Michigan police up presence after 'islamophobic' WSJ op-ed on Hamas support

The mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, said the city's police officers were ramping up their presence across places of worship and major infrastructure points following an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal that he called "bigoted" and "Islamophobic."

The WSJ published the piece on Friday headlined as "Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital." The city's mayor and rights advocates from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee condemned the piece as anti-Arab and racist for suggesting the city's residents, including religious leaders and politicians, supported Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and extremism.

"Reckless. Bigoted. Islamophobic," Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said about the WSJ piece written by Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.

"Effective immediately - Dearborn police will ramp up its presence across all places of worship and major infrastructure points. This is a direct result of the inflammatory @WSJ opinion piece that has led to an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting the city of Dearborn," the mayor added.

The WSJ did not respond to a request for comment. Stalinsky said he stood by his piece.

President Joe Biden denounced anti-Arab rhetoric in response the WSJ opinion piece targeting Dearborn, Michigan, that the mayor called "bigoted" and "Islamophobic."

Biden, while not referring directly to the WSJ or the article's author, said on social media platform X it was wrong to blame "a group of people based on the words of a small few."

"That's exactly what can lead to Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate, and it shouldn't happen to the residents of Dearborn – or any American town," Biden said on the platform formerly called Twitter.

Hate incidents growing in the US

Rights advocates have noted a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian bias and antisemitism in the US since the eruption of war in the Middle East in October.

Among anti-Palestinian incidents that raised alarm were a November shooting in Vermont of three students of Palestinian descent and the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian American in Illinois in October.

The latest eruption of war in the Middle East began on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing over 1,200. Israel has since assaulted Hamas-governed Gaza, killing over 27,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Nearly all of Gaza's 2.3 million population is displaced. The densely populated enclave also faces starvation.