DeWine Heckled at Islamic Center: Governor Called out for Support of Israel
By Marie Thomas
Perrysburg, Ohio: Harsh words and accusations met Gov Mike DeWine when he visited Northwest Ohio Friday.
What was promoted as a chance for DeWine to discuss security concerns became an opportunity for the Islamic community to let the governor know that they are angry with his and the state’s support of Israel in its ethnic cleansing of residents of Gaza.
DeWine met with Muslim leaders at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo in Perrysburg and then with Jewish leaders at Temple Shomer Emunim in Toledo.
Eight speakers took the podium at the Islamic Center and told DeWine about how the violence in Gaza was affecting their lives.
The heckling started about 50 minutes into the program and continued as DeWine met with the press afterward.
“Where unity is paramount, your visit signifies the strength that comes from dialogue and conversation,” Iman Aly Lela, from the Islamic Center, said to DeWine.
Islam teaches us to love for others what we love for ourselves, he said, and that all humans are equal in the eyes of God.
“We stand for justice regardless of who is the oppressor and who is oppressed,” he said.
You can be a good American citizen and a good Muslim, he said, and we aspire to build a better democracy.
The assault of the values that make us the greatest nation on Earth are apparent when Americans endorse the crimes that are being committed in Gaza.
“Silence when crimes are committed is not merely complacency, it is an endorsement of crime,” Iman Aly Lela said.
“The US government isn’t silent but instead is supporting genocide and ethnic cleansing,” he said.
“If this is not genocide what is? If this is not ethnic cleansing, what is?” he said.
He asked DeWine to help end the suffering of the people in Gaza.
People said never again after the Nazi concentration camps, yet hospitals, schools and churches containing innocent civilians are being destroyed.
“I pray to the almighty God to stop this bloodshed and to bring peace to communities everywhere in the world and especially in the Middle East,” Iman Aly Lela said.
DeWine said the meeting came out of concern of the incidents of hate in Ohio.
“I wanted to very forcefully speak out against hate of any kind, of any actions against Muslims or Jews,” he said.
“Every time that we see this take place, or hear about it taking place, it is incumbent upon all of us to denounce that,” he said.
“We do not want to give those who hate any oxygen, we don’t want to give them, even by our silence, and kind of support,” he said.
With the help of the state legislature, a fund has been created to add security to places that might be vulnerable, including Jewish and Islamic centers across the state.
“My purpose today is to listen. I want to hear from the community … whether people voted for me or not,” he said.
A physical and cybersecurity assessment of the Islamic Center will be conducted this month, said Dr Mahjabeen Islam, vice president at the Islamic Center.
She requested any signs of hate or violence be reported to the police and then the Islamic Center so the governor’s office can be contacted.
“Fifteen thousand Palestinians have been killed, over 5,000 of them are children and the world let it happen,” she said.
She cautioned about the power of propaganda and said in 2012 a man who continually listened to Fox News entered the Islamic Center armed and intoxicated and set fire to the prayer area. He said in court he had never met a Muslim but was angry by what he heard on the news, Dr. Islam said.
Israeli savages are being funded by the American taxpayer, she said, and the US government is showing that Israeli life is more precious than a Palestinian one.
“The world must not let the maniacal ambition of (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu continue the genocide in Gaza,” she said.
Fatima Al-Dajani, a Palestinian-American assistant professor at the University of Toledo, spoke on behalf of a 4-month baby from Gaza and held a photo of the child.
She said fingers have been pointed at her and she has been called hateful, but the well-being of students is crucial.
We need to promote a culture of truth by not staying silent, she said.
“Mr Governor, our safety is your responsibility,” she said.
The textbook definition of genocide is what is happening in Gaza, said Youseff Baddar, high school history teacher and founder of Toledo4Palestine.
“Governor, as a Palestinian, I’m asking you and appealing to you on a human level, to stop supporting a genocide happening in Gaza,” Baddar said.
Dr Fadi Safi said the Palestine American Medical Association has worked in Gaza for the last 10 years and most of its efforts have been destroyed.
Dr Safi, a pulmonary and critical care physician and member of the association, told DeWine with the deaths of doctors in Gaza has led to the deterioration of the healthcare system.
Physicians, dentists, nurses, gynecologists, paramedics, pharmacists – all have been killed or kidnapped, he said.
He asked DeWine to confirm that health care workers should not be targeted and to open corridors to allow the delivery of supplies.
Mona Abu Shaban told DeWine that half of her father’s family had been killed Oct 19 while taking shelter in a safe area of town. The house was bombed and 42 of the 46 people in the home did not survive.
It took several days to recover the bodies, which were mangled, in pieces and unrecognizable.
“Unfortunately, my story is not unique,” she said. “Their deaths were the result of the indiscriminate bombing of the Israeli Army. …”
She asked where the outrage was for the numerous deaths of Palestinian children.
“Every American politician from the president of the United States all the way down has blood of their hands,” she said.
“We will remember your silence when it is time to vote. We will remember who watched and did nothing,” she said.
Eeman Hashem, a Palestinian-American student activist at Perrysburg Junior High School, said she was representing every K-12 student in Ohio who has been silenced and denounced by hypocritical school administrators.
She told DeWine that since Oct 7, young Muslims – including herself – have endured hate crimes on a record-breaking scale.
“Your silence regarding people like me is deafening,” she said to DeWine.
Jasmine Abu-Hummos, representing American Muslims of Palestine, asked DeWine to remove the Israeli flag from his Twitter bio and on his lawn.
“Do not think for one moment that we support your work that will be used for a photo op, that we will not be mobilizing in 2026 when your reelection comes around,” she said.
Dr Amjad Hussain, professor emeritus of cardio-thoracic surgery, thanked DeWine for his first visit to the Islamic Center and asked that it not be his last.
“Gov Mike DeWine, wash your hands in the blood of genocide,” shouted a male in the audience.
The man was told to sit down and listen.
“You do not represent us. ICGT does not represent us,” the same male shouted to Hussain, referencing the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. “We are angry, we want justice.”
A cease fire in Gaza is not going to solve a problem that has been festering since 1948, Dr Hussain said.
Our leaders need to look into the basic causes that have led us to where we are today, he said.
A representative from the Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition asked DeWine to take down the Israeli flag on all his social media accounts and issue a statewide directive that hate will not be tolerated, including Islamophobia.
“I think to put the governor under the spot like this, in my judgement, is not the right approach,” said Saleh Jabarin, president of the Islamic Center, after the speakers concluded.
DeWine said the speakers had a right to express their opinions, but he declined to debate foreign policy.
When asked if he planned to remove the Israeli flag from his Twitter account, he skirted the question and said the Ukrainian flag was posted when that country was invaded.
“I spoke out at the time of the Hamas terrorist attack … and has spoken out that Israel has the right to defend itself,” DeWine said.
He said he came to Perrysburg to speak out against hatred.
“Hatred toward Muslims is wrong, hatred toward Jews is wrong, hatred towards any Ohioans or Americans is wrong,” he said. “We all have to denounce hatred.” – Sentinel-Tribune
