White House Releases Strategy to Combat Anti-Muslim and Anti-Arab Hatred

(Patria) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday released a long-awaited strategy to combat anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hatred, which has surged since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, calling for urgent continued work to reduce discrimination and bias.

The 64-page document comes weeks before the inauguration of former President Donald Trump, who imposed a travel ban on people from some predominantly Muslim countries during his first term, a ban Biden revoked on his first day in office, Reuters reported.

It reflects a comprehensive strategy to combat antisemitism released by the White House in September 2023, and comes more than a year after the death of six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was stabbed by a man in an attack on him and his mother because they were of Palestinian origin.

In the strategy's foreword, Biden called the attacks on the Chicago boy and his mother
“heinous acts” and cited a rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate crimes,
discrimination and harassment, which he called wrong and unacceptable.

“Muslims and Arabs deserve to live with dignity and enjoy every right to the fullest extent alongside all their fellow Americans,” Biden wrote.

“Policies that result in discrimination against entire communities are wrong and fail to protect us.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, described the strategy as “too little, too late” and blamed the White House for not ending the federal watchlist and “no-fly list” that includes many Arab and Muslim Americans.

Trump's transition team had no immediate comment on the strategy or whether it would support it.
Trump, who has gained support from some Muslim voters angry over Biden's support for
Israel's war in Gaza, said he would ban entry to the U.S. for anyone who questions Israel's right to exist and revoke visas for foreign students who are “antisemitic.”

Tensions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups have risen on some U.S.
campuses following Hamas's October 7 attack in Israel, with human rights advocates warning of rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab hatred.