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| Christian Science Monitor photo |
As the first U.S. city to be run by a Muslim-majority
city council, Hamtramck is highlighted in a lengthy piece in The Washington
Post that was published over the weekend.
In addition, the New York Times has published a
comprehensive story about the many Syrian refugees living in – and coming to –
Michigan, with a special emphasis on Oakland County.
gripping parts of the country since the Islamic State’s attacks on Paris: The
influx of Muslims here has profoundly unsettled some residents of the town long
known for its love of dancing, beer, paczki pastries and the pope,” the Post
reported.
Islamophobia that has been unleashed across parts of the nation in recent days.
The Nov. 3 election (which gained considerable national media attention) put three Muslims on the city council,
giving those who worship Islam a 4-2 edge in a traditionally Catholic town.
But wary longtime Hamtramck residents witnessing the
makeover of the Detroit enclave do not express hysteria about jihadism or
attempts to impose sharia law. Their concerns are far more basic.
Some are irritated by the loud wail of the call to prayer
that blares from the city’s mosques. Others see the rule that bans liquor sales
within 500 feet of the mosques as a cultural infringement. And many sense that
some Muslim immigrants are not interested in the ongoing redevelopment of the
city’s commercial district along Joseph Campau.
swastika was painted on a campaign poster featuring the face of one Muslim
candidate. One campaign flyer offered a xenophobic plea: “Let’s take back our
city.”
That message was too late. Hamtramck is now about 23
percent Arabic, 19 percent Bangladeshi and 7 percent Bosnian. The Poles who
have dominated the small city for a century now account for just 11 percent of
the population.
Polish mayor concerned
BanglaTown, the Bangladeshi commercial strip and residential neighborhood along
Conant that straddles Detroit.
The Post found that the city’s Polish mayor, Karen
Majewski, is a faculty member at the University of Michigan who studied
immigration patterns while earning her doctorate. Yet, she shares some of the
concerns about the growing Muslim population that is voiced by other aging
Poles.
“There’s definitely a strong feeling that Muslims are the
other,” (the mayor) said. “It’s about culture, what kind of place Hamtramck
will become. There’s definitely a fear, and to some degree, I share it.”
Saad Almasmari, a 28-year-old from Yemen who became the
fourth Muslim elected to the six-member city council this month, doesn’t understand
that fear.
campaigned on building Hamtramck’s struggling economy and improving the public
schools, said he is frustrated that so many residents expect the council’s
Muslim members to be biased. He spent months campaigning everywhere in town,
knocking on the doors of mosques and churches alike, he said.
“I don’t know why people keep putting religion into
politics,” said Almasmari, who received the highest percentage of votes (22
percent) of any candidate. “When we asked for votes, we didn’t ask what their
religion was.”
Snyder mocked
Gov. Rick Snyder, is a focus of the New York Times piece because of his highly
publicized, abrupt policy reversal, abandoning his emphasis on welcoming
immigrants to Michigan in favor of a “pause” in Syrian refugees headed for the
state.
Activists and volunteers working for southeast Michigan nonprofit
groups that assist refugees and asylees mock Snyder in the Times piece.
The Times highlighted the plight of Syrian refugee Radwan
Mughrbel, who arrived with his family in July and is living in a Bloomfield Hills
apartment. They fled the war-torn city of Homs. In recent days, they have grown
worried about the current atmosphere in the U.S., with political leaders trying
to link refugees to ISIS terrorists.
Everything had to be left behind: furniture, photos,
nearly all of their clothes. The only exception was (Mughrbel’s wife’s) gold
wedding band and two bracelets that she slipped onto her wrist. Once the family
arrived in Jordan, she sold them all for about $230.
him could be a threat.
“We didn’t cross illegally,” he said. He threw his hands
in the air. “We went through hell to get here.”
