A screenshot from the Fox News video

DEARBORN — A woman was stoned in Dearborn last year, an unidentified man said on Fox News’ top rated show. If you did not hear about the incident, it is because it never happened. The claim was one of many false allegations in a Fox report on Arabs and Muslims in the city. 

The video segment aired on the O’Reilly Factor Monday night; a day later, close to a dozen calls for bombing Dearborn surfaced on Fox News’s Facebook page. City officials and community activists condemned the news network for its inaccurate portrayal of the city.

Calling Dearborn the “Arabic capital” of North America, Fox reporter Jesse Watters falsely alleges Muslims control the city council and the police chief is Muslim. Chief Ronald Haddad is Christian, and only two out of Dearborn’s seven-member city council identify as Muslim.  

In the report, Watters interviews several Arab American residents asking short, insolent questions with a broad smile, quickly moving the microphone, as to appear funny. 

His hard-hitting journalism included questions like:

“Do you like Christmas?” 

“Which way is Mecca?” 

“Do you miss the desert?”

However, the humorous tone turns serious when a White interviewee says that Dearborn keeps him on edge.

“Last year, there was a woman stoned,” the interviewee says. “Not too long ago, you know, I read there was an honor killing because a girl bought condoms.”

The segment shows the responses of four Arab Americans to a question about sharia law. Two residents express favorable views of the Islamic ethical, legal code; a hairdresser says that sharia law in Dearborn is a fabrication; and one interviewee says she does not know what sharia law is.

Despite the fact that all Arab Americans interviewed were nice to Watters and said they love the United States, the report seemed to solidify right wing extremists’ hatred for Dearborn.

The city of 98,000, which is home to a large Arab and Muslim population, has been the target of online attacks and fabrications, including manipulated images that show support to extremism, allegations of terrorist training camps and the claims of Muslim-ruled zones that the police cannot enter.

In the comment section on the O’Reilly Factor’s Facebook page, social media users expressed fear of the spread of Islam and advocated bombing Dearborn to drive the Muslims out of America.

“Pull out the good folks and bomb the rest,” wrote Facebook user Barry Griggs. Many echoed his comment— “Dear US Airforce Bomb Dearborn and make us safe.” “Bomb the place.” “Drop a bomb on them.” “Nuke them.”

Mayor Jack O’Reilly said he was concerned about the segment because of the O’Reilly Factor’s large audience.

“There are a lot of people who are going to watch that, and they’re going to believe that there is some truth to sharia law or honor killings or any of that nonsense that they were promoting,” he said. 

The mayor added that the segment was heavily edited to reinforce all the perceived negatives about Dearborn.

“They said the majority of the council are Muslim and the chief of police is Muslim; well, no,” O’Reilly continued. “More importantly, when you look at the two Muslims on city council, they’re both attorneys. Being an attorney, you swear to uphold the Constitution. They can’t be supporting sharia law if they’ve taken a solemn oath to support the Constitution.”

The mayor said the continued misportrayal of Dearborn has turned into a profitable business, where special interest groups solicit donations in the name of defending the country from Islam.

The mayor sent a letter to Bill O’Reilly, criticizing the show for “lack of sensitivity” and “factual errors.”

“While we share a common name and heritage, I am compelled to respond to your piece on Dearborn last night in which you were really spinning the truth,” Mayor O’Reilly wrote the host of the O’Reilly Factor. “While I understand that segment was intended to be lighter fare, its presentation of false ‘facts’ is dishonest and has unplanned, and very negative, consequences.”

Chief Haddad told The Arab American News that being called a Muslim does not bother him, adding that faith does not matter in public service.” 

“That’s why I will not set the record straight on this one,” he said. 

Haddad said he stands on his record of decades of public service. 

Dearborn City Council President Susan Dabaja said she often receives emails asking her if Dearborn is ruled by sharia law.

“I reply with the same response every time,” she said. “I write back, ‘The city of Dearborn is governed by the U.S. Constitution, the Michigan Constitution and the city charter.’ And I thank them for writing me.”

Dabaja, Dearborn’s first Muslim American council president, said it is “common sense” that her faith does not dictate the city’s agenda.

“I was elected to uphold these three documents— the law of the land,” she said. “That’s it.”

Dabaja urged the community to continue to debunk the myths about Dearborn by educating fellow Americans about the “great things” in the city.

“Invite them to see our many historical landmarks, our welcoming neighborhoods and beautiful parks,” she added. 

State house candidate and Dearborn resident Brian Stone said he was angered by the Fox News report.

“What the fox news clip shows is that Arab Americans are open minded, have a great sense of humor and care about our country,” Brian, a U.S. Navy veteran, said. “What it does not show is any journalistic or professional integrity on the part of Fox.”

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) also condemn the segment. 

“It would be difficult for anyone to pack more racist and Islamophobic stereotypes and misinformation into a single segment,” CAIR-Michigan Executive Director Dawud Walid said in a statement. “Once again, instead of a nuanced look at America’s rich ethnic and religious diversity, Fox News offers only crude caricatures of Muslims and Arab Americans.”

Screenshots of comments on the O’Reilly Factor Facebook page