Biden senior advisers to meet with Michigan's Arab American community amid criticism

The White House is sending a group of senior advisers to meet with leaders in Michigan's Arab American and Muslim community on Thursday amid criticism that President Joe Biden isn't doing enough to demand an Israeli cease-fire in Gaza, an administration source told the Free Press.

CNN first reported that an unnamed White House official said the group, which includes Samantha Power, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Director Tom Perez, would head to Michigan to meet with local leaders, including those in Dearborn's large Arab American community.

Many members of that community have sharply blamed the Biden administration for not doing more to rein in an Israeli counterattack in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people since Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7 of last year.

While the White House hasn't officially announced the visit — with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre telling reporters she had no public comment on the reports or when and where administration officials would next be in Michigan — the Free Press also confirmed the visit from other sources with knowledge of its planning.

The Free Press learned from a community leader who was not authorized to speak publicly about the plans that among those the group would be meeting with included Dearborn attorney Ali Dagher, Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad Turfe, Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani and Wayne County Circuit Judge Mariam Bazzi.

Two weeks ago, Biden's national campaign chair met with some Arab American leaders and those from other communities in Michigan regarding the outcry over the war in Gaza, though some refused to meet with the campaign officials.

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who was among those who declined to meet with Biden campaign officials, said at the time on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that, "Community engagement is powerful when it is used to shape policies that save lives" but that "these conversations must be had with policy-makers, not campaign staff."

"I will not entertain conversations about elections while we watch a live-streamed genocide backed by our government," he said.

Besides Perez and Power, who as recently as this week has raised concerns over humanitarian assistance needed in Gaza but has also been criticized for continuing to work for the administration after having written a Pulitzer Prize-winning book looking at America's past failures in stopping genocide, the group headed to Michigan includes Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, Office of Public Engagement head Stephen Benjamin, and Mazen Basrawi, the administration's liaison to American Muslim communities, among others.

There were no details available about when and where the meetings would take place.

The White House — which said last week ahead of Biden's campaign visits to Macomb County that senior advisers would be coming to Michigan in the near future to discuss deep-seated concerns over the war in Gaza with local leaders — has continued to frame the meetings as similar to those held with activists across the U.S.

But the situation for the administration — and for Biden's reelection hopes — is especially fraught in Michigan, given the size of the large Arab American and Muslim communities centered in Dearborn, where there have been huge marches decrying Israel's attacks in Gaza against Hamas.

The meeting comes at a time when some leaders in Michigan's large Arab American community are urging voters to show their displeasure with the Biden administration by voting "uncommitted" in the state's Feb. 27 Democratic primary, in which the president is running for renomination. On Wednesday, the "Listen to Michigan" campaign announced that more than 30 elected officials had agreed to vote uncommitted, including Hammoud and other state and local officials.

Contact Todd Spangler: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Facing criticism over Gaza, Biden sends delegation to Michigan