Protesters rained down “Death to America!” and Death to Israel!” chants as they gathered to mark what is known as International Al-Quds Day.
But this did not happen in a distant Middle Eastern country. It took place on American soil, in the city of Dearborn, Michigan.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) shared a video clip from the event which showed activist Tarek Bazzi addressing the crowd before the chants could be heard. The event was held on the annual pro-Palestinian day on the last Friday of Ramadan,
At International Al-Quds Day Rally in Dearborn, Michigan Protesters Chant “Death to America!”; Speakers at the Rally: America Is One of the “Rottenest Countries” on Earth; Israel Is ISIS, Nazis, a Cancer pic.twitter.com/B6hMlaKfi5
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) April 7, 2024
“Imam Khomeini, who declared the International Al-Quds Day, this is why he would say to pour all of your chants and all of your shouts upon the head of America,” Bazzi said in the video.
He told the crowd that Al-Quds Day rallies “are so anti-America,” rather than focusing on Israel, because “it’s the United States government that provides the funds for all of the atrocities.”
Bazzi quoted Malcolm X, who said the U.S. is “one of the rottenest countries that has ever existed on this Earth.”
“It’s not just Genocide Joe that has to go,” he said, in a jab at President Biden. “It is the entire system that has to go. Any system that would allow such atrocities and such devilry to happen and would support it – such a system does not deserve to exist on God’s Earth.”
He added that the chant “Death to Israel” is “the most logical chant shouted across the world today” when they are asked “if Israel has the right to exist,” sparking those chants from the crowd as heard in the video that surprised many, like actor James Woods.
Here is an activist leading Muslims in a chant pledging “Death to America.” I am not making it up, as it’s right here on video. I thought it was in Iran, but I was wrong.
It’s in Dearborn, Michigan, in the United States of America. pic.twitter.com/3k81lp8Mfa
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 8, 2024
MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky told Fox News Digital that Dearborn, which is home to the nation’s highest proportion of Muslims, has become a “hotbed of hate for many years” as Al-Quds Day rallies have been taking place there for nearly two decades.
“You can see rallies and sermons in support for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran,” Stalinsky said, adding that these have grown since the October Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
“I am not saying that everyone in Dearborn is a terrorist, but there is a large amount of support for jihadi groups there,” Stalinsky said.
The last Friday of Ramadan, the month of fasting for Muslims, has been observed as the pro-Palestinian Quds Day – based on the Arabic name for Jerusalem – since the start of the Islamic Revolution in Iran led by the late Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.
Does the FBI consider these people, living among us, to be “domestic extremists”?
— DougMD (@Doug__MD) April 7, 2024
“This type of extremism, this type of rhetoric, this type of division … threats of violence was a Middle East thing, it seems like a lot of that was limited to the Middle East, and now it’s come to our doorstep,” Republican state Rep. Phil Green told Fox News Digital.
Also speaking at the Dearborn event was Michigan Iman Usama Abdulghani, who called Israel an “evil settler colonialist project” and a “cancer” as “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea” chants could be heard.
“Israel is ISIS, they are Nazis, they are fascists, they are racists,” Abdulghani said. “The people of the world now know this.”
Making threats against America is not protected speech. These folks should be sent back where they came from.
— Jeff Criswell for Congress GA6 (@JCriswell4Him) April 7, 2024
Angry reactions poured in on social media, with even Elon Musk calling the scene “unreal” and many agreeing on how Bazzi and the protesters should be handled.
Unreal
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 7, 2024
Should be immediate deportation for any immigrant who comes here and chants “death to America.” Get the hell out of our country if that’s how you feel. https://t.co/zggMsjIrLO
— The Honorable Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 7, 2024
But our government is too busy persecuting & investigating Catholics, Parents who speak at School board meetings, Christian nationalists & so called “white supremacists” as the biggest threats to democracy. No time to deal with these “newcomers”. SMH.
— Itsallright (@Itsallright68) April 7, 2024
Inciting violence against the American People.
Why is he not arrested and charged ? Where is the FBI and the SWAT team, raiding his house ?— Alexis M (@AlexisM722461) April 7, 2024
It still boggles my mind how these people can stand there with their feet on American soil screaming such hatred about where they are living! It is unacceptable.
— Jennifer Cuomo (@jenncuomo) April 7, 2024