AMERICAN MEDINAS: Turning US Cities Into ‘Beachheads’ for Islam.
In June 2023, Paterson [NJ] Mayor Andre Sayegh signed a sister city agreement with the mayor of Ramallah, a city in the West Bank and the seat of power of the Palestinian Authority, which officially celebrates the killing of Israelis. And last year during a ceremony kicking off Ramadan, he declared his city the “capital of Palestine in the United States of America” and the “fourth-holiest city” in Islam. “We are 100% halal!” Sayegh gushed, meaning pure and lawful under Islam. The mayor even agreed to hang a sign at the city entrance that reads: “Welcome to Little Palestine.”
Paterson is just one of several American cities – which also includes Hamtramck and Dearborn in Michigan – now controlled by Muslims; followers of Islam also exert outsized influence in some larger cities such as Minneapolis and New York.
To varying degrees, the actions of Muslims in these communities echo those of immigrant groups who came before them – creating thriving communities that can feel more foreign than American, supporting one another to gain office and influence, renaming streets after their own heroes, giving recognition to their own holidays. But critics warn that communities such as Paterson also reflect the different challenges posed by Islam, which is now the nation’s fastest-growing religion.
As is also the case in Western Europe, assimilation is demonstrably rare in U.S. municipalities with heavy concentrations of Muslim migrants. In these areas, large influxes of Muslims from abroad have changed not only the complexion, culture, values and traditions of cities, but also the demographic makeup of city councils, school boards, police departments and courts. Muslim officials, in turn, have changed laws or how existing laws are enforced to conform to the tenets of Islam – an unwelcome trend for many non-Muslims and particularly Jews threatened by their militantly anti-Israel rhetoric and positions.
“Our number one and top priority is to protect and defend our community, it is not to assimilate,” asserted Linda Sarsour, a renowned Palestinian activist who lives in the Paterson area and has helped transform the city.
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