The more it changes...

 In his book Sundown Towns, James W. Loewen says Dearborn, Michigan, "discouraged" African Americans from moving there, which is a euphemistic way of saying they would probably have been killed.  For eight years (1920-1927) it was home to Henry Ford's weekly the Dearborn Independent, an American precursor of Der Sturmer.  Dearborn has more recently become the home of a large and vibrant Islamic community with an Arab-American National Museum and the largest mosque in the United States.  Many residents are Christian descendants of Lebanese immigrants.  

The city's history took another strange turn as Murdoch's Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by Steven Stalinsky called "Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital."  The article accuses "imams and politicians" of siding "with Hamas against Israel and Iran against the U.S."  It cites no evidence of violence but references a demonstration against a kosher restaurant in Philadelphia last December.  Apparently there have been marches in which people chanted slogans and wore keffiyehs.  The horror.

Citing "an increase in Islamophobic rhetoric online," Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud ordered an increased police presence around houses of worship.  Stalinsky represents something called the Middle East Media Research Institute, which distributes articles translated from Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Pashto, Turkish and Russian but not, I observe, from Hebrew.  What would that accomplish?  We already know that Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir accused Joe Biden of hindering Israel's war effort, for which even Netanyahu criticized him.  We know any public outcry against the pulverization of Gaza and its population is regarded as the equivalent of flying a plane into the Pentagon -- already two university presidents have lost their jobs for allowing this effrontery on campus.  Not since Black Lives Mattered burned Portland to the ground has there been such panic.  

Hisham Awartani and his two friends were not demonstrating.  They were walking to his grandmother's house for Thanksgiving dinner when they were shot, and now Awartani is paralyzed.  Shouldn't have worn those inflammatory keffiyehs.  It's not clear what Wadea al-Fayoume was doing when he was stabbed to death -- he was six, so probably not chanting "from the river to the sea."  In fact, it's hard to find any reports of physical violence against any non-Muslims in this country resulting from the October 7 Hamas attacks.  Mayor Hammoud seems to be aware of that, just as Minister Ben-Gvir must be aware that Joe Biden is the best friend Israel has in the world, endangering his own re-election by refusing to call for a cease-fire.  That would please the minister, who longs for more Trumpism.  Why does he hate America?

At least we're not alone in sheltering assholes.  Look at this beautiful place, Homerton College, Cambridge, founded 1768.  When the cleaners complained about toilets being dirty after a conference, the college put up signs asking students to keep them clean.  In Mandarin only.  The principal, Lord Woolley if you please, has apologized (in English) and issued the usual boilerplate about the college's "rich diversity," etc.  An American university would know to put up a "don't piss on the seats" notice in at least fifteen languages and there would still be trouble.  

We all have far to go.