Two Reputed Palestinian Terrorists To Speak At Detroit Conference
Two men with documented ties to Palestinian terrorist groups are set to speak at an upcoming conference in Detroit, sparking outrage over the event’s lineup.
Hossam Shaheen, who was released by Israel in February as part of a hostage exchange, is one of the scheduled speakers at the People’s Conference for Palestine. The event’s organizers describe him as “a Palestinian writer known for capturing the complexities of life in captivity.” In reality, Shaheen has a long record of terrorism. Arrested in 2004, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for carrying out shooting attacks on Israeli vehicles, throwing a hand grenade at a Border Police jeep, and plotting to send a suicide bomber to Jerusalem. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office revealed in 2002 that Shaheen recruited members of the Jebl Mukaber Martyrs’ Brigade, supplying them with weapons for multiple attempted terror attacks.
Also featured will be Omar Assaf, a former official of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a group responsible for multiple deadly terror attacks, including the Ma’alot massacre in which 21 children were murdered. Assaf currently heads committees within the Palestinian Popular Conference, which openly praised Hamas terrorists the day after the October 7 massacre in Israel and pledged to “build upon” the attack.
The lineup extends further with Abu-Bakr Abd, a Gaza-born journalist affiliated with Iranian state media and Hamas propaganda outlets. Abd has praised Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, justified executions carried out by Hamas, and even admitted regret for not personally taking part in terrorist attacks.
The conference has a history of giving platforms to extremists. In previous years, the People’s Conference for Palestine hosted members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), another U.S.-designated terrorist group.
Adding fuel to the controversy, Michigan Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib is also scheduled to appear, once again aligning herself with figures and organizations tied to terrorism.
The fact that a U.S. conference is welcoming individuals with such violent pasts highlights how normalized open sympathy for terrorists has become in some political circles — a disturbing sign of the growing radicalization of the American left’s pro-Palestinian movement.