DEARBORN – Departing from its usual practice of holding its annual conference in Washington, D.C., the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) chose to hold its national conference this year in Dearborn. The event featured presidential candidates, academic scholars, human rights activists, journalists and religious leaders, including Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and independent presidential candidate Cornel West, academics Norman Finkelstein and Hatem Bazian and pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore.

From September 12 to 15, various locations in Dearborn hosted the conference’s events, which included panels, discussions, artistic and poetic performances, as well as lectures and firsthand accounts on the Israeli war in the occupied territories and its political and social ramifications in the U.S. Discussions also focused on the potential impact of these issues on the upcoming  presidential election in November, especially given the growing electoral significance of Arab Americans in swing states, including Michigan.

Dearborn was selected to host the 2024 “ArabCon” due to its key role in Michigan’s electoral landscape and its continuous support for Palestinian rights. The city, where Arab Americans make up more than half of the population, has held numerous events supporting the Palestinian cause, especially following Israel’s brutal war on Gaza since October 7.

The conference kicked off on Thursday, September 12, with the participation of Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and Stein. Stein called on the U.S. administration to cease fire in Gaza and freeze American aid to Israel, asserting that the genocidal crimes that have killed, injured, and displaced over two million Palestinians in the past eleven months must “stop immediately, without conditions.”

Stein, who visited Dearborn for the third time since October 7 to express her support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, noted that the Israeli crimes in the occupied territories have helped “create a different mood” in the U.S., reflected in student protests at various American universities and a growing resolve among many American voters to choose the “third option” in the upcoming November election. This unprecedented phenomenon signals new prospects in the American political scene.

Mayor Hammoud condemned Israel’s apartheid policies and genocidal crimes against Palestinians, highlighting how Dearborn residents connect the struggle for economic and environmental justice in the U.S. with the fight for Palestinian rights.

“In Dearborn, our values are global,” he said. “We care about policies fueling the genocide in Gaza just as much as we care about universal healthcare; we care about Lebanon as much as we care about a green future for our children and we care about Yemen as much as we care about labor rights in our region.”

Hammoud, a regular participant in most conference activities, spoke about Arab American families who have suffered from Israeli occupation or military operations in their homelands.

“When people ask why we care so much about the Middle East, the answer is simple: because the people of this city know what it’s like to live under Israeli occupation or apartheid policies,” he said. “We still carry the scars of that suffering physically, emotionally, and mentally.

“We know what it’s like when Israeli military boots trample on our faces,” he added. “We know how it feels when we have to rescue our grandmothers from the rubble of residential buildings bombed by the Israeli forces. We still have the papers that Israeli soldiers had to stamp to grant us freedom of movement in our ancestral villages.”

The ADC’s national director, Abed Ayoub, said that the purpose of the organization’s annual conference is to unite communities affected by the heated conflict in Gaza and address critical issues ahead of the presidential election. He stressed that it is crucial for the Arab American community to recognize its voting power and mobilize for the November elections.

Ayoub, an attorney, emphasized that holding the ADC conference in Dearborn carries significant symbolism, especially in light of the negative media portrayal of the city in recent months. He referred to a February opinion article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Welcome to Dearborn: The Jihad Capital of America”, which he said struck a personal chord with him.

“The media’s portrayal of Dearborn is incorrect, so I believe this conference is an opportunity to highlight the best of Dearborn and the best of this community,” Ayoub said.

Educational panels

On Friday, September 13, an educational panel convened at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center discussed the newly emerging civil rights challenges faced by Arab and Muslim Americans, who have been increasingly subjected to hate crimes since October 7. The panel reviewed numerous crimes targeting Arabs, Muslims and non-Arab activists supporting the Palestinian cause.

Speakers denounced the criminal charges recently brought by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office against 11 protesters who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor last spring. The charges include criminal offenses ranging from trespassing, disturbing the peace to ethnic intimidation.

In addition, Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders, including Rabbi Alana Albert, Armenian Apostolic priest Hrant Kevorkian, and Imam Saleh Qazwini from the Mecca Center in Canton, spoke about the religious and moral violations committed by Israel, which targets unarmed civilians, hospitals, schools, places of worship and public health facilities without any humanitarian consideration or conscience, disregarding the compassionate principles encouraged by the three monotheistic religions.

In a separate panel, journalists Said Arikat (Al-Quds), Laila Al-Arian (Al Jazeera), and Ryan Grim (DROP SITE NEWS) shared their personal experiences covering the genocidal war in Gaza.

On Saturday, September 14, the conference featured a presentation by doctors and relief workers from Gaza who documented numerous ethnic cleansing crimes affecting children, women and the elderly, and the targeting of homes, government institutions and public gathering places. They highlighted the severe shortage of medical supplies and health workers, contributing to the uncontrollable rise in casualties.

The participants praised the bravery of local doctors in Gaza, who refused to flee and instead chose to provide emergency aid to the injured, resulting in several of them being killed during the bombing of hospitals, medical centers and private clinics.

Another panel, titled “Insights from Within”, included testimonies on the Biden administration’s and President Biden’s reluctance to impose an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Panelists included Tarek Habash, a former staff member in the Biden-Harris administration, former U.S. Army Major Harrison Mann and former Biden administration employee Maryam Hasneen.

Ayoub moderated a discussion on the current presidential elections and the voting options for Arab and Muslim Americans in November, featuring activist Linda Sarsour, co-founder of Until Freedom, Mohammed Maruga, co-founder of The Truth Project, Manal Fakhouri, chairwoman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and former U.S. Senate candidate Nasser Beydoun.

Macklemore at the ADC conference in Dearborn, Michigan on Saturday, September 14.

Closing ceremony

The conference concluded with a closing ceremony at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center on Saturday, where the organizations Amity Foundation and Doctors Against Genocide Crimes were honored, along with Macklemore, who received the Rachel Corrie Award from Hammoud, in the presence of Stein.

In an emotional speech that moved attendees from across the U.S., Macklemore noted that he graduated from the same university as American activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed in 2003 while trying to stop an Israeli military bulldozer from demolishing Palestinian homes in Rafah, Gaza.

Macklemore discussed how his stance on the Palestinian cause evolved after October 7.

“As I watched countless videos of children being killed and hospitals and schools being bombed with American weapons, I decided I could no longer remain silent or merely reject what was happening internally,” he said. “Day by day, my heart opened for Palestine.”

The rapper, known for his song “The Endless Nakba”, emphasized that the Palestinian Nakba has been ongoing since 1948. He praised the resilience and courage of the Palestinian people, who have withstood Israel’s killing machine for seven decades.

“The Palestinian people have given me the most precious thing in my life: My freedom and my courage to speak the truth, no matter the cost,” he said.

“Your immeasurable pain will not be in vain, and the world will not forget you,” he told Palestinians.

He also said that when he’d asked his 9-year-old daughter that morning what her wish was, she’d replied, “I want Palestine to be free.”

The audience responded with a standing ovation for several minutes.

The Irish American artist encouraged supporters of the Palestinian cause to continue protesting and working until “America stops supporting Israel”, noting that the election season is an important opportunity to energize voters, but that support for Palestinians should not end after November 5.

He concluded his speech with the slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

In addition to the Rachel Corrie Award, Mayor Hammoud presented Macklemore with a personal gift, a rosary.

“This is a humble gift from me and my family, from a Lebanese heart to an Irish heart, both of which know that, at the end of the day, we are also Palestinian.”