Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud is growing police presence within the metropolis in response to studies of elevated Islamophobic rhetoric after a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

Paul Sancya/AP

conceal caption

toggle caption

Paul Sancya/AP

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud is growing police presence within the metropolis in response to studies of elevated Islamophobic rhetoric after a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

Paul Sancya/AP

Dearborn, Mich. is ramping up its police presence after a Wall Street Journal opinion piece described the Detroit suburb as”America’s jihad capital.”

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud described “an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting the city” in a social media put up on Saturday and referred to as it a “direct response” to the column, which was revealed on Friday.

Increased safety can be stationed “at places of worship and major infrastructure points,” stated Hammoud, who’s town’s first Muslim and Arab American mayor.

Experts cite an uptick in hate incidents nationwide towards Arab, Muslim, and Jewish communities because the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out, which has killed greater than 27,000 folks in Gaza up to now. The conflict started after the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas militants that killed greater than 1,200 folks in Israel.

According to Census figures, the metro Detroit space is house to the very best focus of Arab Americans within the U.S. More than half of Dearborn’s 100,000-plus residents are Arab Americans can be house to the most important mosque in northern America, the Islamic Center of America.

The op-ed’s writer, Steven Stalinsky, government director of the Middle East Media Research Institute, defended the article, saying he aimed to name out alleged open help amongst some Dearborn residents for the Oct. 7 assault.

“Hate against anybody is terrible, of course,” Stalinsky informed NPR. “And I don’t accept that this article is inciting to that. If anything, the people that are cited in the article should be denounced and they’re the ones supporting terrorism. This is about the issue of counterterrorism.”

NPR was unable to verify any of Stalinsky’s allegations.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, stated in a statement that the op-ed falsely claims that pro-Palestine protesters help terrorism and that the column resorts to “smear tactics.”

“We welcome the proactive approach taken by Mayor Hammoud to protect the Muslim community from potential attack based on the false claims in this inaccurate and inflammatory commentary,” stated CAIR-MI Executive Director Dawud Walid.

Neither Hammoud’s workplace nor the WSJ responded to requests for remark.

The mayor of neighboring Dearborn Heights, Bill Bazzi, additionally launched a statement in gentle of the op-ed and stated its police division can be carefully monitoring the scenario — each on social media and on the bottom.

President Biden additionally weighed in. In a social media post Sunday, Biden denounced anti-Arab hate with out naming the WSJ.

“The opinion pages of a newspaper should be a place for the free exchange of ideas and the promotion of healthy debate, but editorial boards have a responsibility and an obligation to discern when an opinion piece contains hateful, dangerous rhetoric,” stated the Board of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA) in an announcement to NPR. “Mr. Stalinksy’s commentary demonized an entire American city, targeting a specific ethnic and religious group.”

“When we look at these headlines, these stories, and these tweets that go viral, the key is to understand two things: there is a cottage industry out there that fans the flames of anti-Arab hate and anti-Muslim hate, specifically to advance, often I think, a political agenda,” stated Maya Berry, Executive Director of the Arab American Institute (AAI). “And the second part of it is to always, always understand that this hate has a very real and direct impact on people’s lives.”