DEARBORN – Over the past week, the city of Dearborn witnessed a series of memorial events honoring the lives of five victims — including three children from the same family — who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese city of Bint Jbeil on September 21.

The Lebanese American community in Dearborn, which includes thousands of residents tracing their roots to Bint Jbeil, was plunged into mourning. A solidarity stand was held outside the Henry Ford Centennial Library, while candles were lit in memory of the five martyrs outside the Islamic Center of America. The Center also hosted a large one-week memorial gathering attended by Major General Hassan Ezzat Choucair, director general of Lebanese General Security, and Ibrahim Charara, Lebanon’s new consul general in Detroit, along with many local officials and community leaders.

The victims

On September 21, an Israeli drone struck a civilian vehicle on the outskirts of Bint Jbeil, killing Shadi Sobhi Charara, 45, and three  of his children, Celine, 10, and 18-month-old twins Hadi and Silan. His wife and his eldest daughter, Asil, 12, were severely injured.

The strike also killed Mohammed Majed Mroue, who was riding his motorcycle alongside the family’s car. The Charara family had been in the process of finalizing legal migration procedures to join relatives in Dearborn, where Shadi’s father and four siblings reside.

At Saturday’s solidarity stand outside the Henry Ford Centennial Library, dozens of community members carried Lebanese flags and photos of the five victims, condemning Israel’s ongoing attacks against civilians in southern and eastern Lebanon despite the ceasefire agreement.

Rally in support of the victims’ families at the Henry Ford Centenial Library, Saturday, Sept. 27. – Photos by Dearborn.org

Voices from the community

Journalist Ali Mansour noted that the vigil coincided with the first anniversary of the expanded Israeli war on Lebanon, during which “hundreds of leaders, martyrs and innocent civilians” were killed across the south, the Bekaa and other regions across Lebanon. He lamented what he described as the “internal and external collusion” against the southern and Bekaa communities.

“In this war and its extensions, the whole world — including elements inside Lebanon — has stood against this community,” he said.

Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News, condemned Israel’s repeated assaults on civilians in Lebanon. He described the Bint Jbeil massacre as “further proof of Israel’s terrorism and criminality” and called on President Trump to fulfill the promises he made to Lebanese Americans during his campaign visit to Dearborn in November 2024 to bring peace to the Lebanon and the Middle East.

“This Israeli criminality must stop, Mr. President,” Siblani said. “You promised our community during your visit that you would work to end the war and bring peace. Where is that peace, while daily massacres continue in Lebanon since September of last year?”

Siblani, who is often attacked by pro-Israel groups for his outspoken stance, didn’t stop there.

“I will not relent, I will not submit and I will not be silenced,” he added. “I oppose Israel’s aggression in Lebanon and Palestine, and I oppose U.S. support for the occupation of Palestinians. I am ready to be held accountable. Come and take me; my address is 5706 Chase Road. I stand firmly on my constitutional and moral rights to support the resistance with words — and on the right of the people under attack to resist by the means they see fit.”

Memorial at the Islamic Center of America

On Sunday, crowds filled the Islamic Center of America on Ford Road for a commemoration program. Speakers condemned Israel’s crimes in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen.

In a panoramic address, Siblani recounted decades of Israeli atrocities, including the killing of Dearborn children Hadi and Abdul Mohsen Bitar, 8- and 9-years-old, in the 1996 Qana massacre, when Israeli warplanes bombed a U.N. compound designated safe heaven. The compound was sheltering refugees during Operation Grapes of Wrath, which killed 103 Lebanese civilians. He also recalled the Israeli strike on his own hometown, Flawi in Baalbeck, where 18 relatives — including four children and 12 women, one pregnant with twins — were killed.

“They murdered them 160 kilometers from the Lebanese border with U.S.-made bombs paid for by American taxpayers,” Siblani said.

He listed further massacres from the current war, including:

• September 23, 2024 – more than 700 killed in one day, including 50 children and 94 women.

• October 10, 2024 – 22 civilians killed and more than 117 injured in Beirut’s Bashoura neighborhood.

• October 14, 2024 – 22 civilians — mostly women and children — killed in Aytou, northern Lebanon.

• October 16, 2024 – the assassination of Nabatieh’s mayor along with 16 municipal employees.

“This war is a war on all of Lebanon, a war on life itself,” Siblani said. “Today we gather to mourn Shadi Charara, his three children and Mohammed Majed Mroue. They were not only Lebanese, but also Lebanese American families — part of the fabric of our Arab American community in Dearborn.”

He urged Arab Americans to unify and make their voices heard by U.S. policymakers.

Siblani emphasized the electoral power of Arab Americans in Michigan, a pivotal swing state.

“If we are united, we can make the difference and we can be the decisive voice in electing the president of the United States — not just the governor of Michigan,” he said. “Either we cast our votes collectively for our candidates, our friend, and our allies, or we will gather again to mourn more martyrs.”

Vigil at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn.

Religious voices

Sayyed Hassan Qazwini of the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights also condemned Israel’s crimes. He said that “the occupation will never succeed in extinguishing the spirit of resistance, no matter how many leaders, heroes, women and children they kill.” Qazwini even noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might not be able to set foot in New York City if Muslim candidate Zohran Mamdani wins his bid for mayor, as Mamdani pledged to arrest Netanyahu for war crimes.

“If we unite our voices and our stance, we will defend our causes,” Qazwini said.

Sheikh Ahmad Hammoud, imam of the Islamic Center of America, called on Arab Americans to show up in full force at the polls.

“On Election Day, we must abstain from everything except voting. We must go and cast our ballots for the dignity of our community. This is not merely an option, it is a religious duty for everyone.”

On Sunday evening, dozens of families and children lit candles in memory of the five martyrs. Sheikh Mohammad Moussa, son-in-law of the Charara family, recited prayers, calling on God’s mercy for the slain and His justice against the perpetrators. He decried “the horrific massacre that stole the lives of three children in the prime of their youth.”