One page of a pamphlet made available to students at the University of Michigan encampment states, "Freedom for Palestine means Death to America." (Josh Brown)
"Imam Khomeini, who declared the International Al-Quds Day, this is why he would say to pour all of your chants and all of your shouts upon the head of America," Tarek Bazzi, a Michigan-based activist associated with the Hadi institute, said in a video before leading rallygoers in chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."
The protests have spread at a rapid pace since a Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in October, becoming part of a growing movement that one expert believes can be traced in part to wavering support for Israel among top Democrats.
"The recent change of possible U.S. policy … the pressure that Biden is under, and then also Democrats going down from Senator Schumer to Pelosi, people that have been very stalwart, always pro-Israel seem to be turning," Steven Stalinsky, the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), told Fox News Digital.
While the protests have been called "mostly peaceful," participants in the demonstrations have been heard making antisemitic chants or rallying in support of the terrorist group Hamas.
The anti-Israel encampment is shown on the University of Michigan's campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on April 22, 2024. (Josh Brown)
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The White House and Pelosi's and Schumer’s offices did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Representatives from Listen to Michigan and Abandon Biden told Fox News Digital that such chants represent a minority of the Dearborn community, arguing that most of the largely Arab and Muslim population in the area are peaceful and that such chants represent a vocal minority.
The chants of "Death to America" were also rebuked by a Dearborn-area imam, who told Fox News Digital that he had personally confronted a local protester who chanted the slogan.
"I am absolutely against saying ‘Death to America,'" Islamic House of Wisdom Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi said, later adding that Muslims in the area are "not for death," but for "love."
Mohammad Ali Elahi is seen here (Michael Lee/Fox News Digital)
But Stalinsky, who has spent years documenting cases of extremism arising out of Dearborn, argued that such evidence suggests that the community harbors many with anti-Israel and anti-American views.
"There’s definitely support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran," Stalinsky said of Dearborn.
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Stalinksy pointed out that Elahi himself has long been suspected of having ties to Iran, which resulted in nine members of Congress writing a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines last year warning of the Iranian regime’s influence in the U.S. Islamic Centers, including Elahi’s Islamic House of Wisdom.
The rhetoric coming out of Dearborn in recent weeks has also caught the attention of the Michigan legislature, with Republican State Rep. Phil Green telling Fox News Digital that the area is "conflicted" and contains "kind, gracious, loving individuals" as well as a "radical side."
Green said that the conflict in Gaza has now begun to highlight a political divide on the issue, pointing out that a Republican-led effort in the state legislature to condemn terrorism had been unable to pass through the Democratic majority.
"Republicans are united in our support for Israel. We're also united in our support or in our opposition to any type of terrorism," Green said, noting that the Democratic "caucus is split … they do not want to support Israel."
The potential for such a divide has been brewing for a long time, Stalinsky said, arguing that organizations in Dearborn and on college campuses have long propagated anti-Israel and antisemitic messages.
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Those messages have now been combined by groups who have long been sympathetic to progressive narratives on social injustices in the United States, creating a sort of cross-pollination of messages that has manifested in anti-American and anti-Israel sentiment.
"These groups are having influence on a lot of young, ignorant Americans," Stalinsky said. "That’s something we really need to be worried about, I think, because they’re mingling with a lot of bad guys, especially online, and that’s such a danger."
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