Abdullah Hammoud, the Muslim mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, last week told a Christian man he was “not welcome” in the city after the resident voiced objection to a street sign honoring Arab American news publisher Osama Siblani.
Edward Barham, a Christian pastor, during a Sept. 9 City Council meeting, criticized the placement of signs at two intersections on Warren Avenue.
He called it “inappropriate” and said it was equivalent to having a street named “Hezbollah Street or Hamas Street.”
Siblani has made past statements viewed as sympathetic to terrorists.
Hammoud interrupted Barham, called him a racist, bigot, and Islamophobe, and said he should simply avoid the renamed streets or “close your eyes while you’re doing it.”
“Although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here. And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of this city,” Hammoud told Barham.
Hammoud also accused Barham of “posting videos on YouTube, standing in front of my mosque, saying the cruelest of things about Muslims, about the religion of Islam.”
Barham told Fox News he would not respond with hate.
“I did not respond to the mayor with hate. I said, ‘God bless you,'” Barham said, adding that he takes seriously Jesus’ command to “love your enemies, bless those who curse you.”
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