Biden administration officials met with, and courted the support of, an openly pro-terror leader in the Arab-American community in Michigan this week, according to reports.
As Breitbart News reported, citing the New York Times, Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer was dispatched to Michigan to assuage concerns among Arab- and Muslim-American voters who are angry that President Joe Biden has been somewhat supportive of Israel in its war against Hamas terrorists following the October 7 terror attack.
The Times also noted that Biden officials met with a man named Osama A. Siblani:
Osama A. Siblani, the influential publisher of The Arab American News, a Dearborn newspaper, had meetings with both Ms. Chávez Rodríguez and Mr. Finer’s delegation. He said Arab American voters in Michigan felt betrayed after backing Mr. Biden in large numbers in 2020, arguing that they had “received nothing” since then “but lip service.”
“I’ve been involved in this community day in and day out every single day for 40 years,” Mr. Siblani said. “I can tell you right now, I cannot convince my community to vote for Biden if I kiss their feet. They will not do it.”
The Middle East Media Research Institute identified Siblani as the speaker who made a radically pro-terror speech in 2022:
“Peace be upon the pure blood that poured from Shireen Abu Akleh’s head. Peace be upon the blood that irrigates the land of Palestine, so that heroic martyrs like her and like others would emerge from it, and Palestine would be liberated and restored to the Arab nation.
…
“Do you see what is happening in Palestine? They thought that 1948 is a demarcation line. They thought we forgot. Now, surprise, fedayeen are setting out from the land of 1948. They are striking them with knives and with their bare hands, and they are victorious.
…
“They will fight with stones, others will fight with guns, others will fight with planes, drones, and rockets, others will fight with their voices, and others will fight with their hands and say: ‘Free, free Palestine!'”
The Washington Free Beacon noted (original links):
At least seven Biden administration officials will meet with Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani in Dearborn, Mich., one of the country’s largest Arab communities, according to the Associated Press. The group includes Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer and U.S. Agency for International Development chief Samantha Power.
They’ll be meeting with one of Michigan’s most influential Arab-American leaders, one with an extensive history of praising terrorist groups. Siblani in 2022 urged Arabs to fight Israel with “stones” and “guns” and praised the fedayeen, or Islamic militants. He has referred to Hamas and Hezbollah as “freedom fighters” and cheered Iran-backed Houthi terrorists for declaring war against Israel in October. Siblani has bragged that during a conference call with White House officials in 2021, he refused “to apologize for Hamas firing rockets at Israel.”
It is not clear whether Sibani was at the meeting with Finer that was recorded and transmitted to the New York Times.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Photo: file
