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Why are some Arab Americans thanking Donald Trump for Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal?
A Lebanese American group that supported Donald Trump's presidential campaign sent a public statement following the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, thanking the president-elect for the development.
Officially, it was US President Joe Biden who announced the ceasefire dealÌýin Lebanon last week after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
"Under the deal reached today, effective at 4 a.m. tomorrow local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end. Will end. This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities," Biden said at the White House Rose Garden last Tuesday.
Nevertheless, a Dearborn-based Lebanese American group called "MENA American Chamber of Commerce", a conservative-leaning group focused on business, issued a public statement thanking Trump for the ceasefire.
In the letter, they thank Trump for his "commitment to crafting a framework for lasting peace in the Middle East." And they thanked him for using his political influence for "securing a permanent ceasefire agreement in Lebanon" ahead of his inauguration.Ìý
Less than a week after the announcement of the ceasefire, Israel has already attacked Lebanon multiple times.
The letter goes on to advocate for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict for lasting peace and for Palestinian self-determination.
"We strongly believe that a two-state solution is essential to ensuring lasting peace in the MENA region, and we commend your support for a sovereign State of Palestine," reads the statement.Ìý
It is unclear where this group got the idea that Trump supports a two-state solution to the conflict or that he supports a sovereign Palestinian state. If anything, he has shown the opposite, with support for Israel's ruling right-wing government with members who have openly pushed for Israel's annexation of the occupied West Bank. Moreover, the president-elect has used "Palestinian" as a slur on multiple occasions.
It is possible that the group wanted to get on Trump's good side before he took office by giving him credit for the ceasefire deal while also urging him to support Palestinian sovereignty. It is also possible that they were swayed by Trump's own claims that he was behind the ceasefire agreement.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in early November, Trump hosted Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer at Mar-a-Lago, where the president-elect said he hoped a ceasefire would be implemented before his inauguration. Dermer then reportedly met with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, one of the architects of the Abraham Accords.
The report followed the US ambassador's draft proposal for a ceasefire deal to Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
In mid-November, Arab Americans from the same group who thanked Trump for the ceasefire, who had met Trump when he had campaigned in Dearborn, to push for a ceasefire.
Regardless of Trump's role in the deal, what is clear is that he wants to get credit for it, having campaigned as an anti-war candidate. At the same time, those giving him credit would like to have his ear, in large part out of concern for their communities. Time will tell if he will return their goodwill.