A Michigan city revealed its support for Palestine by placing flags over the welcome sign as the war between Israel and Hamas continues.
Dearborn Heights, a city of more than 61,000 people according to a July 2022 census, sits just outside Detroit, and near the city of Dearborn, which has a population of roughly 107,710. The city of Dearborn, which neighbors Dearborn Heights, is home to the largest Muslim community per capita in the United States.
“This morning, in another show of solidarity, Palestinian flags were placed on the ‘Welcome to Dearborn Heights,’ sign along Ford Road, highlighting the city’s support for the people of Palestine,” Dearborn TCD News wrote in an Instagram post.
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The show of solidarity with Palestinian flags comes after Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization, launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, leaving more than 1,400 people dead and more than 240 people taken as hostages.
A 2020 census showed that people of Arab American and North African ancestry in Dearborn made up roughly 54.5% of the city’s population.
In addition to boasting the largest Muslim community, Dearborn also elected its first Muslim mayor, Abdullah H. Hammoud, in 2022.
Hammoud slammed Israel after Hamas’ attack in a post on X, pointing out that the “decades of illegal military occupation and imprisonment of Gaza make peace impossible and tragic violence inevitable.”
Israel’s decades of illegal military occupation and imprisonment of Gaza make peace impossible and tragic violence inevitable. Israel has trapped millions of Palestinians in Gaza in what is recognized by the international community as the world’s largest open-air prison. Failure…
— Abdullah H. Hammoud (@AHammoudMI) October 8, 2023
Hammoud continued to slam Israel for having placed a blockade on the Gaza Strip after Hamas took control in 2007, writing that “millions of Palestinians in Gaza” have been trapped in what is “recognized by the international community as the world’s largest open-air prison.”
Israel completely withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and implemented the blockade when Hamas rose to power two years later to try and prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza.
Thousands of people in Dearborn have marched in solidarity with Palestine, calling for a ceasefire from Israel.