A White House Ramadan event draws ire
Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency room doctor who spent at least three weeks in Gaza, walked out of the White House yesterday.
Ahmad was an attendee at a scaled-down iftar dinner hosted by the Biden Administration on Tuesday evening to celebrate Islam's holy month of Ramadan. The event was scaled back from its original plan after some invitees turned the president down over frustrations in the Muslim community over his policy toward the Israel-Gaza war.
The White House "adjusted the format to be responsive," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.
Ahmad told CNN that he was the only Palestinian-American in the meeting, Reuters reported.
"Out of respect for my community, out of respect for all of the people who have suffered and who have been killed in the process, I needed to walk out of the meeting," Ahmad said, adding "there wasn't a lot of response" from Biden. His feelings reflect mounting anger among Arab-Americans over Biden's reticence to call for a cease-fire in Gaza, especially after the deaths of aid workers this week who were trying to deliver needed aid to Gaza.