Dearborn conference where Tlaib spoke features numerous speakers praising Oct. 7 jihad massacre

They didn’t even bother to issue a pro forma condemnation of the murder of civilians. They didn’t have to. Their leftist allies don’t care that innocent Israelis were murdered.

“Another Jihadi Coverup In Michigan: The 3-Day ‘People’s Conference For Palestine’ In Detroit – Sponsored By Pro-Jihadi U.S. Muslim Groups, Livestreamed, And Widely Shared Online – Where Speakers Openly Praised ‘Heroic’ October 7 And Called For Escalating Armed Resistance – Is Largely Overlooked By Dearborn And Detroit Media, Despite The Participation Of U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Dearborn Mayor Hammoud, High-Profile Jihadi Members Of Designated Terror Groups,” MEMRI, October 29, 2024:

The “People’s Conference for Palestine,” held in Detroit, Michigan on May 24-26, 2024, was closely affiliated with the U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). It featured an in-person speech by U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich), along with a pre-recorded video message by Dearborn, Michigan Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.

The conference’s keynote speaker was Sana’ Daqqa, widow of terrorist Walid Daqqa who died of a terminal illness while serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison.[1] Daqqa was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) cell of Arab Israelis that in 1984 kidnapped IDF soldier Moshe Tamam, gouged out his eyes, and castrated him before shooting him dead. Also speaking at the conference was current PFLP member Wisam Rafidee.[2]

Many of the conference speakers openly lauded the Palestinian armed resistance and the “heroic” scenes of October 7, calling for its global escalation to “involve the whole of society on all levels.” Taher Herzallah of American Muslims For Palestine (AMP) was cheered loudly when he stated that “some people here today will not be here next year, because liberation struggle requires sacrifices.” Another speaker read a poem honoring the slain PFLP spokesman.

Although the event was streamed live on YouTube and was widely publicized across social media, it received no local television coverage in Detroit or in Dearborn. This was despite many newsworthy aspects of it: the participation of not only a Member of Congress but also of prominent figures in local government and political activists; its endorsement by dozens of organizations; and the open support for terrorism expressed by the speakers and attendees. Only one print piece focused exclusively on the conference,[3] and a few others briefly mentioned it.[4]

This is part of what appears to be a longtime media coverup by Dearborn-area and Detroit media, who gloss over the clearly evident support for terrorist groups in the city. It is only national media coverage that forces the hand of city and state politicians, senators, and Members of Congress to finally take notice of the open support for Hamas, Lebanese Hizbullah, and Iran that is rampant across southern Michigan.

Such was the case with the most recent Quds Day rally in Dearborn, where on April 5, 2024 attendees chanted “Death to America!” (See also the MEMRI TV compilation titled “Dearborn And Detroit Imams And Protests Prior To And Following October 7 Hamas Attack: Dearborn Is ‘A City Of Resistance,’ President Biden Is ‘A Cancer In Our Country’; October 7 Is ‘One Of The Days Of God’; ‘Dismantl[e] The Terrorist Racist State Of Israel’; ‘Start Normalizing Jihad’; ‘Warmest Congratulations To Our Very Special Leader Imam [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei’ For October 7 Attack; The Jews ‘Control People’s Resources Through Tricks And Deception.'”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib at the People’s Conference For Palestine In Detroit

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud Addresses The Conference In Pre-Recorded Message: “Greetings From The Capital Of Arab America… We Are With You And Are Always Fighting For A Free Palestine”

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud addressed the conference in a pre-recorded video message.[5] In it, he said:

“Hello and As-salamu alaykum. This is Abdullah Hammoud, mayor for the city of Dearborn, Michigan. I want to welcome you all here to the great state of Michigan and I hope you take the time to come out to the city of Dearborn, Michigan – the capital of Arab America – where we are home to the largest per capita Arab population across our country. This is a beautifully diverse community. A community that’s currently grieving because of the conflict that is unfolding overseas. And so, although I could not be there with you in person, I want to extend this heartfelt greeting to let you know that we are with you and always we are fighting for a free Palestine.”

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud pre-recorded a message addressing the conference.

Click below to view Hammoud’s message:

The keynote speaker at the conference was Sana’ Daqqa, widow of “martyr” Walid Daqqa, who was part of a PFLP cell who kidnapped IDF soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984, gouged out his eyes, and castrated him before shooting him dead.[6]

The conference website listed the following groups as part of its steering committee: Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), The People’s Forum, Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Palestinian Feminist Collective, ANSWER Coalition, US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), International Jewish Anti Zionist Network, Writers Against the War on Gaza, Healthcare Workers for Palestine, Palestine Popular University, Palestinian American Women’s Association, National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression.[7]

Among the conference endorsers listed on the website are: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC); Code Pink; Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran; Dearborn Blog; Doctors Against Genocide; Feminists For Justice In/For Palestine; Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network; Students For Justice In Palestine branches: UT Dallas, BMCC, Santa Cruz, Michigan Dearborn, Wayne State University.[8] See Appendix for full list of endorsers.

Conference Website Raises Funds For ‘Palestinian Youth Movement’ (PYM) – One Of Its Sponsors

The conference website’s “Donate” page allows visitors to donate to the Palestinian Youth Movement via credit card, Google Pay, or Apple Pay.[9] The page notes that it also accepts checks, explaining: “Payable to ‘Honor the Earth’ and mailed to 1430 Haines Ave STE 108 #225, Rapid City, SD, 57701. Please indicate PYM in the memo line.” The Palestinian Youth Movement’s website, which does not appear to have been updated since 2022, highlights opening chapters in the U.S., U.K. Sweden, and Italy.[10]

The following are MEMRI TV clips of statements made at the conference.

U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib At People’s Conference For Palestine: By Attacking The Authority Of The ICC

U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) Addressed President Biden in her May 25, 2024 talk at the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit. Mohammed Nabulsi, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, introduced Tlaib. Later in the program, he said that the chief target of the pro-Palestinian organizations should be President Biden and his administration. He said that their short-term goal should be to get the Biden administration and the Democratic Party to stop their support of “this genocide.” Nabulsi said: “I believe our fundamental role is to generate political and social crisis within the American ruling class.”

Mohammad Nabulsi: “We will be joined by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib”

Rashida Tlaib: “I love you”

[…]

“President Biden, I hope you hear us loud and clear. Attacking the authority of the International Criminal Court and interfering in their legal processes is nothing more – nothing more – than an attempt to prevent the genocidal maniac Netanyahu and his senior Israeli officials from being held accountable for those crimes against humanity.

“You are an enabler, President Biden. The International Court of Justice just ruled that the Israeli government must stop its invasion of Rafah, but President Biden says what’s happening in Rafah is not a genocide.

“Where’s your red line, President Biden? This is not even consistent with his own views on international law in the past. For he would sit there on a call and said, ‘Putin must be held accountable at the ICC.’ But he shields the murderous war criminal Netanyahu and the Israeli government.”

[…]

Nabulsi: “So, I think we need to be clear. The chief target has been the Biden administration.

“Because ultimately, the Biden administration – and to extent the Democratic party – is the primary vessel that controls the policies and the decisions that actually impact our people.

[…]

“The short term, most immediate goal, is to get the Biden administration and the Democratic party to end its trajectory in support of this genocide. And we don’t do this because we have faith in them, we don’t do this because we believe there is some way we can alter their conscious, make them more moral actors, appeal to their moral sensibilities, that’s not why. We do this because, ultimately, they control the levers of power, and we need those levers to be lifted off our people and eyes.

“Now, for me what does that mean? How are these tactics tied to targeting the Biden administration and the Democratic party? I believe our fundamental role is to generate political and social crisis within the American ruling class. Thank you.”

Sara Kershnar Of The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network Speaking To The People’s Conference For Palestine In Detroit: We Support The Armed Struggle; For The Future Of Humanity And The Survival Of This Planet, Israel Must Be Dismantled

Radical anti-Zionist activist Sara Kershnar of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network was met with cheers and applause at the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit when she said that “it is crucial” for the future survival of humanity that Israel and Zionism are dismantled. The crowd cheered in response to her statement that Zionism is the most antisemitic movement and booed Christian Zionists. Kershnar described Zionism as a “ruling class white movement of European Jews who wanted access to power and capital.” She expressed her support of Palestinian armed struggle, and she continued to say that Zionism and the State of Israel have nothing to do with Jewish safety, valuing Jewish life, or any life, or the survival of this planet. Sara Kershnar spoke on the third day of the conference on May 26, 2024.

To view the clip click below:

Sara Kershnar: “This has been a marathon of eight months, but for many of us, a lifelong struggle to dismantle Zionism and the State of Israel. The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network approaches the work first and foremost following the demands for the full liberation of Palestine, from the River to the Sea. And we stand in our own history when we do that. We stand in our own history of resistance to genocide, including the right to resist, and armed resistance as part of that history. And in that way, we are unequivocally with the resistance in Palestine.

[…]

“It is crucial to the future of humanity and the very survival of the planet that we dismantle Zionism.

[…]

“There is no going back. From here Israel is going to fall.

[…]

“Zionism is really the most antisemitic movement, and partners with the most antisemitic regimes and parties. That includes white supremacist organizations in this country. Proud Boys, Steve Bannon, the Trump regime. It also includes Christian Zionists, who are the largest Zionist population in the United States.

[…]

“It goes back to the character of the Zionist movement which was very much a ruling class, white movement of European Jews who wanted State power. Who wanted access to that power and capital. And so, for our movement, it feels very important that we recognize that it has never had… for the Zionists, for the U.S. and its allies, it has never had anything to do with Jewish safety. Has never had anything to do with valuing Jewish life and of course it has nothing to do with valuing any life or the actual survival of this planet.

[…]

“And then I wanted to speak to anti-Zionist Jews who are here or elsewhere. We have to keep decentering the conversation of Jewish safety. We have a responsibility to stop the weaponization of antisemitism. It is a betrayal of our history. It is itself antisemitism, because it allows these governments to claim Jewish safety when all they care about is their own agenda. But that is not the center of anti-Zionist struggle. The center of anti-Zionist struggle is the dismantling of it.

[…]

“And so, as Jewish people who are committed to collective liberation, there is one choice. And we invite you to join us in dismantling Zionism before it continues to do so much damage not only in Palestine, but all over the world. That is not our legacy. And what we need to do is come together and create a different legacy in solidarity with out anti-Zionist brothers and sisters. Thank you.”

Speakers Laud ‘Scenes Of Our Heroic People Breaking Down The Siege’ On October 7, Armed Resistance, Call For Palestinian Struggle To ‘Involve The Whole Of Society On All Levels’ At Detroit ‘People’s Conference For Palestine’, Attended By Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, And PFLP Member Wisam Rafidee

In a panel titled “Palestinian Resistance and the Path to Liberation” held at the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, speakers glorified armed resistance against Israel, the October 7 attacks, smuggling sperm from security prisoners in Israeli jails, and the forced evacuation of Israelis from Northern Israel.

Sarah Abdelshamy, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement in Montreal was the moderator of the session. Abdelshamy described the scenes of October 7 as “scenes of our heroic people breaking down the siege that has suffocated the Gaza Strip.” She said that the struggle for Palestinian liberation from the River to the Sea is one that involves the “entire Palestinian society.”

Abdaljawad Omar, a Palestinian writer and professor of philosophy and culture at Birzeit University said that without the events of October 7, current “political possibilities” like the student movement, the recognition of a Palestinian state and the legal proceedings of the international Criminal Court (ICC) and international Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague would not exist.

Ashraf Taher, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement from Britain explained that the Palestinian masses and resistance are “one and the same.” He added: “Liberation only comes from armed struggle.” He praised Palestinian terrorist Odei Tamimi, who in October 2022 carried out a shooting attack at Shuafat checkpoint in East Jerusalem, killing female soldier Noa Lazar.

Tara Alami, a Montreal-based Palestinian writer and activist, lauded Palestinian security prisoners smuggling sperm out of Israeli jails, as in the example of terrorist Walid Daqqa, whose wife was the keynote speaker at the conference. The audience applauded as she discussed the Iranian drone attack against Israel on April 14, the escape of six Palestinian terrorists from Megiddo Prison in 2021, and the forced evacuation of 250,000 (sic) Israeli civilians from northern Israel.

Another speaker on the panel was Rajab Abdelhaq, the co-founder of the Quds News Network. Abdelhaq has been a featured speaker at MAS Youth Center in Brooklyn and MAS Staten Island Islamic Center.

To view the clip click below:

Sarah Abdelshamy: “In the past eight months, we have seen incredible images of victory from witnessing the families of political prisoners reunite with and embrace their loved ones for the first time in years, to scenes of our heroic people breaking down the siege that has suffocated the Gaza Strip for more than 17 years.

“At the heart of the strategy for Palestinian liberation is the conviction that in order to be victorious, the struggle must transform and involve the whole of society on all levels, and indeed the story of our struggle is one that has always involved the entirety of Palestinian society.

[…]

“It has also shown that this is a protracted people’s war of liberation and that the only one that is capable of sustaining it is the Palestinian resistance, which will continue to fight until liberation from the River to the Sea.”

[…]

Abdaljawad Omar: “One of the most pervasive attacks against all forms of resistance – especially armed resistance – is the claim that Palestinians’ use of armed resistance destroys the possibility of solidarity and tarnishes the image of our people. They say it diminishes our chances for support for our rightful cause. This narrative, echoed even some of our own intellectuals, must be addressed.

“Firstly, without the events of October 7th, regardless of our feelings of those events, the political possibilities we now witness would not exist. The rise of the student movement in the United States in North America and Europe, with demands for divestment and boycott of academic institutions, the recognition of the Palestinian state, the moves by the ICC and ICJ, and the significant shift in global opinion, none of these would have come to pass.

[…]

“No single moment has opened so many doors of political possibility like the events that transpired after October 7th. Secondly, the discourse of human rights and victimhood will only envoke pity. Pity is a fragile and feeble foundation for political movements. Our strength does not lie in eliciting pity, but in inspiring various acts of resistance, through various forms of resistance.

[…]

“But let’s look at the scene after October 7th. Israel has tarnished its image as a democratic and liberal society in the midst of a sea of monsters. In fact, the world has come to recognize Zionism in its horror.

[…]

“October 7th and the promise for liberation it holds would not have manifested in our conference today, in our gathering today. Without the capacity to resist and its regeneration through time, there would have been no story, hero, hope, or future to dream of.”…