“Arab Americans For Trump” Change Name After Trump Gaza Takeover Threat
Written by djfrosty on February 7, 2025
Source: ALEX WROBLEWSKI / Getty
An Arab American group that supported President Donald Trump has changed its name in response to his threat to take over the Gaza Strip.
With President Donald Trump making the shocking proposal of moving the Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip to make it the “Riviera of the Middle East” after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one prominent group of Arab American backers has opted to change their name from “Arab Americans For Trump” to “Arab Americans For Peace.” Bishara Bahbah, the group’s chairman, confirmed the decision on Wednesday (February 5) in talks with the Associated Press.
“The talk about what the president wants to do with Gaza, obviously we’re completely opposed to the idea of the transfer of Palestinians from anywhere in Historic Palestine,” Bahbah said. “And so we did not want to be behind the curve in terms of pushing for peace, because that has been our objective from the very beginning.” He stated that the name change had been discussed and was agreed upon on Tuesday (February 4), but they still had the old moniker before Trump’s press conference with Netanyahu.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based group was a significant factor in Trump winning the area in the 2024 presidential election. Home to the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the United States, they were critical of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s decision not to call for an arms embargo on Israel during that country’s war with the Hamas militia and critical of former President Biden’s support of Israel. Many either withheld their votes in alliance with the “Uncommitted” movement, decrying the genocide of Palestinians, or voted for third-party candidate Jill Stein.
Trump would double down on his statements in a Truth Social post on Thursday, proclaiming that “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel.” In a press release, Arab Americans For Peace wrote that they “appreciate the president’s offer to clean and rebuild Gaza” but “take issue with the president’s suggestion of taking over Gaza and removing its Palestinian inhabitants.” While progressive activists aren’t offering regrets over their choices, one leader spoke anonymously to Politico about the growing concern in the Arab American community about their choices, stating that they “think we screwed up but we’re not going to admit it.”