Dearborn Community Enraged After 'Islamophobic' Rhetoric In WSJ Op-Ed

DEARBORN, MI — Community leaders and Muslim advocates stood outside the Dearborn Police Department on Monday and decried a recent a Wall Street Journal opinion article that called Dearborn "America's Jihad Capital."

Speaking outside the police station, Arab American Civil Rights League of Dearborn Nabih Ayad warned the rhetoric in the op-ed could lead to violence in Dearborn and elsewhere across the nation.

"We’re not talking about the Palestinian issue, we’re not talking about the political issue, we’re not talking about any other issue. We’re talking about the safety of this community," Ayad said. "And don’t just take our word for it, take the United States President’s word for it, who also is on our side on this issue."

Executive Director of Arab American Civil Rights League Mariam Charrara called the op-ed "anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, racist and Islamophobic."

"Make no mistake, the author of this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal knew the harm they were going to inflict when they submitted this article," Charrara said.

The Arab American Civil Rights League also called on police to investigate anyone who targets the Arab American community for hateful speech as a result of the op-ed.

The op-ed drew swift reaction from multiple Michigan leaders, including Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, who said Dearborn Police would ramp up a presence at places of worship as a direct result of the op-ed.

The op-ed also drew a reaction from President Joe Biden, who denounced the article as an attack on Arab-American citizens in Dearborn.

The Wall Street Journal op-ed was written by Steven Stalinsky, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute. The article criticized Dearborn's residents for recent pro-Palestine demonstrations.

Moreover, Stalinsky said in the article that Dearborn's residents have celebrated the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and openly support Hamas.

Stalinsky responded to the Dearborn mayor and other critics in a statement, obtained by The Detroit News.

"I would ask him why he has allowed support inside Dearborn for U.S.-designated terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as for the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, Iran and its leaders and its proxy militias — who are most recently responsible for killing three American service personnel this past week — to continue for so long, thinking that no one would notice," Stalinsky wrote.