At the 27th annual banquet of the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) in Dearborn, MI, community leader and editor-in-chief of the Arab American News, Osama Siblani, stated that the ceasefire deal negotiated by Washington between Israel and Lebanon will never materialize, asserting that the Lebanese people, himself included, do not succumb to pressure.
U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) voiced her frustration, saying, “They talk to us in that way, like we’re dumb [...] they want us to be erased here in the U.S. as well.”
When she described her mother watching events from the Middle East on the Saudi Al-Arabiya Network, the crowd interjected, noting that in Dearborn, people watch the Qatari Al-Jazeera Network.
The event’s master of ceremonies, AAPAC founder Abed Hammoud, a former assistant United States Attorney, chastises Rashida Tlaib for mentioning "Al-Arabiya" that in Dearborn, one does not mention Al-Arabiya, but rather refers to it as Al-Hebrewiya. Introducing Osama Siblani, Hammoud, who, like Siblani, grew up in Lebanon, declared that they are “brothers in arms” and that Siblani speaks for the entire community.