The Arab International Festival will once again happen in Dearborn this June–but approval of the event didn’t come without a fight.
City Council on Tuesday gave approval for the festival to take place June 15-17 along Warren Avenue, conditional upon the signing of an agreement that the city will take a backseat to Wayne County in terms of providing police support for the event.
In May 2011, the city told the –which organizes the event–that they would have to .
Festival organizers were able to provide their own clean-up, while the Wayne County Sherriff’s Office provided security, and .
But at a meeting held April 19, the chamber and the city butted heads once again over police presence, and the location of the festival.
Mayor Jack O’Reilly asked that they consider a closed site, such as , which would protect the city from a situation similar to the 2009 festival, where a Christian evangelist was kicked out. The man, Sudanese Christian Pastor George Saieg, later sued the city for violating his free speech rights by not allowing him to speak on public sidewalks and won.
If the festival was held at a closed site, organizers could preclude anyone but festival attendees from entering.
“Dearborn fully supports the festival,” O’Reilly said. “It’s the location that is the issue.”
Festival organizers said a location switch would defeat the purpose of the event, which–beyond celebrating the Arab community–is spurring interest in local businesses along Warren Avenue.
“An alternative site is not possible,” said chamber Chairman Ahmad Chebbani. “The intention of the festival is to promote economic growth to the area, and we want to stick to those objectives.”
“It’s possible,” O’Reilly retorted. “You just choose not to do it.”
Regardless of the disagreement over the site location, it was decided that if the county would indemnify the city, thus taking full responsibility for primary security at the event, that the city would approve it.
“In an open site, things can get out of hand,” said Councilman David Bazzy. “It’s not right for the city to bear the brunt of that risk. But if the county is willing to indemnify the city, then I think we have no issues.”
Last year, things did get out of hand when festival attendees and anti-Muslim protesters clashed. as Wayne County and Detroit police attempted to control the situation.
The county has verbally agreed to serve as the first tier of protection at the festival, as they did last year. The Wayne County Sherriff’s Department, the American Arab Chamber and the city must now sign official paperwork stating the same. The Dearborn Police Department will not have officers inside the festival unless the county calls them in as backup.
Chamber representatives said they were comfortable with that arrangement, and were vehement that the festival should continue, regardless of the presence of anti-Muslim or anti-Arab protesters that have shown up in recent years.
“This is an essential community event,” said chamber board member Ali Dagher. “We’re not going to cower to extremists.”
Leave our PD alone.
1: It is my understanding that the Chamber hires a private security company, and the security company recruits some paid and some unpaid volunteers to assist with the security detail. (I can’t confirm this though) 2: HYPE is not a security company and does not provide security for anybody, at any time, and is not licensed by the state of Michigan or any other state to act in the capacity of a security company. 3: I do agree that some of the security folks they have there think they have law enforcement powers, and should learn to understand they are not the police, and do not have a right to touch anyone unless their own personal safety is at risk. If you would like more information about HYPE Athletics and the good they do for residents of Wayne County, please refer to their website at www.hypeathletics.org for further information. See Also: http://www.pressandguide.com/articles/2012/04/07/business/doc4f7ed21ea3f1a060335331.txt?viewmode=default By the way: I am not an official with HYPE and I am not acting as a representative of the group in my response to you. In the future please have a reasonable and well thought out basis for your attacks on organization such as HYPE.
"We have checked and are extremely confident that we had no broadcast problems from City Hall. The person commenting may have had a localized issue related to their cable service provider. For those who had problems with viewing the council meeting for whatever reason, we do have the entire meeting, including the public discussion issues that were not part of the official agenda. Starting at 5 p.m. today, the meeting in its entirety can be seen on http://cdtv.pegcentral.com/ . It will be part of the regular CDTV rebroadcast schedule, with the first rebroadcast at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday (today)." I guess the technical problem I saw was not a flickering TV, but a flickering light. Hope that helps!
You lack any intelligence, since when does HYPE provide security for ayone? Want to be a former Dearborn Resident: Dearborn doesnt let anyone speak on their city streets without a fee/cost/liability waiver and i think its wrong. Unfortunatley, many times with the arab community, instead of taking the city to court for violations of the 1st ammendment; yields into their silly requirements and signs away their rights every time they want to hold an event, giving up their right to assemble freely. I have freinds that recieved bills to cover the police department's overtime costs. so you are a little mistaken about your comment.
How about GOON (Get O"Reilly Out Now) or GROAN (Get Rid Of Oreilly And Now) I know, it has an extra O or ROOT (Run O'Reilly Out Of Town) Yeah, another extra O Anyone have other ideas? I can just see the bumper stickers now...LOL!
Perhaps a 'townhouse' , but not a residence.