US President Joe Biden on Friday proclaimed April 2024 as Arab American Heritage Month and called upon all Americans to learn more about the history, culture, and achievements of Arab Americans.
In a proclamation, Biden hailed more than 3.5 million Arab Americans across the country "who have helped write the American story and move our Nation ever forward.”
“People with Arab heritage were among the many immigrants who came to our country’s shores with a range of cultures, customs, backgrounds, and beliefs, sharing a common courage to start new chapters in an unfamiliar land,” stated Biden. "As they built their lives, they helped build America — from fighting for our independence in the Continental Army to serving the cause of freedom during World War II to helping build cities and communities across our Nation.”
“This legacy of courage, resilience, and service lives on today in Arab Americans across our country,” he said. “We see it in the brave Arab American service members and public servants, who continue to defend our Nation’s security and freedom. We see it in the Arab American engineers, scientists, and medical professionals, who are pioneering new breakthroughs and charting a better future for all. We see it in Arab American business owners and entrepreneurs, who are creating jobs and lifting up communities across the Nation.”
He also praised Arab American teachers and community leaders, who continue to inspire the next generation. “And every day, I see it in the Arab Americans serving throughout my Administration, who are helping us build a stronger, more just Nation.”
He called for reflecting on the pain being felt by so many in the Arab American community with the war in the Gaza Strip. ‘The trauma, death, and destruction in Israel and Gaza have claimed, and continue to claim, far too many innocent lives.”
Biden said he was devastated by “the suffering of so many and mourn the lives taken, and I pray for the loved ones left behind and for all the innocent men, women, and children living in dire circumstances.”
According to the President, the US administration was working with partners across the region to respond to the urgent humanitarian crisis, deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza, free the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas, and establish an immediate ceasefire that would last at least six weeks, “which we would work to build into something more enduring.”
“We are also focused on ensuring that calm is maintained and restored in neighboring states, including Lebanon. We must preserve the space for peace — for a two-state solution with equal measures of security and dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis. We are committed to working with the Arab American community, who remain critical advocates for the Palestinian and Arab people and a just and lasting peace,” Biden added.
The US President admitted that Arab Americans remain the target of bias and discrimination — including harassment, hate crimes, and violent attacks. “In recent months, a Palestinian child was killed in his home, a young man was stabbed near a college campus, and a group of students were shot while just walking down the street — tragic reminders that hate never goes away. It only hides. It is up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor.”
“That is why we are fighting against the rise of all forms of hate, including against Arab Americans,” he said. Biden reminded the public that on his first day in office, he rescinded the discriminatory Muslim travel ban that prevented individuals from primarily Middle Eastern and African countries from entering the US.
He said his administration is developing the country’s first-ever National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination in the US, which will identify concrete ways to address the scourge of hate against Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, and Arab American communities.
His proclamation came after Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and some big names from the entertainment world teamed up Thursday night to deliver a rousing New York embrace of Biden that hauled in a record-setting $26 million-plus for his reelection campaign.
