees. After Biden walked into the Roosevelt Room, the gathering went on longer than planned -- ultimately for more than an hour -- according to a senior administration official.

His comments about Palestinian casualties, amid Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza to destroy Hamas' operations in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attack, stirred strong feelings.

According to multiple participants, the sole female guest, Dr. Suzanne Barakat, a prominent Muslim advocate, "respectfully challenged" the president over his tone about the Palestinians.

Barakat said, according to the participants, Biden's stance on the war lacked empathy toward people in Gaza.

Suzanne Barakat attends National Geographic's special screening of AMERICA INSIDE OUT WITH KATI... Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Rami Nashashibi was also at the meeting and was the only Palestinian American participant. He told ABC News that he "challenged [Biden] very explicitly about how extraordinarily cruel and insensitive" the president's comment about the casualty statistics "sounded to people here and across the globe, who are witnessing the horrific death and carnage in Gaza."

Hamas, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization, runs Gaza and the Gaza Health Ministry. According to their statistics, more than 15,000 people have been killed in the territory and there have been reports of 7,000 people trapped under rubble.

The casualty numbers released by the health ministry are widely cited in the news but have not been independently verified, though officials like Secretary of State Antony Blinken went on to say in November, "Far too many Palestinians have been killed."

In a moment that multiple people in the room on Oct. 26 corroborated, Barakat emotionally told the president that "they both shared the loss of loved ones -- in her case, to horrific hateful violence."

Barakat's brother, his wife and her sister were all murdered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, eight years ago. Barakat described it as a hate crime.

Nashashibi said that Barakat related her experience to Biden's, listing off the names of the president's first wife, eldest son and baby daughter -- Neilia, Beau and Naomi -- all of whom have died.

Biden grew quiet and appeared "deeply affected," according to two of the meeting participants.

Barakat told Biden that empathy was his superpower, according to four participants. She turned her entire body toward the president and said, "You are lacking empathy toward Palestinian suffering. … We need your same level of human empathy for the Palestinian suffering."

The room was pin-drop silent, attendees said.

The president then cited some of his own experiences, like with Beau's brain cancer and Beau recovering from the 1972 car crash that killed Naomi and Neilia.

According to the participants, Biden said he did have empathy -- just ask his advisers -- but said he needed to do a better job sometimes portraying it.

He then sat for a moment, according to two participants, and reflected before apologizing. These participants, paraphrasing him, remembered Biden saying he was sorry, that he would do better and that he was disappointed in himself.

The conversation also touched on antisemitism, with the advocates saying that support for a future Palestinian state wasn't the same as antisemitism, according to Nashashibi.

Nashashibi said the president agreed with the participants that people should not be losing their jobs and having their personal information revealed online over challenging Israel’s strikes in Gaza.

The White House was provided the details from these attendees before this story was published and declined to confirm Biden's exact quotes from the meeting.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters this week that he wouldn't discuss accounts of private meetings.

While Nashashibi spoke out immediately after the Oct. 26 meeting, it has drawn renewed attention. The Washington Post first reported that Biden apologized to the advocates; some details were also reported by The New York Times.

The episode underscores the challenge Biden has faced given backlash from some allies -- both major Muslim advocates and some leading Democrats in Congress -- over his position on the war. The president has increasingly sought to strike a balance between supporting Israel's campaign against Hamas and speaking out about the importance of protecting civilians.

The White House was initially unequivocal in its support of Israel's response to Hamas' "unconscionable" terror. But the president and other officials have gone on to urge Israel to reduce civilian casualties in their retaliatory operations -- which Israeli officials maintains they do, despite the death toll -- and Biden has called for ongoing humanitarian pauses in order to try and free hostages believed to be held by Hamas and to send civilian aid into Gaza.

President Joe Biden speaks about Bidenomics at CS Wind, Nov. 29, 2023, in Pueblo, Colo. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Since late last week, a tenuous truce has been in place between Israel and Hamas as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange deal in which more aid was also being allowed into Gaza.

Biden last week welcomed the pause and touted his administration's role in it, along with various Middle Eastern and Arab countries. He also suggested he might be open to putting conditions on further U.S. aid to Israel in order to curb the Israeli bombing campaign, which international organizations have noted has precipitated an unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

However, the president has repeatedly declined to support a broader, ongoing cease-fire to the current war, despite calls for an end to the conflict coming from many Democratic activists and an increasing number of Democratic lawmakers.

White House officials have said they believe ending the conflict now would help Hamas in its continued attacks on Israel.

A White House source tells ABC News that there have been several meetings with White House staff these last few weeks about both messaging and policy related to the war. Led primarily by the White House chief of staff, Jeff Zients, and Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn, the meetings have been with Jewish, Muslim and Arab aides.

Some Muslim activists have said they will actively campaign against Biden in the 2024 presidential race, given that he hasn't embraced a broad cease-fire.

Participants at the Oct. 26 meeting with Muslim advocates said they failed to change Biden's mind on that point.

"He did not come to terms with us on the policy," Nashashibi said.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a former Democratic National Committee official and the first Muslim elected to Congress, was a participant and told ABC News in a statement that "the President listened carefully, responded sincerely, and showed empathy and compassion for the suffering of everyone. The humanitarian pause is a welcome reprieve from the violence but the community remains steadfast in its demand for a sustained ceasefire, and negotiations to obtain a lasting settlement of the conflict."

One participant said they felt the administration's view had changed in some ways, though.

"They're talking more about enforcing, protecting civilians, and they're not doubting the [casualty] numbers anymore, and they're showing some humanity, empathy toward the victims," this person said.

The meeting also addressed long-standing issues, like the administration's strategy to combat Islamophobia, which multiple participants said had gained increased urgency.

"Muslim community leaders told President Biden that the suffering of innocent Gazans trying to survive in extremely difficult circumstances has actually increased the likelihood of Islamophobic attacks in the United States," Ellison said in his statement.

Multiple meeting participants told ABC News that they still hope the president strongly considers their policy requests. But more importantly, they said, they hope he follows through with his. They believe his push for Israel to minimize civilian damage has not been fully honored.

"So what is it that you are now prepared to do to make sure that your own asks are being respected?" said another participant, Emgage CEO Wa'el Alzayat.

As the meeting ended, according to Nashashibi, the president "leaned into [Barakat] very closely," placing his hand on hers. "He said something to the effect that in this moment he felt he wasn't just the president. He was a father and a grandfather."

Multiple other people in the room confirmed this exchange.

Nashashibi said Barakat leaned in, too, and was kind but "she was very clear in that moment, even in the thick of that deep emotional connection."

"But you are not just a father or grandfather. You are the president," he recalled her saying. "And you can stop this."

ABC News' Molly Nagle and MaryAlice Parks contributed to this report.

New details on Biden's private apology to Muslim Americans for rhetoric on Palestinian civilians - ABC News (go.com)

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