‘ON EVERYONE’S HEART’
Gaza war weighs heavily as Michigan Muslims prepare to mark Ramadan
Ramadan is usually a fresh start for Sabah Bedoun, a Dearborn resident who said she typically looks forward to the holy month as a time for mindful reflection, deepening her Islamic faith and celebrating with family.
This year feels different, the 51-year-old said.
As Metro Detroiters begin the religious month this week, the upcoming dawn-to-sunset fasts feel particularly poignant to Bedoun and some other Metro Detroit Muslims, bearing in mind the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, many of whom are Muslim, who won’t be able to go about their daily routines or observe the holy month the same way.
The United Nations estimates at least 576,000 Palestinians are on the brink of starvation in Gaza. With more than 30,000 Palestinians killed and hundreds of thousands still displaced from their homes since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, Muslim community gatherings are taking on a new meaning, Bedoun said.
The somber tone has extended far into Metro Detroit’s Muslim community. Organizers announced in December that they were canceling Dearborn’s Ramadan Suhoor Festival, an annual event typically attracting 100,000 visitors to the city, out of respect for Palestinians. “Suhoor” is the last meal eaten at night during Ramadan before the sun comes up and fasting resumes.
“In light of the ongoing genocide in Palestine, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s festival,” festival founder Hassan Chami said in an Instagram post. “It feels inappropriate to celebrate at a time of such
gravity. Our hearts and thoughts are with those affected in Palestine.”
Chami still stands by the decision, more than two months later with no ceasefire or sure sign of an end to the conflict, as Ramadan begins, he told The Detroit News.
Chami said he felt a personal sense of responsibility to cancel the festival and continue boycotting Israeli products through Ramadan. His parents both escaped war in Lebanon and moved to Metro Detroit alongside other Lebanese expelled from the area when Israel first occupied South Lebanon, he said.
“I don’t want to have the responsibility of having a joyful festival during a time of genocide,” he said, referencing videos from Palestinian journalists documenting Gaza now. “We’re watching our own people being ethnically cleansed on the palm of our hands, right on our phones.”
Ramadan, a holy time marked by a 30day period of fasting, prayer and reciting the Quran, is a time for Muslims around the world to unite themselves to their faith more deeply, Bedoun said. Some Metro De