Dearborn community outraged, says WSJ article naming city as "America's Jihad Capital" is a "distraction"
DEARBORN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - On Monday, community leaders in Dearborn called out the Wall Street Journal for publishing an article that named Dearborn as "America's Jihad Capital."
Mariam Charrara, executive director of ACRL, says the op-ed written by Steven Stalinisky was "anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, racist and Islamophobic."
"Make no mistake, the author of this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal knew the harm they were going to inflict when they submitted this article," Charrara says.
Jim Allen, ACRL chairman, also called out the Wall Street Journal for it's latest article describing Dearborn as a place of "jihad."
"How dare the chicken hawks like Steven Stalinsky call us Jihadist because we have raised our voices of descent against war," Allen said.
The article even sparked a reaction from Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud.
"It's garbage. This is purely inflammatory, and it was meant to stoke fear, to stoke division, to stoke hate. As someone who grew up in the post-911 era, this shows me that not much has changed and this is media malpractice," Hammoud says.
Steven Stalinsky, the author of the WSJ article, is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). According to documents found on the MEMRI website, MEMRI was founded by Yigal Carmon, a former colonel who spent 20 years working for Israeli intelligence under the Israel Defense Forces.
Stalinsky told CBS Detroit his article was not meant to target everyone in Dearborn, even though the headline reads "Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital."
"I'm not saying it is a broad swipe at everyone Dearborn, not at all. I didn't say that," Salinsky said.
Even though the title calls Dearborn "America's Jihad Capital," Hammoud says it's all just a distraction.
"It's clearly a distraction. That's all it was meant to be. That's all it was for. It obviously comes in this moment of time not out of coincidence. It was very targeted and timely to get us off message but our message stands. What needs to happen is a ceasefire," Hammoud says.
ACRL is calling on local and national authorities to investigate anyone targeting the Arab American community for hateful speech including the WSJ article.
CBS News Detroit will continue to follow that story as it develops.
