Houston Mayor Refuses to Call for a Ceasefire as Local Muslims Demand of Him

Pound sand, y’all. That’s my interpretation of how Houston Mayor John Whitmire handled a demand from the city’s Mulsim community. Houston Muslim leaders issued a 24-hour deadline to the mayor in their demand that he call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. 

There was a Thursday 5:00 p.m. deadline for the mayor to call for a ceasefire and Mayor Whitmire did not meet that deadline. More than 40 Muslim Imams and organizations threatened to boycott the city’s annual Ramadan dinner. And, they threatened to remove their support. They said if he did not meet their demand Whitmire would lose audiences, business partners, and also votes. Nice job you’ve got there. It would be a shame if you lost it.

In response to questions Thursday evening, the Whitmire administration appeared undisturbed. “Mayor Whitmire looks forward to attending the event at the invitation of sponsors and organizers,” Mary Benton, the mayor’s spokeswoman, said in an email. When pressed, Benton added that Whitmire “is the mayor of Houston and looks forward to being there and being a unifying presence at the dinner.”

The organizers for the Ramadan dinner were sent a letter asking them to rescind Mayor Whitmire’s invitation. 

The community feels ignored by the new mayor. 

A member of Houston for Palestinian Liberation, Shifa, said she was “disappointed” in the mayor’s lack of response. “But this is in line with the way he’s responded to the Muslim and pro-Palestinian community since he entered office—no response, no engagement, no follow-up questions and no invitation to engage in dialogue about how he can best represent his constituents,” said Shifa, who did not share her last name over concerns of privacy and safety. “If this one-way conversation continues, it won’t just be a missed photo opp with the Muslim community at an iftar dinner that is affected. Thousands of Muslim voters are taking this issue to the polls next election cycle, and you will see the effect of these interactions, or lack thereof, reflected in polling results.”

The 25th annual Houston Itar is scheduled for March 17. Local Imams and some nonprofits sent an email to Whitmire late Wednesday night that told him if he didn’t meet their demand they would pull their support and backing of the event. They contribute funds and volunteers for the annual event.

“Furthermore, the signatories will be encouraging their respective communities to boycott participation in the event,” read the letter, obtained by Chron the following day. “Together, we have the power to make a difference and be on the right side of history. Let us not turn a blind eye to injustice, but rather, let us work tirelessly towards a future where peace, equality, and human rights prevail for all, as Islam requires us to do. We urge you to honor and reward our allies while signaling to those politicians who do not stand with us that they will not have our recognition or support if they cannot recognize our humanity.”

The director of the local Council on American-Islamic Relations Houston (CAIR) chapter claims that Whitmire has “the moral imperative” to call for a ceasefire. He signed the letter on behalf of the group which is reported to represent 500,000 area Muslims. Local Palestinians have family in Gaza and the West Bank. 

A 24-hour deadline for compliance with the demand seems odd. CAIR said it has been asking him to call for a ceasefire for months.

“We’ve been pleading with him to do so for months and, that he has not, shows that he’s not listening to his Muslim constituents, and because he has not listened to us, we’re not going to listen to him,” White said by phone. “We’re not going to give him or any politician who does not call for a cease-fire the audience—the time of day—to speak with us unless they hear our heartfelt plea that there be a cease-fire immediately and a lasting cease-fire at that.”

Other groups are calling for the organizing committee to rescind Whitmire’s invitation and those of any other locally elected officials and Israeli diplomats who have not called for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas war.

Whitmire took office in January. He is known as a moderate Democrat, which separates him from the previous mayor. He has openly supported Israel, especially since the October 7 massacres. Last year, as a member of the Texas Senate, he backed a resolution to “support Israel’s right to pursue without interference or condemnation the elimination of Hamas until Hamas is permanently neutralized and public safety is assured.” It seems he has not changed his mind. That’s refreshing. 

It seems to me that demands for local elected officials to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war are meaningless. It is Israel’s right to defend itself. It is not America’s right to demand a ceasefire. There was a ceasefire in effect on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel. Hamas rules the Gaza Strip. They do not act in good faith. The pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party wants a feel-good action to look like they are doing something. It makes no difference.