Current Events > Pro-Trump Arab American Group Changes Name AfterTrump's Gaza Riviera Remark

(+) Yeah! (+)

LANSING, Mich. -- A group that played a key role in Donald Trumps voter outreach to the Arab American community alongside his allies is rebranding itself after the president said that the U.S. would take over the Gaza Strip.

Bishara Bahbah, chairman of the group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, said during a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that the group would now be called Arab Americans for Peace.

The name change came after Trump held a Tuesday press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House and proposed the U.S. take ownership in redeveloping the area into the Riviera of the Middle East.

The talk about what the president wants to do with Gaza, obviously were 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.

Arab Americans for Trump helped lead voter outreach efforts for Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election in swing states such as Michigan and Arizona.

The group, independent from the Trump campaign, frequently facilitated meetings between Arab American community leaders and Trumps allies, including Richard Grenell, now serving as Trumps envoy for special missions, and Massad Boulos, the father-in-law of Trumps daughter Tiffany and now a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

In the 2024 election, Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Dearborn, Michigan home to the nation's largest concentration of Arab Americans since 2000 on his way to winning the state. Trump visited Dearborn on Nov. 1.

Bahbah said the group had been thinking about changing its name for a while and ultimately made the decision Tuesday. But Bahbah had said during a phone interview just prior to Trump's Tuesday night press conference with Netanyahu that the group's name was Arab Americans for Trump.

In a press release issued Wednesday by Arab Americans for Peace, the group said its members 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.

Who's ready for this group of concerned citizens to be conspicuously absent until next cycle wherein they will raise a huge fuss before voting Republican again

Bishara Bahbah, chairman of the group formerly known as Arab Americans for Trump, said during a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that the group would now be called Arab Americans for Peace.

They shouldn't get to change their name. They got exactly what they voted for.

Fuck around, find out. Leopards. She didn't earn my vote. Ect ect.

James Zogby, the president of the Arab American Institute, told CNN's Brianna Keilar on Wednesday that many Muslim voters are regretting the decisions they made in the 2024 presidential election.

As Keilar noted while interviewing Zogby, Trump received a major boost from Muslim voters in 2024 due to anger against the Biden administration for its role in helping the Israeli government's war in Gaza that has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians and that Zogby described to CNN as a "genocide."

In fact, Trump in 2024 became the first Republican presidential candidate in more than two decades to win in Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest Muslim American population of any city in the United States.

When asked by Keilar if he'd spoken with any of these voters since the election, he replied that he had and they were firmly against Trump's recently stated desire to ethnically cleanse Gaza by removing all Palestinians from their land.

"Many of [the voters] stayed home, and some of them voted for Donald Trump," he said. "But they are now feeling very clearly that they made a big mistake. And, you know, sort of like the kid who gets in trouble and his parents send him to his room and he goes out there and starts throwing stuff around... in a pique of anger. All he's got is a mess and that's what we've got here.

"People didn't vote for Kamala Harris. They voted for Donald Trump. They had their tantrum. And now look what we got. We got a crazy man in the White House who's doing and projecting things that are really, really problematic."

Just what is it about American conservatism that many migrants find so appealing? Surely they have to understand that Republicans would only see them as useful tokens at best and unwanted intruders at worst, yes?

Since there's nothing we can do to stop or even slow down the fascist takeover, we should focus all of our energies on punishing these pieces of shit. Outcast them from society, report them to ICE so many get deported, absolutely obliterate these organizations. They deserve it for helping Trump win. Extending mercy to them will result in them hurting democrats and helping republicans again next election, so we should instead hurt them to mitigate the harm they're be doing in the future.

How on earth does Trump have Muslim fanboys? He literally banned yall during his first term.

How on earth does Trump have Muslim fanboys? He literally banned yall during his first term.

I can understand how Muslims didn't want to vote for Biden or Harris, but I have no idea why they thought trump was the guy that would save Gaza. He even joked about it being beachfront property before he was elected.

"Report them to ICE" is kinda evil

Just what is it about American conservatism that many migrants find so appealing? Surely they have to understand that Republicans would only see them as useful tokens at best and unwanted intruders at worst, yes?

"Report them to ICE" is kinda evil

report them to ICE so many get deported,

If they voted then they are US citizens not Visa/Green Card holders, so that wouldn't really work.

The more resources ICE spends on these people the less resources they'll have to spend on innocents.

Pulling up the ladder behind you is a proud American tradition. They're the most American of all.

They're also arresting US citizens and visa/green card holders "accidentally," for what it's worth.

Just what is it about American conservatism that many migrants find so appealing? Surely they have to understand that Republicans would only see them as useful tokens at best and unwanted intruders at worst, yes?

Just what is it about American conservatism that many migrants find so appealing? Surely they have to understand that Republicans would only see them as useful tokens at best and unwanted intruders at worst, yes?

If they voted then they are US citizens not Visa/Green Card holders, so that wouldn't really work.

Since there's nothing we can do to stop or even slow down the fascist takeover, we should focus all of our energies on punishing these pieces of shit. Outcast them from society, report them to ICE so many get deported, absolutely obliterate these organizations. They deserve it for helping Trump win. Extending mercy to them will result in them hurting democrats and helping republicans again next election, so we should instead hurt them to mitigate the harm they're be doing in the future.