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Anti-Islam Activists to Rally in Dearborn Today; Local Muslims Reject Conference's Message
Anti-Islam activists from across the U.S. are in Dearborn today for a conference they say is needed to rescue Muslim women. Called the Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference on Honor Killings, it’s named after a 20-year-old Muslim woman killed in Warren last year.
But Muslim women in metro Detroit are rejecting the conference’s message, saying it promotes hatred of Islam and Arab Americans. And Mokdad’s family also strongly objects to the conference, saying they don’t want her name being used to promote hate.
On Friday, Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Bill Cataldo, who is chief of homicide, told the Free Press that Mokdad’s death was not related to Islam or culture.
“It’s not a case based on honor,” Cataldo said. “The family objects to them using her name.”
In response to the anti-Islam conference today, Arab-American groups plan to hold a separate conference nearby in Detroit that speaks out against bigotry.
Organized by several Arab-American organizations, it’s called Rejecting Islamophobia: A Community Stand Against Hate.
Mokdad was shot dead last April in Warren by her stepfather, Rahim Alfetlawi, who faces first-degree murder charges.
In court, prosecutors have said the motive was rooted in the fact that Alfetlawi had “been sexually abusing her,” Cataldo said. He was afraid Mokdad might go public with the assaults, and so he killed her, Cataldo said.
Anti-Islam activists say her death was an example of an Islamic honor killing.
“We’re standing for the human rights of girls like Jessica Mokdad,” said Pamela Geller of New York City, a conference organizer who blogs against Islam.
But Cataldo said, “The evidence shows the motive really was not a cultural (or religious) issue.”
He added, “It’s about power, control and rape.”
Local Muslims say the conference organizers are abusing Mokdad’s name to promote themselves.
“As a Muslim woman, I stand with pride in my faith,” said Suehaila Amen, president of the Lebanese-American Heritage Club in Dearborn, who plans to speak at the Arab-American conference.
Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press