In Delegation To Middle East, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Includes Dearborn, Michigan Extremist Osama Siblani – An Open Supporter Of Hizbullah And Hamas Who Called For Jews To Be Sent 'Back To Poland' Whose Birthday Party She Had Attended; Detroit Area Rep. Debbie Dingell Submits Official Commendation To Congressional Record For Siblani's Birthday And 'Contribution To Journalism': Clips Of Siblani From The MEMRI TV Archives
May 16, 2025
United States | Special Dispatch No. 11983
Introduction
Top Democrat officials in Michigan, including Governor Gretchen Whitmer, said to be a potential 2028 presidential candidate,[1] and Rep. Debbie Dingell, continue to support and platform openly pro-jihad community figures for political gain, neglecting their duty to fight the state's ongoing Islamist problem. The city of Dearborn, Michigan in particular is a longtime hub for public, outspoken support for jihad against the West and Israel, led by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its U.S.-designated terrorist arms Lebanese Hizbullah and Hamas.[2] Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the hateful rhetoric by Dearborn figures has only escalated – yet Democrat officials continue to court them, turning a blind eye and even lending their implicit support to their hateful rhetoric and calls to violence.
This past year alone, MEMRI has translated and documented dozens of sermons, lectures, and rallies in Michigan, at which community leaders pledged open support for waging armed jihad, terror organizations, glorified 'martyred' terrorists, and called for violence against the U.S., the West, and Israel.[3]
Among those leading the charge in Dearborn is Lebanese-born Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News, who has asserted that Hamas is not a terrorist organization, and who at a September, 2024 rally responded to members of the crowd who chanted "death to Israel!" by assuring them that Hizbullah has begun its invasion of norther Israel and will "take care of the job." Later in the rally, he said: "To [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu, who wants to bring [evacuated Israeli civilians back] to the north [of Israel]: We are going to take you back to Poland." In 2022, Siblani blessed the blood of jihadi martyrs "that irrigates the land of Palestine," praising terrorists for "striking them with knives and with their bare hands, and they are victorious." In 2021, he praised the rockets used by Palestinian jihadi factions against Israel, adding: "To Palestine, take me with you, oh heroes!"
https://www.memri.org/reports/delegation-middle-east-michigan-governor-gretchen-whitmer-includes-dearborn-michigan
