(Detroit News) Protesters gathered outside a Dearborn hotel Thursday as several local leaders from Metro Detroit’s Arab American and Muslim communities met with high-ranking officials from President Joe Biden’s administration to ease tensions and discuss policy issues, including a possible cease-fire in Gaza.
Multiple officials, including the mayor of Dearborn, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and a state lawmaker from Hamtramck, met with White House officials in Wayne County for several hours on Thursday. But some local leaders, including the mayor of Dearborn Heights, refused to be a part of the meetings, saying many still feel “hurt, betrayed and disrespected.”
“Until there’s a cease-fire in place, and until the genocide has stopped, people didn’t want us to meet with anyone at this present time,” Wayne County Commissioner Sam Baydoun told the Detroit News of his decision not to go.
