Dearborn, MI – On November 18, 20 protesters met at the Arab American Museum in Dearborn to confront a hate march put on by right-wingers who called for end to “Islamification.” Islamophobic marchers managed to gather a group of 30 people. The march was initially spearheaded by Anthony Hudson, an “America First” gubernatorial candidate who tried to recant his claims that Dearborn was under “Sharia law” – only to still face the protest anyways.

Given Dearborn is home to many Arab and Muslim residents, the community took the threats made by Hudson and January 6 insurrectionist Jake Lang seriously and came out in crowds. The groups leading the protest against the hate march were Detroit Anti-War Committee, Detroit Community Action Committee, Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization – Detroit.

The protesters met outside of the Arab American Museum and conducted a rally of their own. They chanted “MAGA, you racist clowns, you’re not welcome in this town!” and “Get up and take a stand, Dearborn fights hand in hand!”

Amongst the racists were people who had crucifixes and brought cuts of pork, mocking the Muslim faith. Racists tried to burn two Qurans, but activists managed to seize the Qurans before they were able to do it.

The hate marchers decided to take Michigan Avenue, a main road that runs through Dearborn. The anti-racist protesters followed and began to bolster their numbers from determined Dearborn community members. Soon they vastly outnumbered the racist hate marchers. The protesters overtook and drowned out the measly crowd of racists.

Before the protest was over, the protesters could claim that they had 400 Dearborn residents on their side.

Jo Pico, a member of the Detroit Anti-War Committee said, “We knew they started marching because they were scared of us. We were chanting at them that these were our streets. We intended to prove that was true. So when they marched onto Michigan Ave, of course we did too.”

Chants such as “When Dearborn is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” and “MAGA, go home!” clearly rattled the Islamophobes who started to retreat towards the Dearborn Administration Building.

At the Dearborn Administration Building, the hate marchers and their banners reading things such as “Americans against Islamification” were blocked out by banners demanding divestment and sanctuary city status among other progressive banners.

Daniel Alatorre, a member of Comité de Acción Comunitaria – Detroit, summed up the event by saying, “We came out to oppose racists like Jake Lang, a proud white supremacist, and Anthony Hudson, a racist running for governor of Michigan, because they wanted to attack a beautiful and proud Arab community in Dearborn on the basis of their nationality and for many their religion.”

Throughout the evening, the hate marchers repeatedly attempted to start physical confrontations, and they repeatedly fled the confrontations they were starting like the cowards they are. This occurred over and over until hundreds of local residents of Dearborn took to the streets to oppose them, forcing the Islamophobes to disperse. Sofia Marx, an organizer with Wayne State Students for a Democratic Society explained, “They would come over to provoke us, but every time we repelled them and forced them back.”

Jackson Robak of Freedom Road Socialist Organization-Detroit stated, “It’s beyond important to stand up to oppose racists and fight alongside our Arab-American friends and neighbors because these agitators are Trump’s foot soldiers who wish to enact every nightmare Trump has thought of on the American people. If we want to fight Trump, we have to fight everyone who’s on the ground fighting for his agenda.”

#DearbornMI #MI #OppressedNationalities #ArabAmerican #Palestine

Dearborn, MI – On Saturday, May 17, approximately 150 movement leaders, including lawyers, legal observers, community organizers and elected officials, gathered for the Legacy Dinner hosted by the Detroit chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

The fundraiser honored the work of west Michigan based Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, along with longtime movement lawyer Denise Heberle, and Detroit based audio engineers The Peoples Sound. Police misconduct attorney Andrea Ritchie, known for her work exposing state violence against oppressed nationality women, gave the keynote address.

In their introduction to honorees Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, National Lawyers Guild legal observer coordinator Lisa Carlson praised the group for their consistent efforts while remaining grounded in solidarity.

“In many ways, [Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids’] organizing reminds us that some of the most powerful work happens in smaller cities – outside the spotlight, and often without the recognition it deserves,” said Carlson. “They represent the heart of grassroots solidarity work: persistent, principled and people centered.”

Eight organizers from west Michigan traveled over two-and-a-half hours to Dearborn’s UAW Hall to receive the award on behalf of Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, which boasts a regular roster of over 30 active organizers. Speaking on behalf of the group, co-chair Cherie Stoll praised the National Lawyers Guild for their support of activists across the state.

“Grand Rapids police come out in force because they don’t want to give activists any room to build a movement. In order to make effective change, we need to organize mass support,” Stoll stated while accepting the honor. “The work of NLG and the presence of legal observers at our events makes individuals in our community feel safe to join us, which is indispensable to our broader goals.”

In 2024, four PSGR organizers were arrested for facilitating a march through the streets of downtown Grand Rapids to commemorate al Nakba Day. One additional PSGR organizer was arrested for similar charges in April 2025 in support of a Hands Off rally. The National Lawyers Guild provided legal observers during both events, and helped mobilize legal support for organizers.

In attendance at the dinner was Palestinian Congressional Representative Rashina Tlaib, who encouraged organizers to continue their good work, noting the importance of holding elected officials accountable for normalizing the Palestinian genocide. She praised Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids organizers for showing up consistently for Palestine despite political repression.

#DearbornMI #MI #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #PalestineSolidarityGrandRapids #NLG

Dearborn, MI – On October 14, well over 2000 people took the streets of Dearborn, Michigan, marching despite the cold and heavy rain. After a week of near daily demonstrations in metro Detroit, the largest demonstration yet was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement-Detroit, in collaboration with local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and others.

On October 7, after decades of oppression, and after months of sharp escalation by Israel, a coalition of Palestinian resistance groups broke through the walls of Gaza, often described as the world’s largest open-air prison. Gaza, Palestine is home to 2.3 million people, the most densely populated place in the world. The Palestinian resistance began an unprecedented campaign – known as Al-Aqsa Flood – of liberating stolen land, occupying military checkpoints, and capturing IDF military leadership.

In response to this highly asymmetrical campaign, Israel has blocked all movement of goods and people in or out of Gaza including food, water, fuel and medical supplies. This is a war crime as defined by the United Nations. Dearborn and Detroit join thousands of cities, and millions of the Palestinians around the world, demonstrating their support for Palestine during this historic time.

The rally began with speeches offering historical context about the occupation and the experiences of families living in occupied Palestine. One Arab American woman spoke adamantly, “If you are here for anything less than the absolute freedom of Palestinians and their rights, you are at the wrong protest! We are here for an end to the apartheid state of Israel and for every Palestinian to return to their homes, no compromise!”

There were isolated attempts by Zionist reactionaries to disrupt the event, but activists designated for security roles minimized their impact. The rally then set off on a mile-long march to a nearby high school where police attempted to block the march. Organizers directed the march to the open campus of the high school to regather its forces, then retook the streets in a mile long march back to where the event started.

Palestine Youth Movement (PYM) have a policy of non-cooperation with the police. PYM raises that the police enact the same violence in the U.S. to control land, resources and people as Zionist forces do in Palestine. During the march, many in the neighborhood came out of their houses to support the march, waving their own Palestinian flags, and some even joined the march.

There was a wide variety of chants, including “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”, and Intifada, intifada, long live the intifada!” Another chant translated from Arabic to English is “With soul! With blood! We will free you Al-Aqsa!”

PYM-Detroit organizer Irshad Reza said, “The goals of this demonstration were to show that Dearborn is aligned with Palestinian liberation, and we firmly believe that Palestinians have a right to resist and that the Zionist colonial occupation must end!”

#DearbornMI #DetroitMI #Palestine

Dearborn, MI – The Palestinian Youth Movement-Detroit and Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, with support from Freedom Road Socialist Organization members, kicked off the week of solidarity work on January 12 supporting a demonstration by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE). When U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited the University of Michigan for a speaking event on the environment, SAFE took the opportunity to let passersby on campus know that VP Harris is a stalwart supporter of genocide in Palestine.

Harris, a beneficiary of the hundreds of millions in AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) campaign contributions and lobbying spending, has been instrumental in maintaining the over $4 billion annual funding of the Zionist occupation of Palestine.

Noor Omar, an organizer with SAFE, led the rally, march and chants of the demonstration. Regarding the premise of Harris’ speech, Omar pointed out, “The Biden/Harris administration has approved more fossil fuel extraction permits on public land than the Trump administration. On what basis can she come here to lecture us on the importance of saving the planet?”

Uniting the struggle for the life of our planet and the lives of Palestinian people, she shouted the slogans: “Kamala Harris, don’t you know, greenwashing has got to go,” “There is only one solution, intifada, revolution!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

Nearly 100 joined the demonstration, braving the Michigan winter with Palestinian flags, which were recently outlawed in occupied Palestine by the Zionist entity, flying high, slogans reaching the ears of thousands of students and workers, marching from the rally point to the building Harris was speaking.

The next day, January 13, a poetry event and fundraiser was hosted by Bridge Community Cafe in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Several organizations, including Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and SAFE, donated proceeds from stickers, shirts, handmade jewelry, and other merchandise to directly support select families living in Gaza. This is the first of a series of fundraisers for Palestinian families held by this progressive cafe and community space.

On January 16, the Detroit Martin Luther King Day Committee carried out its 20th annual MLK Day march and rally. Dozens of groups, including the Moratorium Now! Coalition, PYM, FRSO, and many others numbering in the hundreds again rallied and marched in the freezing cold.

One event volunteer said, “The MLK Day Committee sets an excellent example of coalition building, for decades uniting groups from many different struggles around this event, making it clear that these social ills all share the same root and that we must unite to overcome them.”

PYM member Rshad Karim spoke to the audience, acknowledging the colonized land upon which this event was held and going on to say: “For over 100 years, Palestinians have recognized the struggle for their right to self-determination against the colonization and occupation of their land and people. In those years, we’ve known the undeniable link in the global struggle for freedom. We strive to follow the teachings of revolutionary thinkers like Dr. King, Malcom X, James Baldwin, Huey Newton, Angela Davis, Kwame Ture, Fred Hampton and more. We learn from each other, just as political prisoners in the U.S. and Palestine strive to work with each other from behind bars.”

On January 19, at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, PYM held a screening of Resistance, Why? followed by an in-depth discussion. The documentary was produced in 1971 by Christian Ghazi but considered lost to the ages when his home in Lebanon was raided in 1988 during the civil war and the films burned. In 2021, a copy was found and restored by Beirut group Nadi Lekol Nas.

The documentary includes footage and commentary from many historical figures such as Sadiq Jalal Al-Azm, Ghassan Kanafani, and Nabil Shaath, describing the history of the struggle for the liberation of Palestine. About 75 people of all ages and backgrounds were present for the discussion, with many elders providing their own accounts and analysis of the events covered by the documentary. The discussion ultimately asked the audience what lessons can be learned from those who carried on the struggle before us.

Palestinian Youth Movement organizer Zaya Maqdessi said, “It’s so important that we know what we stand for and where we’ve been. It is not enough to passively observe from the outside and learn about the struggle of Palestinian people, we must have revolutionary education much like Frantz Fanon conceived of, to see ourselves as part of the struggle we are seeking to learn about and advance.” PYM continues the struggle. In February, they are cosponsoring an event with SAFE titled “Honoring our Martyrs” with location and date soon to come.

#DearbornMI #Palestine #FreePalestine #MiddleEast

Dearborn MI – The Rasmea Defense Committee office opened near Detroit Oct. 23. Located in the Beit Hanini Outreach Community Center, at 4045 Maple Street, the office will serve as center for mobilizing for Rasmea Odeh’s Nov. 4 trial.

Odeh is a prominent Palestinian American leader facing jail and deportation on trumped up immigration charges.

Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression is a Minneapolis anti-war activist who is in Detroit to organize support for Rasmea Odeh. “We are doing a huge amount of outreach locally and nationally to make sure the courtroom is filled with supporters of Rasmea each and every day of the trial,” said Sundin.

#DearbornMI #RasmeaOdeh #PoliticalRepression

Dearborn, MI – Over 200 Syrian-Americans and their supporters rallied here, June 30. The spirited rally on the steps of Dearborn City Hall was at times serious, other times jubilant, but always defiant.

The woman chairing the rally called for a moment of silence for all the Syrian and Lebanese martyrs who died to preserve the sovereignty of Syria. She then welcomed the crowd and the many nationalities joined together – Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Palestinian, Africans and Americans – to support the independence of Syria. She united the crowd with a call and response, “No to irresponsible intervention in Syria! No to supplying weapons to terrorists! No to support of terrorism! No to sectarianism and extremism! Yes to a united Syria! Yes to the sovereignty and integrity of Syria! Yes to the co-existence of Syria! And yes to Syria and the Syrian people!” The crowd roared its support.

Monzer Ahmad, of the Syrian American Forum, proclaimed, “We are here today to send a message that we do not want U.S. intervention in Syria. We oppose the U.S. funding and arming of criminal and terrorist forces inside of Syria. The Syrian people ask President Obama to stop funding and arming groups that kill our people and terrorize our country. We are so disappointed, President Obama is supposed to be the anti-war president.”

Tom Burke of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression spoke saying, “We are here today to say ‘U.S. hands off Syria!’ I am one of the leaders of the large anti-war protest outside the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 2008. I am one of the organizers of the 15,000-person protest in Chicago last year against the warmakers of NATO. I am also one of 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists raided by the FBI and subpoenaed to a grand jury in Chicago. The FBI said we were being ‘investigated for material support for terrorism’ because we support freedom for all of Palestine and because we oppose U.S. wars in the Middle East. Well we are here today to stand with you against U.S. intervention and war in Syria. We congratulate you on defeating the U.S. and Israeli backed groups in your country. ”

Abayomi Azikiwe of Detroit with Michigan Emergency Coalition Against War and Injustice explained the dangers of U.S. war, “The U.S. held ‘war games’ inside of the neighboring country of Jordan this past month and 800 U.S. troops stayed behind. This is a bad sign and points towards a growing threat of U.S. war against Syria. The Syrian government defeated the terror groups backed by the U.S. in Al Qusayr, so now the Obama administration is attempting to destabilize Syria from neighboring Jordan.”

The rally in Michigan comes after similar protests in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee organized by Syrian-American, Palestine solidarity and anti-war groups. The Syrian American Forum and the Michigan Emergency Coalition Against War and Injustice organized the June 30 protest in Dearborn. Protests against U.S. intervention and Israeli aggression in Syria are spreading across the U.S.

#DearbornMichigan #DearbornMI #Syria #SyrianAmericans #MiddleEast