'Death to America' chants in Dearborn echo across social media, draw local condemnation

Dearborn — Video that captured chants of "death to America" and "death to Israel" by some attendees of a Dearborn rally on Friday went viral over the weekend, underscoring tensions over U.S. support for Israel's six-month-long assault against Hamas in Gaza.

The chants were denounced by Dearborn's mayor and other locals as they drew national attention Monday. They were initiated by an unidentified person in the crowd and have since become one focus of videos being shared worldwide and reported by international media.

The rally was held on the International Day of Al-Quds, an annual pro-Palestinian event held on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to express support for Palestinians in their decades-old land dispute over the creation of a Jewish state. People gathered in front of the Henry Ford Centennial Library on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn holding Palestinian flags and yellow signs that read "Money for jobs and education not for Israel's occupation." They chanted in unison, "Free, Free Palestine" and "End the occupation now."

The event was organized by Tarek Bazzi, a local activist, who spoke out against what he called Israel's "satanic actions" and "the United States government providing funds that allow the atrocities." He quoted the Black Panther movement and Malcolm X talking about oppressive U.S. actions in other countries and, during Bazzi's brief pause, a man from the crowd shouted three times in Arabic, "Death to America." Several in the crowd can be heard echoing his chant in response each time.

The Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) on Sunday circulated on X (formerly Twitter) transcribed video clips of Bazzi's speech from a video by Dearborn.org. One clip was viewed 2.6 million times by late Monday, the platform reported. The video came just two months after MEMRI executive director Steven Stalinsky declared Dearborn "America's Jihad Capital" in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, a column that drew condemnation, locally and from President Joe Biden.

In his speech, Bazzi decried continued U.S. support for Israel and called for condemnation of America's role. "Any system that would allow such devilries to happen and would support it does not deserve to exist on God's Earth," he said of the U.S. "So when these fools ask if Israel has a right to exist, the chant 'Death to Israel' has become the most logical chant shouted across the world today."

At that time, a man in the crowd yelled "Death to Israel" in Arabic, and several in the crowd echoed his words, as well.

"This is no longer an extreme position, this is no longer a fringe position, this is the position of every single human being on earth that has a mind, a heart and a soul and has a political insight and awareness," Bazzi said.

The rally was not disrupted by the chants, but not nearly as many people followed in unison as other chants calling for "Free Palestine." Bazzi did not return messages Monday from The Detroit News seeking further comment.

Chants denounced

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud denounced the chants Monday as unacceptable, saying: "The hateful rhetoric heard on Friday does not reflect the opinion of the members of this community."

"We reject all inflammatory and violent statements made at the gathering," Hammoud wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "The Dearborn community stands for peace and justice for all people. We are proud to call this city and this country home."

The head of one Jewish community organization who saw the video said he doesn’t believe it reflects the majority opinion of those in attendance. Still, it was “frightening," said Sam Dubin, interim executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council/AJC in Bloomfield Hills.

“For those people at the rally, who were chanting ‘Death to Israel' and ‘Death to America’, and linking the two in such a vile and frightening way, it was scary,” Dubin said. “We're sympathetic to the loss of innocent Palestinian life. And we understand that they're victims of Hamas. And Israel is responding to the war that Hamas is waging.  So it's complex, but what's not complex is calling for the death to Israel and death to the United States.”

Other prominent Dearborn community leaders, including Arab American News founder Osama Siblani, issued a joint statement saying to the speakers responsible for "inciting such discord, know this: Your messages of extremism do not resonate with us."

"Critiques of our nation's foreign policies should not translate into blanket condemnations," the statement said. "Your perspectives do not represent our aspirations, our community, or the values we uphold. As proud Americans, we embody the spirit of the American dream, free from the shadows of your divisive rhetoric."

"Your views have no place in the fabric of our community," the statement said.

The event began with verses from the Quran recited by Bazzi and Sayed Ali Jomaa. The group prayed for the civilians lives lost in the war, which the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says totals more than 33,000. Those totals don't distinguish civilians from military casualties.

Speeches included those from Dr. Mohammad Ali Hussein and Dr. Adam Fahs, who both worked as medical volunteers in Gaza. The doctors discussed how basic necessities don't exist. Children are malnourished, fearful without their families, and described operating on young ones with wounds filled with maggots, the doctors said.

"I witnessed a genocide, yes, a genocide. I witnessed the absolute destruction of a society," said Fahs, an Ascension orthopedic trauma surgeon. "I saw an entire city of people degraded to tents and makeshift shelters. I saw droves of bodies being rushed into the hospital after days and nights of ruthless bombings. I saw mangled limbs, children suffering from life changing injuries forever maimed, forever disabled. I witnessed pure evil at the hands of Israel, and I saw families lose literally everything."

More than 20 hospitals in Gaza have been bombed beyond function, Fahs said.

Six months of war

The Israel-Hamas war is one of the most destructive, deadly and intractable conflicts of the 21st century, according to the Associated Press. The war followed a surprise cross-border Hamas attack on Oct. 7, when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilian, and took 240 hostage. Of the hostages, 123 have been freed and 36 have died in captivity. In the last six months, 70% of Gaza's 1.7 million residents have been displaced.

Humanitarian groups have warned the Gaza Strip is on the brink of famine after six months of Israel's war against Hamas. Food and other supplies are blocked from entering Israel's land borders, causing the U.S. to airdrop food. The war has also intensified with tit-for-tat fighting in southern Lebanon and Iraq.

Meanwhile, at the International Court of Justice, South Africa argued that Israel has violated international humanitarian laws alleging a genocide is occurring in Gaza. Israeli officials have said they have conducted a legitimate defense of their people and not committed genocide. Israeli legal adviser Tal Becker told the United Nations' highest court in January that the country is fighting a “war it did not start and did not want" and that Hamas militants are guilty of genocide.

At the United Nations roundtable, ceasefire talks continue. Hamas previously suggested a phased release of all remaining Israeli hostages in return for an end to the war, full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the plan as "delusional." The most recent proposal by Israel was limited to a six-week ceasefire.

More:Analysis: Biden’s ‘red line’ on Gaza is nowhere to be found

More:Top UN court opens hearings in a case accusing Germany of facilitating Israel's Gaza conflict

Tensions rise in Michigan

The continued fighting in Gaza compounds heightened tensions in Michigan, especially in Metro Detroit, which holds one of the nation's largest concentrations of Arab Americans. It's stretched into a presidential election season in which about 101,000 Democrats casting "uncommitted" votes in the Feb. 27 Michigan primary following a campaign to protest President Joe Biden's support of Israel. Demonstrations by pro-Palestinian supporters continue by the week.

In the 12th Congressional District that covers Dearborn and Dearborn Heights ― led by Democratic U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, who endorsed the protest vote against Biden ― about 17% voted uncommitted.

In late March, Michigan U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg faced criticism for suggesting that nuclear weapons should be dropped on Gaza, which his office said was a metaphor to “support Israel’s swift elimination of Hamas.”

“It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick,” Walberg said in a video circulating on social media, referencing the Japanese cities that the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on at the end of World War II.

Walberg, a Republican from Lenawee County, also is heard in the video saying, “We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid."

Friday's International Day of Al-Quds rally was held in Dearborn's “Free Speech Zone,” which is a space “for any to express their right to free speech under the First Amendment” of the U.S. Constitution, Hammoud's office said Monday in a statement.

The group behind the Friday rally is not affiliated with city government, Hammoud's office said Monday.

“The inflammatory rhetoric expressed by some at the rally is neither endorsed nor supported by the City of Dearborn, its mayor, or any City elected officials,” said the mayor's office statement said.

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