Kylie Martin, Detroit Free Press
Updated Sun, February 4, 2024
President Joe Biden and other political leaders came to the defense of Dearborn on Sunday, two days after the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece labeling Dearborn as the "America's Jihad Capital."
"Americans know that blaming a group of people based on the words of a small few is wrong. That’s exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn’t happen to the residents of Dearborn – or any American town," Biden posted on X. "We must continue to condemn hate in all forms."
The Wall Street Journal's piece, with the headline "Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital," triggered an online outpouring of hate toward the city. That led Mayor Abdullah Hammoud to announce Saturday that Dearborn police would increase their presence in places of worship and other major infrastructure points in the city.
"This is a direct result of the inflammatory @WSJ opinion piece that has led to an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting the city of Dearborn," Hammoud posted on X.
More: Dearborn mayor calls for increased police after WSJ opinion piece
In another post, Hammoud listed Dearborn's accomplishments, saying it is the fastest growing city in Michigan, the No. 1 travel destination in Michigan, the home of Ford Motor Co., the coffee, food and culture capital of Michigan and one of the most diverse cities in Michigan.
Biden's post supporting Dearborn came just days after a crowd protested the president's scheduled campaign visit to Michigan last Thursday because of his continued support for Israel in its war in Gaza against Hamas.
Other political leaders, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, and U.S. Senator Gary Peters also posted messages of support for Dearborn on Sunday.
"Dearborn is a vibrant community full of Michiganders who contribute day in and day out to our state.," said Whitmer. "Islamophobia and all forms of hate have no place in Michigan, or anywhere. Period."
"Another example of hate directed at a community that is already hurting, resulting in fear, vitriol, and threats of violence. Dearborn was my home for almost 40 years with the man I loved. My neighborhood and friends were supportive, caring, and dedicated," said Dingell.
"Dearborn and communities throughout Southeastern Michigan are diverse, welcoming, joyful places. The hateful words of a few should never be used to demonize entire faiths or communities," said Stevens. "To our Arab neighbors, you are welcome here. Islamophobia is never the answer."
"Dearborn is a diverse & vibrant community. The @WSJ column that calls this incredible Michigan city a national security threat is not only anti-Arab, anti-Muslim & wrong — it endangers the entire Dearborn community. I'm committed to the safety & security of all Michiganders," Sen. Peters wrote in a post on X.
The Wall Street Journal piece, authored by Steven Stalinsky, said Imams and politicians in Dearborn side with Hamas against Israel and Iran against the U.S.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Biden, politicians show support for Dearborn after opinion piece stirs hate
Alex Gangitano
Mon, February 5, 2024
President Biden called out “anti-Arab hate” against Dearborn, Mich., residents after an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal called the city “America’s jihad capital.”
“Americans know that blaming a group of people based on the words of a small few is wrong. That’s exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn’t happen to the residents of Dearborn – or any American town,” the president wrote Sunday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“We must continue to condemn hate in all forms,” he added.
The opinion piece cited by Biden was published Friday with the headline “Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital” and subhead “Imams and politicians in the Michigan city side with Hamas against Israel and Iran against the U.S.”
It highlighted the protests in Dearborn and said people there “in support of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran.” Arab Americans make up the majority of the population of Dearborn.
The city’s mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, said he is “glad” Biden “recognizes the severity and danger” of the piece published by the Journal.
“The unfortunate reality is Islamophobia has become an acceptable form of hate. Those who demonize or stereotype Muslims or Arab Americans quickly find bigger platforms and greater notoriety,” he said on X.
The mayor had ordered an increase in security across the city Saturday in response to the op-ed.
Biden visited Michigan last week, and tensions with Arab Americans loomed over his visit. He did not visit Dearborn, nor did he meet with any Arab American leaders.
Biden condemns anti-Arab hate after WSJ opinion piece calls Dearborn 'jihad capital'
A 2020 Ford Explorer hybrid police vehicle in Dearborn Michigan
By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Sunday denounced anti-Arab rhetoric in response to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece targeting Dearborn, Michigan, that the mayor called "bigoted" and "Islamophobic."
The WSJ published the piece on Friday headlined as "Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital", suggesting the city's residents, including religious leaders and politicians, supported Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and extremism. The column drew outrage from Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, as well as several U.S. lawmakers and rights advocates from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee.
The mayor said on Saturday he had ramped up the city's police presence at houses of worship and other public places after "an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting the city of Dearborn." As of Sunday afternoon, there were no reports of any unrest in Dearborn, a suburb of about 110,000 people that borders Detroit.
Biden, while not referring directly to the WSJ or the article's author, said on social media platform X it was wrong to blame "a group of people based on the words of a small few."
"That's exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn't happen to the residents of Dearborn – or any American town," Biden said on the platform formerly called Twitter.
The city has one of the highest percentages of Arab Americans among U.S. cities, with census figures showing it is about 54% Arab American.
"Reckless. Bigoted. Islamophobic," Hammoud said on Saturday about the WSJ piece written by Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.
Biden, who is running for re-election, has himself faced criticism and protests from Dearborn and from anti-war voices around the country for his administration's support for Israel in its operations in Gaza.
The WSJ did not respond to a request for comment. Stalinsky said he stood by his piece and added that videos compiled by his institute showed that "shocking anti-U.S. and pro-jihad sermons and marches" had taken place in the city. Reuters was not able to independently verify the location or the date of when the videos were filmed.
Rights advocates have noted a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias and antisemitism in the U.S. since the eruption of war in the Middle East in October.
Among anti-Palestinian incidents that raised alarm were a November shooting in Vermont of three students of Palestinian descent and the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American in Illinois in October.
Some Democratic members of the U.S. Congress like Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Ro Khanna, and Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, also condemned the WSJ opinion piece, with Jayapal demanding an apology from the newspaper.
The latest eruption of war in the Middle East began on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200. Israel has since assaulted Hamas-governed Gaza, killing over 27,000, according to the local health ministry. Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million population is displaced. The densely populated enclave also faces starvation.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Dan Burns and Lisa Shumaker)
Daniel Arkin and Kristy Hutter and Lisa Salinas and Rima Abdelkader
Mon, February 5, 2024
The mayor of Dearborn ramped up security measures this weekend after The Wall Street Journal published an opinion article referring to the Michigan city as “America’s Jihad Capital” — a headline that drew sharp criticism from Muslim advocacy groups and elected officials.
The op-ed, published Friday afternoon, suggested that Dearborn’s residents — including Muslim faith leaders and politicians — support Hamas and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. Dearborn is home to about 110,000 people, with a sizable population of Muslims and Arab Americans.
The article was “extremely inflammatory and, upon it being published, we received many calls from faith leaders across the community who no longer felt safe,” Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said in an interview Sunday with MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin.
Hammoud, who was elected Dearborn’s first Arab American mayor in 2021, confirmed that he increased the city’s police presence at houses of worship and other major public places after what he described on the social media platform X as an “alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting the city of Dearborn.”
“Stay vigilant,” Hammoud wrote.
The opinion article was written by Steven Stalinsky, the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a nonprofit monitoring group based in Washington. The Wall Street Journal did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday morning.
In a statement, Stalinsky said in part that his “article is not political — it is about national security” and decried what he said are “anti-US and pro-jihad sermons and marches” in the city.
The article drew fierce outcry from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee and lawmakers. In a statement Saturday, the Michigan chapter of CAIR said it welcomed the boosted security precautions and denounced the “inflammatory anti-Muslim commentary.”
Michigan Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, denounced the Journal op-ed in posts on X. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on X that the newspaper “should immediately apologize to the residents of Dearborn and to Muslims everywhere.”
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, the Democratic majority whip, wrote on X that the headline was “not only irresponsible, it’s downright dangerous.”
“Michigan is a diverse, beautiful place where hate, bigotry, racism and demonization have no place,” McMorrow added.
President Joe Biden, while not referring directly to the Journal op-ed or the article’s author, said on X that it was “wrong” to blame “a group of people based on the words of a small few.”
“That’s exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn’t happen to the residents of Dearborn — or any American town,” Biden wrote. “We must continue to condemn hate in all forms.”
Biden has faced criticism from anti-war and pro-Palestinian activists nationwide over his administration’s support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military’s operations in Gaza. When the president visited Michigan last week, for example, protesters waving Palestinian flags chanted, “Genocide Joe has got to go.”
Hammoud on Sunday night replied directly to Biden’s post on X, writing in part: “I’m glad President Biden @POTUS recognizes the severity and danger of the @WSJ article. It’s equally important that his administration recognize the rhetoric and decision making that created the climate for it to be written in the first place.”
CAIR, the leading Muslim civil rights group in the U.S., reported in late January that it received some 3,578 complaints of anti-Muslim or anti-Palestinian bias incidents in the last three months of 2023, following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel and Israel’s military assault on the Gaza Strip. The organization said that figure represents a 178% increase in incoming complaints compared to a similar period in 2022.
Muslims across the U.S. have expressed deep fear and anxiety in recent months, particularly in light of a series of high-profile violent incidents, including the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, in Chicago in October and the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont over Thanksgiving weekend.
More than 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’ shock attack in Israel on Oct. 7. Israel’s subsequent military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 27,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. The war in Gaza has displaced nearly all of the Palestinian enclave’s population of 2.3 million people and created a humanitarian crisis.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Dearborn, Mich., will increase police presence after op-ed calls it ‘America’s jihad capital’
Sarah Fortinsky
Mon, February 5, 2024
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn, Mich., on Saturday ordered an increase in security across his city after an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal called the city “America’s jihad capital.”
“Effective immediately — Dearborn police will ramp up its presence across all places of worship and major infrastructure points,” Hammoud wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“This is a direct result of the inflammatory @WSJ opinion piece that has led to an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting the city of Dearborn,” he added. “Stay vigilant.”
Hammoud earlier had criticized the opinion piece as “Reckless. Bigoted. Islamophobic.”
“It’s 2024 and the @WSJ still pushes out this type of garbage,” he wrote, adding, “Dearborn is one of the greatest American cities in our nation.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the op-ed’s writer, Steven Stalinsky, defended his piece and said he did not intend for it to stir up anti-Muslim hate.
“Nothing in my article was written to instigate any sort of hate,” Stalinsky said to the AP. “This is a moment for counterterrorism officials to be concerned.”
In the months since the war between Israel and Hamas began, incidents of Islamophobia and antisemitism have skyrocketed.
Last week, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it received 3,578 complaints during the last three months of 2023, a 178 percent increase from the same period the previous year.
President Biden touched on the WSJ article, writing in a post Sunday, “Americans know that blaming a group of people based on the words of a small few is wrong. That’s exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn’t happen to the residents of Dearborn — or any American town. We must continue to condemn hate in all forms.”
Hammoud praised Biden’s response to the WSJ article but criticized the administration’s support for Israel.
“I’m glad President Biden @POTUS recognizes the severity and danger of the @WSJ article. It’s equally important that his administration recognize the rhetoric and decisionmaking that created the climate for it to be written in the first place,” Hammoud
Dearborn community leaders condemn history of bigotry targeting Arab Americans
For more than 40 years, Dearborn's residents have faced inaccurate stereotypes of the city based on anti-Arab racism that often spikes during war and foreign policy tensions.
Once again, they find themselves under scrutiny amid an Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has brought renewed attention to the city with the highest percentage of Arab Americans.
Arab American Civil Rights League founder Nabih Ayad speaks during a news conference of the Arab American Civil Rights League outside the Dearborn Police Department on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, denouncing an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal headlined "Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital."
A recent opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal with an inflammatory headline that read "America's Jihad Capital" has sparked fears they will be targeted once more. Arab Americans and their supporters, including the head of the Detroit NAACP, gathered Monday outside Dearborn police headquarters to denounce the piece and welcome visitors to experience the city's hospitality, food and diversity.
"We are Arab Americans and we are proud of who we are," said Osama Siblani, a community advocate and publisher of The Arab American News, a Dearborn-based newspaper that has been publishing in English and Arabic for nearly 40 years. "And this person is not going to take it away from us. The Wall Street Journal will not make us shake. ... We are not scared. You know why we're not scared? Because we know the Constitution. ... We are a hospitable and welcoming community."
Siblani spoke at a news conference organized by the Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL), a Dearborn-based civil rights group, that featured civil rights activists and Arab American advocates. Some called upon the Wall Street Journal to apologize and retract the opinion piece written by Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a group that says it monitors extremists, but has faced criticism from some activists for unfairly targeting Muslims and Arabs.
Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News, speaks during a news conference of the Arab American Civil Rights League outside the Dearborn Police Department on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, denouncing an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal headlined "Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital."
"This ... places a target on our community's back and makes many in our community feel unsafe," Wayne County Commission Sam Baydoun said at the news conference. "This irresponsible form of journalism is unacceptable. And whoever was behind it must be held accountable."
Baydoun and other speakers noted that many Arab Americans proudly serve in the U.S. military and in law enforcement in Michigan. In addition to the news conference, two Arab American leaders joined presidential candidate Cornel West as he visited Dearborn and posted a video on X that condemned the article. The Dearborn-based American Human Rights Council also released a statement Monday calling the piece irresponsible.
Stalinsky's piece, published online Friday afternoon, was slammed Saturday by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who leads a city of almost 110,000 residents, 54% of them Arab American.
"Reckless. Bigoted. Islamophobic," Hammoud wrote. "Dearborn is one of the greatest American cities in our nation."
Over the weekend, his views were echoed by a number of other elected officials, including the two U.S. senators from Michigan, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, some House representatives and state legislators, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and even President Joe Biden.
'We must...condemn hate in all forms': Biden says of Wall Street Journal's Dearborn piece
More: Whitmer blasts 'cruel and ignorant' WSJ column on Dearborn
"Americans know that blaming a group of people based on the words of a small few is wrong," Biden wrote.
Hammoud last month turned down an invitation to meet with Biden's campaign manager during her visit to Dearborn because of the president's support for Israel's attacks in Gaza.
Biden and Hammoud found common ground on criticizing the opinion piece, though Hammoud followed up with another tweet that suggested Biden's policies fostered the environment that led to the opinion piece. Hammoud said the Biden administration needs to “recognize the rhetoric and decision making that created the climate for it to be written." Arab Americans have criticized Democrats in Michigan for their strong support for Israel.
In a statement to the Free Press on Monday sent through a MEMRI official, Stalinksy defended his article and asked Hammoud to condemn what he said were "speeches and sermons by extremist imams."
Stalinksy said there are what he characterized as "shocking anti-U.S. and pro-jihad sermons and marches that are going on openly in his city. And it must be pointed out that these events took place in the direct center of Dearborn, at locations such as the Henry Ford Centennial Library and the Ford (Community &) Performing Arts Center."
Stalinsky's op-ed focused on Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran's government, three groups the U.S. government has said support terrorism. In Dearborn, there are some who reject labeling the groups terrorist entities because they see them protecting communities where they have roots. Some in Dearborn's Lebanese Shia community, for example, view Hezbollah as a resistance group that successfully fought off Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, where they have family ties, in 2006. Stalinksy said his article was "not political — it is about national security."
Stalinsky added that "it is deeply troubling that I have not seen one reaction in the media which has talked about the content of my article or asked any of the critics if they have seen them. The media hysteria and online frenzy have solely focused on the mayor’s statement."
Civil rights advocates are concerned there will be a renewal of war on terrorism tactics that have targeted their communities. Even before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Arab Americans were racially profiled at airports and faced what was called "secret evidence" used against them in trials. In 1985, amid tensions after hijackings in the Middle East, the New York Post ran a cover story on Dearborn headlined "Beirut, USA" that falsely claimed Islamic militias ran Dearborn's streets. After 9/11, the war on terrorism led to even greater scrutiny, with federal agents increasing raids, arrests and criminal cases involving Arab American and Muslim suspects.
Nabih Ayad, an attorney who founded the ACRL, spoke Monday about how over the past 20 years, Dearborn was falsely labeled a city under Islamic law, sharia, and was targeted by anti-Islam evangelists, including a Quran-burning pastor and a Christian extremist who brought a pig's head to taunt Muslims at the annual Arab International Festival in 2012. The annual festival had to be canceled because of the soaring insurance costs due to tensions brought about by the harassment. There were other cases of mosques being threatened, Ayad said.
Ayad said that while there may be an occasional person saying something extreme at a rally in Dearborn, that should not be used to target the entire city. Stalinksy said in his article that some imams, such as Ahmad Musa Jebril, have made statements suggesting support for the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. But the article failed to mention that Jebril has often been ostracized and excluded in Michigan's Muslim centers because of his extremist views, the Free Press reported in 2017.
Local Muslim leaders have said they're not aware of Jebril leading any mosque in Michigan. He once spent 6½ years in federal prison for financial crimes.
"You take supposedly a statement or two, whether it's founded or unfounded, by an individual and you want to ... (take a) broad brush against this community, it's simply unjust and unfair," Ayad said.
"It's like saying all the Black Lives Matter movement" is problematic because there may be one person who expressed anti-white views, Ayad said.
Stalinksy's op-ed also referenced a rally on Oct. 13 outside the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn that was smaller in size than a larger rally at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center on Oct. 10. The Oct. 13 rally at the library featured some speakers who called for Palestinian resistance, appeared to support the Oct. 7 attack, and praised the late Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran and the late Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by the U.S. in military strikes in 2020. Most of the other numerous pro-Palestinian rallies held in metro Detroit have not featured open support for Iran's government.
Also on Monday, Whitmer blasted the opinion piece as "cruel and ignorant," using stronger language that her tweet Sunday on the piece. The Associated Press said it was unable to reach the Wall Street Journal for comment Sunday.
Detroit branch NAACP President the Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony speaks during a news conference of the Arab American Civil Rights League outside the Dearborn Police Department on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, denouncing an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal headlined "Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital."
The Rev. Wendell Anthony, a longtime Black leader in Michigan who is president of the Detroit chapter of the NAACP, joined Arab American leaders on Monday, saying the article was "not only misinformation, it's disinformation. ... Our nation is plagued by Islamophobia, white supremacism, antisemitism, racism, genderism and ageism. There are just too much isms going around."
Abed Ayoub, a Dearborn native who is national director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said that the type of rhetoric in the opinion piece has consequences, noting the stabbing death of a 6-year-old boy, Wadee Alfayoumi, of Palestinian descent near Chicago in October in what officials have called a hate crime motivated by bigoted views against Palestinians, and the November shooting of three Palestinian Americans in Vermont.
"That's what these consequences look like," Ayoub said.
Previous Free Press stories and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com or X @nwarikoo.
'It brings fear to community members': Wall Street Journal op-ed sparks Dearborn safety concerns
Brandon Hudson
Mon, February 5, 2024
DEARBORN, Mich (FOX 2) - Days later, some Dearborn business and community leaders are still talking about the Wall Street Journal opinion piece that caused a lot of controversy.
On Monday, we saw an added security outside the Islamic Center of America Mosque on Ford Road. It is a direct response from Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and police to the WSJ's opinion piece, calling Dearborn "America’s Jihad Capital."
"This article, it brings fear to community members," said Hamzah Nasser. "We don’t know what can happen from an article like that.
"As soon as that article came out, police presence was all over."
Nasser is the owner of Haraz Coffee and is no stranger to standing up for his community and culture.
Back in December, he was one of several Dearborn business owners to close for a day. It was part of a protest calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Nasser says the Wall Street Journal commentary has sparked a lot of dialogue.
FOX 2: "What can you do now?"
"We’d love to invite everyone. anyone who has any misperception about Dearborn. we’d love to invite them here," he said. "This is where I grew up. My whole life, my whole childhood is Dearborn. Even my successful business, the success came out of this beautiful community, who supported this business."
This is not the first time that Dearborn has been misrepresented nationally.
Last fall, FOX News and then-Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis both misused photos of local Arab American protesters demonstrating for Palestine, not Hamas, following the Middle East conflict in Gaza.
Local and national Arab leaders believe the Wall Street Journal article could fan the flames.
Related:
Dearborn mayor ramps up police patrols after "Islamophobic rhetoric" in WSJ op-ed
Dearborn community leaders push back on Wall Street Journal piece calling it the 'Jihad Capital'
National leaders like Abed Ayoub — who runs the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee — wants to help Dearborn fight back against a damaging perception.
"Nationally, we’re going to follow Dearborn’s lead, that’s why we’re here," he said. "That’s why we’re coming here to provide the resources and tools that are needed, but also to support and uplift efforts the locals are doing."
The ADC is working to take actions against the Wall Street Journal and is working with city leaders.
Associated Press
Sun, February 4, 2024
Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, speaks during a campaign rally for presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in Dearborn, Mich., March 7, 2020. Dearborn is ramping up its police presence in response to fallout from an opinion piece that described the city, which has the nation’s highest Muslim population per capita, as “America’s jihad capital.” Hammoud, who is now the mayor of Dearborn, tweeted on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, that city police increased security at places of worship and major infrastructure points as a “direct result” of the Wall Street Journal opinion piece titled, “Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital.”
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Dearborn, Michigan, is ramping up its police presence in response to fallout from an opinion piece that described the city, which has the nation’s highest Muslim population per capita, as “America’s jihad capital.”
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on Friday tweeted that city police increased security at places of worship and major infrastructure points as a “direct result” of a Wall Street Journal opinion piece titled, “Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital.”
Hammoud posted on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, that the item published Friday “led to an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting the city of Dearborn.”
Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute, who authored the opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, said in an interview with The Associated Press that he wanted to draw attention to protests in Michigan and elsewhere across the U.S. in which people have expressed support for Hamas since the start of the war with Israel.
More than 27,000 Palestinians, mostly women and minors, have been killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped about 250 more, mostly civilians, in the attack.
“Nothing in my article was written to instigate any sort of hate,” Stalinsky said. “This is a moment for counterterrorism officials to be concerned.”
The Wall Street Journal did not immediately respond Sunday to requests for comment left by The Associated Press via email and voicemail. An email sent to a Dearborn spokeswoman also was not immediately returned Sunday.
In a tweet referencing Dearborn on Saturday, President Joe Biden condemned “hate in all forms.”
“Americans know that blaming a group of people based on the words of a small few is wrong,” Biden’s post read. “That’s exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn’t happen to the residents of Dearborn – or any American town.”
Dearborn community leaders push back on Wall Street Journal piece calling it the 'Jihad Capital'
Camille Amiri
Mon, February 5, 2024
FOX 2 (WJBK) - Police patrols in Dearborn are on alert after a Wall Street Journal opinion piece referred to the city as 'America's Jihad Capitol.'
Community leaders and Muslim advocacy groups are defending the city, which has the largest Muslim population in the US.
"How dare you talk about this community and say that we are a jihadist state," said Nabih Ayad, Arab American Civil Rights League.
Arab American leaders are demanding a retraction from the Wall Street Journal after the paper published the opinion piece Friday.
Mariam Charara is with the Arab American Civil Rights League.
"Words have consequences," Charara said. "The inflammatory and dehumanizing language you served as fuel for fire that ignites the bigotry, intolerance, and ultimately violence against innocent civilians we have seen in this country."
"Make no mistake about it, we’re not talking about the Palestinian issue, we're not talking about the political issue, we're not talking about any other issue," said Ayad. "We're talking about the safety of this community."
Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, the president of the Detroit branch of the NAACP was also in attendance.
Related: 'It brings fear to community members': Wall Street Journal op-ed sparks Dearborn safety concerns
"The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, 'Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.' In the recent article entitled 'Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital,' published by the Wall Street Journal on Feb. 3, written by Steven Stalinsky, herein lies a key example of the ignorance of the facts of life in the City of Dearborn."
Abed Ayoub represents the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
"We've got to just step back and ask ourselves when is enough, enough," Ayoub said. "Is it when a child gets shot and killed in the city? Is it when a mosque is attacked? When is enough, enough? The Wall Street Journal needs to ask itself the same question. Because they will be held responsible if anything happens inside this city or to any Arab American or Arab across the country."
FOX 2 reached out to the Wall Street Journal for comment, it has yet to respond.
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