Michigan: 10,000 March to Protest Israeli Attacks
The Arab American News, News Report, Aatif Ali Bokhari, Jul 24, 2006
DEARBORN – The largest Arab American rally in ten years took place here July 18 to condemn Israeli aggression against Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, as well as to call out a U.S. government seen by the local community as caring more about Israeli interests than its own people's.
Over 10,000 people took part in the rally. Flying hundreds of American, Palestinian and Lebanese flags, the crowd, made up of Muslims, Christians and Jews, insisted that its problem lay not with Judaism but with Zionism as a "secular, politically-racist ideology."
The last Dearborn rally that was so well-attended took place in 1996, also as a protest against the Israelis when the people of Qana were massacred. In each case, Israeli aggression struck close to home, feelings that clearly simmered in the crowd even now, as one sign noted, "Peres, you killed my two children in Qana!"
What was the goal behind holding the rally? "We want to see an effect that resonates with our government officials and fellow citizens," said Bilal Dabaja, a member of the Arab American Political Action Committee and a University of Michigan at Dearborn student, between leading chants on his bull-horn.
"We all want to stop the Israeli oppression," added Lenora Prater, an African American from Detroit, as she sat under a tree on Warren Avenue. "I'm pleased with the turnout."
As the crowd continued down the road, thundering cries of "Israel out of Lebanon!" "Down, down Israel!" and "Death to Israel!" rang out. As the rally continued its move down Schaefer, more and more people came running. They were joining in from back alley-ways, jumping out of cars and sprinting down sidewalks to take part in the rally.
"Other than our own leaders, Israel pulls us together like no one else can," said Abed Hammoud as he helped lead the rally down the road. Hammoud is chairman of the Congress of Arab American Organizations (CAAO).
The rally's frontline was made up of an interfaith group of rabbis, priests and imams. They all made it clear that there was no room for the Israelis to target the Lebanese people by destroying their civilian infrastructure.
"I think this is the best way, that we walk together as Muslims, Christians and Jews against injustice. This is the best way to ensure that Muhammed, Jesus and Moses are happy with us," said Husham Al-Hussainy, imam of the Karbalaa Islamic Center in Dearborn.
"There is no human life that is more valuable than another," added Reverend Rani Abdel Masseih from Church of the Magnificent Life.
"The Zionists have created a situation where there is an endless situation of bloodshed. The root cause of all this suffering is the state of Israel," said Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of Neturei Karta International, a Jewish group opposing Zionism as being against Judaism.
"Hamas and Hizbullah don't want to throw the Jews into the sea, they simply want to claim their right to their land.
"I flew in from New York and nobody knew what our political position was at the rally. These Muslims simply saw us as very religious Jews. They could have mistreated us but nobody did," added Weiss, responding to accusations by some media outlets that the protest was a violent one.
"Can I stop crying?" asked Suehaila Amen, when asked what she thought about the rally. "We put so much time into making this event a success."
Amen, a Lebanese American Heritage Club (LAHC) and American-Arab Anti-Discrimination (ADC) Board Officer noted, "It's amazing and emotionally overwhelming to see people from all walks of life here. We have not only Lebanese, but Iraqis and Yemenis. We have not only Arab Americans but also Latinos and African Americans. People came from far away as Toledo to be here."
Turning East at Hemlock and walking for another block, the crowd filled up a large park that organizers had prepared. Pulsing with energy and waving their flags, the crowd pumped their fists in the air and continued to shout, "Out, out Israel! Down, down Israel!"
Osama Siblani, publisher of this newspaper, said from the erected stage, "We ask the government of Saudi Arabia to stop fuelling Israeli planes that are killing our children." The crowd booed loudly at the mention of the Saudi government.
"How do you define terrorism? By killing innocent people to change policies? This is what Israel is doing, this is terror," Siblani shouted to the cheering crowd, adding that the "Israelis bomb others from the air because they are afraid to fight bravely on the ground, face to face."
Several speakers noted that the U.S. has already "made a mess" of Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza, and continuing that trend with the destruction of the Lebanon was not the way to "win the hearts and minds of the people."
"It is with a heavy heart that I say two communities are facing destruction. I say that the excuse that this is self-defense [for Israel] is appalling, disgusting and sickening," said Rana Abbas, Deputy Director of ADC-Michigan.
"I see right now that there is an effort to silence this community or drive it into hiding by accusing this community of harboring Hizbullah sleeper cells. This is a bunch of crap. We are not going to stand by and be exposed to this type of political harassment," said Siblani in a press conference at the LAHC in Dearborn the following day.
Siblani added that Arab Americans had the right to protest peacefully just like the pro-Israeli community and was fully prepared to spread its message across America at the grass roots level if the media continued to ignore the suffering in the Middle East.
The community is holding nightly town hall meetings to update citizens.
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