US Muslims campaign against President Biden's pro-Israel stance and re-election

At a presidential campaign event in Charleston, South Carolina on Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden told hecklers calling for a ceasefire in Gaza that his administration has been working with the Israeli government to reduce its military presence and “significantly get out of Gaza.”

“I have been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them [to] reduce and significantly get out of Gaza,” Biden said in his clearest statement yet that he wants Israel to wrap up the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Israel has not yet met its war goals to eliminate the Hamas terror organization from the Gaza Strip and to bring home all of the remaining hostages being held in Gaza.

Biden has stood publicly with Israel in its fight against Hamas, making a solidarity trip to the Jewish state, providing Israel with funding and military aid and speaking out against the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, when terrorists invaded and stormed Israeli border communities, massacring 1,200 Israelis.

During a White House press briefing last week, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. believes that eliminating Hamas is possible.

“We believe that it is absolutely an attainable goal for the Israeli military forces to degrade and defeat Hamas’ abilities to conduct attacks inside Israel,” Kirby said, later adding: “It can be done militarily.”

However, in parallel, the U.S. has been pushing Israel to begin a lower-intensity phase of the war.  

“You can't operate in southern Gaza in the way you did in the north,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Israeli government during a solidarity visit at the end of November.

“There are two million Palestinians there. You need to evacuate fewer people from their homes, be more accurate in the attacks, not hit UN facilities, and ensure that there are enough protected areas [for civilians]. And if not? Then not to attack where there is a civilian population,” he added.

Anti-Israel protesters have been campaigning against Biden's pro-Israel stance, particularly Muslim Americans, which may endanger his ability to be re-elected president.

In early December, Muslim leaders from several states, including Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania, launched a campaign called #AbandonBiden in response to the American president’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

“We’re looking into finding ways to build a mechanism of coordination between all the swing states so that we’re constantly working together to ensure that Muslim Americans will come out in all of these states and that Mr. Biden will lose each and every one of them,” said Hassan Abdel Salam, a University of Minnesota professor and member of the #AbandonBiden National Coalition. 

On Nov. 4, protesters outside of the White House yelled “Genocide Joe has gotta go!” and “F–k Joe Biden!” while smearing red handprints on the front gate.

According to polls, younger voters, Arab and Muslim U.S. citizens who traditionally vote for the Democratic Party, are strongly opposed to Biden’s pro-Israel policies.

Meanwhile, Blinken arrived in Israel on Monday in a Middle East trip to reportedly prevent Israel from launching a full-scale war on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“President Biden has dispatched his top aides to the Middle East with a critical objective: Prevent a full-blown war from erupting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah,” the Washington Post reported on Sunday.

“Blinken is set to arrive Monday in Israel, where he will discuss specific steps to ‘avoid escalation,’ his spokesman Matthew Miller said before boarding a plane to the Middle East,” the Post noted.