US President Biden Announces National Strategy To Address Islamophobia
Washington DC, 13th December 2024: The White House is releasing its first-ever national strategy to combat Islamophobia, outlining more than 100 actions aimed at slowing hate, violence, bias, and discrimination against Muslims and Arab Americans. The strategy was announced Thursday, five weeks before President Joe Biden leaves office, and follows a similarly titled strategy unveiled earlier this year in an effort to combat antisemitism.
Goals of the Strategy
The strategy focuses on four priorities:
1. Raise awareness of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hatred while celebrating their heritage.
2. Improve safety and security for these communities.
3. Reduce discrimination and ensure accommodation of religious practices.
4. Foster cross-community solidarity to counter hate.
The Biden administration highlighted the urgency of the initiative, citing a rise in threats against Muslims and Arabs, including the October 2023 murder of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi, a Palestinian-American boy in Illinois.
Implementation and Criticism
According to the White House, most of the actions that have been proposed are already underway, and the rest are scheduled to be implemented before the end of Biden’s term. Some of the measures include improving reporting mechanisms for hate crimes and federal laws against discrimination targeting Muslims and Arab Americans in federally funded activities.
However, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group, said the strategy was poorly timed and insufficient. The plan failed to address policies such as the “terrorist watchlist,” the group said, which disproportionately target Arab Americans and Muslims. The group also condemned a failure to acknowledge U.S. policies in Gaza as a primary driver of anti-Muslim sentiment.
The political background
The announcement comes as political tensions in the United States are at an all-time high. Pro-Palestinian organisations have criticised President Biden for his administration’s backing of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. In the meantime, some of Donald Trump’s cabinet choices are being questioned, which is concerning his Muslim and Arab American followers. Trump garnered a sizable portion of the Arab-American vote in last month’s election.
State and local governments, as well as international and non-governmental organisations, have also been urged by the plan to adopt comparable programs that advance justice, security, and unity for all.
