Michigan minister faces backlash over Dearborn street sign controversy

A Michigan resident is speaking out after being told he was “not welcome” in his own city for raising concerns about street signs honoring the controversial founder and publisher of The Arab American News.

Ted Barham, a Christian minister and resident of Dearborn, attended a city council meeting earlier this month to oppose renaming an intersection after Osama Siblani. Barham accused Siblani of supporting terror groups and promoting violence in the Middle East and on American soil. 

“When he’s kind of synonymous with Hezbollah and now Hamas, I didn’t think it was appropriate for his name to be up so publicly in this city here in America,” Barham stressed on the “Will Cain Country” podcast.

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At the public meeting, Barham read from a comment made by Siblani, a Lebanese-American, which he argued encouraged violence not only in the Middle East, but also in the United States. 

Barham argued that Siblani once spoke about “the blood of the martyrs” irrigating the land of Palestine. 

He quoted Siblani as allegedly saying in an 2022 speech: “Believe me, everyone should fight within his means. They will fight with stones, others will fight with guns, others fight with planes, drones, and rockets.”

Siblani rejected Barham’s allegations as false, telling Fox News Digital he was “the only person” to oppose the street sign.

He said support for the honor has been widespread, adding, “Thousands of residents in Dearborn, across Michigan, and throughout the country have praised the sign recognizing my more than four decades of service.” 

Siblani also argued that Barham’s claims were “based on false information and bias.”

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Barham told Will Cain that he lived in the Middle East for a time and said he fears what he referred to as the flow of “hostility” from Muslim-majority countries into the West. 

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud defended the decision, saying Siblani had contributed greatly to the community through his decades leading The Arab American News. He dismissed Barham’s concerns and told him to “close his eyes” if he didn’t want to see the signs.

“I didn’t think that was great advice because then I might crash if I close my eyes when I’m driving there,” Barham later said, stressing that he had no intent to spread hate toward the Muslim community. 

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“I don’t want to just encourage more hostility towards Muslim friends. I want to encourage love towards Muslim friends,” he said, emphasizing that his faith played a role in his decision to speak out about the intersection signs. 

In the meeting, Hammoud called Barham a “racist,” “bigot” and an “Islamophobe.”

He went on to declare: “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.”

Barham said he responded to the moment with faith. 

“I think it’s very important to show Christian love to our enemies,” he said. “That’s why I responded by saying, ‘God bless you, mayor. God bless you, sir.’”

Now, Barham said he’s facing online retaliation. 

“I was kicked off Facebook, permanently, suddenly kicked off Facebook, lost my personal account of 16 years, my personal photos, family photos and all my media pages,” he said. 

Barham said he believes the ban followed his posting of a video urging Muslims to convert to Christianity and claimed that some residents, “possibly the mayor himself,” played a role.