Two years later: Arab/Muslim community mostly silent on Gaza

Two years ago the metro Arab and Muslim community hit the Hamtramck streets to protest former President Biden’s support of Israel and its war in Gaza. Now, President Trump is talking about removing Palestinians from Gaza, but there is little pushback from those protestors.

By Charles Sercombe
Two years ago, over 1,000 people took to Hamtramck’s streets to protest then-President Biden’s ongoing support of Israel’s military attack of Gaza.
At the time, they demanded a ceasefire, and for Biden to stop supplying military arms to Israel. During the rally in Hamtramck, there were frequent chants deriding Biden, saying: “Genocide Joe has got to go.”
Flash forward to today — there is a ceasefire, although fragile, and President Trump is in charge. He continues to support Israel in its war in Gaza, however, and recently lifted the Biden administration’s ban on supplying Israel with 2,000-pound bombs, which cause widespread damage to unintended targets
The Trump administration is also calling for the remaining Palestinian refugees to be relocated to neighboring Arab countries, such as Egypt and Jordan.
Both countries have already rejected accepting Palestinian refugees, according to various media reports.
Recently, in an interview with Time magazine while on board Air Force One, Trump said:
“I’d like Egypt to take people, and I’d like Jordan to take people.” You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, we just clean out that whole thing.”
Some critics have interpreted that to mean permanently removing Palestinians from Gaza.
And on Tuesday of this week, Trump went one step further and said that the U.S. will “take over” Gaza, remove Palestinians there and redevelop the site into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
And where would Palestinians fit in? Maybe they could come back, Trump has said, and maybe not.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, is speaking out on Trump’s proposal. The organization released a statement critical of Trump.
CAIR says that Trump’s “floating the idea of ethnically cleansing Gaza by moving millions of Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan (is) delusional and dangerous nonsense.”
Despite these statements, there has been no outcry from local pro-Palestinian supporters, especially from the Hamtramck and metro area Muslim population.
In fact, many in the metro Muslim community supported Trump in his successful bid to become president, including Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib and some city councilmembers.
The Review reached out to Ghalib and Councilmembers Abu Musa and Khalil Refai, who were vocal in their criticism of Biden and supported Trump for president, for comment but at press time Thursday, none of them responded.
Ghalib, who galvanized widespread support for Trump among the Muslim population in metro Detroit, may be in line for a position in the Trump administration.
There is one notable exception to the largely silent Muslim population. Bishara Bahbah, an investment analyst who was the National Chair for “Arab Americans for Trump,” is now criticizing Trump.
“This is not what we voted for as Arab Americans for Trump,” Bahbah told The Times of Israel.
He went on to say: “We don’t need wildish claims or statements relating to the fate of the Palestinians. The only resolution to the Israel-Palestine question is a two-state solution. Period.”
In response to Trump’s latest comment on Gaza, Bahbah has changed the name of his group to “Arab Americans for Peace.”
In CAIR’s full statement, it was said:
“President Trump needs to stop pursuing an Israel First foreign policy and start pursuing an America First foreign policy. The idea of ethnically cleansing over a million Palestinians from Gaza is delusional and dangerous nonsense.
“The Palestinian people are not willing to abandon Gaza, and neighboring countries are not willing to help Israel ethnically cleanse Gaza. If President Trump is serious about making some sort of grand peace deal in the Middle East, he needs to get serious and get serious fast.
“The only way to achieve a just, lasting peace is to force the Israeli government to end its occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.”
Posted Feb. 7, 2025