Dearborn Mayor Tells Resident He’s Not Welcome in City After Opposing Sign for Arab Leader

The mayor of Dearborn ripped into a resident who objected to the placing of two signs in the city honoring an Arab American leader, telling the resident he’s “not welcome here.”

In his fiery remarks at Tuesday’s council meeting on Sept. 9, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud also told the resident that if he moves out of Dearborn, he will have a parade celebrating it. Speaking during the public comments part of the meeting, a resident, Ted Barham, had objected to signs from Wayne County placed on Warren Avenue named after Osama Siblani, a longtime Arab American leader, because of Siblani’s past statements on some Middle Eastern groups. {snip}

“It seems very provocative to have those signs up there,” Barham said. “It’s almost like … naming a street, Hezbollah Street or Hamas Street.”

Hammoud responded: “I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here. And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of the city because you are not somebody who believes in coexistence.”

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Barham started off his remarks by saying of Siblani, the publisher of the Arab American News, a Dearborn-based newspaper: “I’m sure he’s done a lot of good things for the community, starting the Arab American News.”

But he added that people in Dearborn should be concerned about some of Siblani’s previous statements. Barham then quoted from past statements made by Siblani regarding Palestinians in battle and martyrs. {snip}

Barham said Siblani has suggested violence in his remarks {snip}

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Hammoud, who’s up for reelection in November, then referenced a video Barham has posted on YouTube, in which he is standing in front of the Islamic Center of America, a Dearborn mosque where Hammoud’s uncle is the imam.

“It’s quite hypocritical to know that you’re approaching this podium when you yourself have videos on YouTube, standing in front of my mosque saying the cruelest of things about Muslims, about the religion of Islam, because you are a bigot and you are a racist, you are an Islamophobe,” Hammoud said.

In a video, uploaded in 2019, Barham is seen briefly in front of the Islamic Center of America, singing a Christmas carol. He then is later seen interviewing Muslims on what appears to be a university campus, having discussions about theology, dialogue between Christians and Muslims, and what Jesus looked like. Barham is not heard saying anything derogatory about Islam.

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