As the Israel-Hamas war continues, so do protests in the U.S. During an April 5 protest in Dearborn, Mich., some protestors could be heard chanting “death to America” and “death to Israel.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters this week that President Joe Biden condemns the chants.
Dearborn is the first city in the U.S. with an Arab-American majority and it is a center for Arab-American culture, according to The Conversation. When asked if Biden believes that the city could become a “hotbed” of homegrown threats, Jean-Pierre said: “I don’t have any intelligence to share with you on that. Obviously, that’s something that we’re always very… vigilant about. But don’t have any national intelligence to – to share it with you.”
According to the Detroit Free Press, the Al-Quds Committee held the April 5 protest in front of the Henry Ford Centennial Library. Its Facebook page said the group’s mission is to “peacefully raise the voice against Zionist atrocities and propaganda [sic], and connect the masses to divine truth and resistance against oppression.”
A post on the page said the protest was in support of Palestinians.
“IT IS OUR OBLIGATION TO SHOW UP TODAY FOR P*LEST*NE. To Speak Truth To Power, And To Unravel The Propaganda That For Too Long Has Kept The World Hostage To The Lies Of The Zi*Nist Entity,” it said.
Since the Palestinian militant organization Hamas executed a large-scale terrorist attack on Israel in October, Israel began a war against the group. Protests in support of Palestine have increased as the war continues, but tension between Israel and Palestinians goes much further back.
Israel aims to destroy Hamas in Gaza, but Palestinian civilians remain vulnerable in Gaza amidst threats of airstrikes and famine. Hostages taken by Hamas during their attack are also at risk. In addition to working to help humanitarian aid get into Gaza, the U.S. is part of an effort to free hostages and organize a ceasefire.
After an April 7 post from the Al-Quds Committee, the group said it is not liable or responsible for any chants not authorized by event organizers. In a follow-up post Wednesday, Sheik Usama Abdulghani – who spoke at the event – said the chant was “wrongful,” a “mistake” and a “surprise for all, given that Al-Quds day has a long history in the Dearborn community and such chants are never used.”
Abdulghani also said “this media targeting is because something much more sinister is at play,” adding that he thinks it is to “intimidate, single out and harass Muslims for them to accept a second class citizen mentality, in which they fear speaking out and supporting the oppressed because of media and other targeting.”
The Hill reported Friday that Biden has had a sympathetic reaction to Pro-Palestinian protestors even though many are opposed to the U.S. policy concerning Israel (according to the U.S. State Department, Israel has no greater friend than the United States). However, Jean-Pierre said that he is against any violent rhetoric.
“You know, peaceful protest is something that the President has also been very, very clear that is important for – to give folks space to peacefully protest,” said Jean-Pierre. “But any type of violent rhetoric, we are going to denounce.”