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Two convicted Palestinian terrorists — including one released from Israeli prison earlier this year in a hostage deal — are scheduled to speak at the 2025 People’s Conference for Palestine, taking place in Detroit, Michigan, on Aug. 29–31.
One speaker, Hossam Shaheen, served a 27-year prison sentence for attempted murder and conspiracy to murder. Israeli forces arrested him in Ramallah in 2004. He had recruited operatives and supplied weapons for an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade cell that planned shooting attacks in Jerusalem neighborhoods.
Shaheen was once a senior figure in Fatah’s youth movement. However, he later transitioned into armed militancy and helped form a Tanzim-linked terror cell. Multiple members of the cell confessed that he gave them orders and weapons.
In February 2024, Israel released Shaheen as part of a hostage deal following the October 7th Hamas massacre.
Promotional materials for the conference invite attendees to “hear directly about the prisoners’ struggle in Zionist prisons” from Shaheen, whom organizers portray as a “freed prisoner.”
Speaker Linked to Group That Celebrated October 7 Massacre
Another featured speaker, Omar Assaf, has longstanding ties to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). He currently coordinates the Palestinian Popular Conference, which seeks to restructure the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) around “armed revolutionary resistance.”
Just one day after the October 7th attack, Assaf’s group released a statement praising it as a military success. It called on Palestinians to “intensify engagement with the Zionist Israeli enemy” and to “build upon the achievements” of October 7th.
The statement also demanded an end to Palestinian Authority security coordination with Israel. It urged the unification of Palestinian factions under a strategy of “total confrontation.”
Gaza as “Compass”: Conference Glorifies Terror in Ideological Terms
The conference’s ideological message is unambiguous. On its homepage, organizers declare: “Gaza is the compass… Gaza keeps our path true… For this reason, Zionism and imperialism are waging a continuous genocide on Gaza, and we, the people of the world, will fight at every turn to reject it.”
This is not a call for peace. Instead, it is a justification for ongoing violence. By framing Gaza as a moral guide and accusing Israel of genocide, the organizers portray terror as both necessary and righteous.
Participants are invited to “strategize, prepare… and utilize the existing skills and capacity of our movement in this next phase of struggle.” With speakers like Shaheen and Assaf featured as heroes, the conference does not merely condone terrorism — it actively incites it.
The Detroit conference also draws support from elected officials. U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who has repeatedly refused to condemn the October 7th massacre, will speak for the second consecutive year.
She will appear alongside Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez, activist Linda Sarsour, and representatives from Jewish Voice for Peace and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. These groups routinely excuse antisemitism, glorify violence, and call for the dismantling of the world’s only Jewish state.
As antisemitism intensifies worldwide, the normalization of terror-apologetic rhetoric on U.S. soil is not just alarming — it is a threat. It must be identified, challenged, and unequivocally condemned.
