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A routine Dearborn city council meeting on Sept. 9 erupted into a culture-war flashpoint when a local Christian resident, Edward “Ted” Barham, stood up to question new honorary street signs and was met with a furious rebuke from Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. Instead of answering the substantive concern, the mayor cut him off, labeled him an Islamophobe and told him flatly, “you are not welcome here,” a startling line for any elected official to utter to a constituent. The exchange was captured on camera and has rightly ignited outrage from conservatives who see a mayor abandoning civility and basic first-amendment norms.
Barham’s complaint was straightforward and patriotic: he described the signs honoring longtime Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani as provocative because of Siblani’s past praise for militant actors in the Middle East. He compared the signs to naming a road “Hezbollah Street” or “Hamas Road,” arguing that celebrating figures with troubling statements about violence is inappropriate in an American city striving for peace. That is not bigotry — it is common sense and defense of the innocent victims of terror.
Instead of addressing those concerns, Mayor Hammoud escalated, accusing Barham of posting anti-Muslim videos and promising to celebrate if Barham ever left the city. This retaliatory posture from a public official chills citizen speech and makes a mockery of the mayoral oath to represent all residents, not only those who agree with him. Conservatives should not stand for officials wielding power to silence critics or to turn local government into a refuge for partisan grievance.
The controversy centers on Osama Siblani, the Arab American News publisher who has been honored with banners and street signs by Wayne County, not Dearborn city government — yet the signs still sit inside Dearborn and matter to its citizens. Siblani has a documented record of remarks praising “martyrs” and speaking in ways that sympathetic outlets and critics tie to Hezbollah and Hamas, making the honorary treatment deeply troubling to those who support Israel and oppose terrorism. Americans have a right to question why our public spaces would be used to laud figures whose rhetoric echoes support for violent actors.
Officials tried to deflect responsibility by saying the naming was a county decision, but that dodge rings hollow when the signs stand in the heart of Dearborn and when the mayor himself appeared at the unveiling. Local leaders can and must condemn rhetoric that lionizes violence and reassure citizens of all faiths that their safety and values matter. Passing the buck while defending the outcome is not leadership; it’s cowardice dressed up as identity politics.
This episode exposes a wider problem: too many public officials prioritize cultural signaling over common-sense patriotism, and they mistake the defense of traditional values for “hate.” Conservatives must call this out loudly — protecting free speech, honoring the rule of law, and ensuring public officials treat dissenting neighbors with respect are nonnegotiable. Voters need mayors who welcome debate and bind the community together, not ones who threaten to parade a constituent out of town for speaking his conscience.
Americans of faith, especially in communities with diverse populations, deserve leaders who defend the right to peacefully question and criticize public honors that appear to celebrate extremism. Dearborn’s residents — Christian, Muslim, Jewish and secular alike — should expect better from their mayor and their county leaders: transparency, accountability, and an unwillingness to normalize rhetoric that excuses or glamorizes terror. If local government won’t police its own ceremonies, citizens must use the ballot box to restore respect, decency, and common-sense patriotism.
