The People’s Conference for Palestine held its second annual gathering in Detroit from August 29 to 31, 2025. Many organizations endorsed the conference, including the National Students for Justice in Palestine and the Columbus chapter of the American Muslims for Palestine.
SJP and AMP have significant links to the Islamist group Hamas, a terrorist organization designated by the United States almost 30 years ago. Hamas is responsible for the global tragedy of October 7, 2023, a terrorist attack on Israel that murdered and kidnapped over 1,450 innocent victims from over three dozen countries.
A U.S.-based conference endorsed by organizations that support Islamism, a political ideology based on the belief that all aspects of life should follow a very strict interpretation of Islamic law, is the definition of irony. The entire event was a shining example of how America is a beacon for freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, freedoms that would not necessarily be available to an American population ruled by those following a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
One of the speakers at this conference, a U.S.-based PhD student, proclaimed that those in the U.S. “live in an evil country.” This same speaker also said that “the thing to do is to destroy the idea of America in Americans’ heads so that they can see the humanity of everybody outside the warping of American exceptionalism and imperialism and all these evil things.” These comments were met with applause, as the audience welcomed the speaker’s message.
Other speakers included two terrorists. One of them was Hussam Shaheen, a convicted terrorist associated with the U.S.-designated terrorist organization al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, who was recently released from an Israeli prison in a post-October 7 hostage deal with Hamas. The other terrorist was 75-year-old Omar Assaf, associated with a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Both terrorists spoke via video link as the U.S. denied them visas to enter America.
Although organizing, attending, and speaking at the “People’s Conference for Palestine” is constitutionally protected, the endorsing organizations, the vitriol expressed, and the fact that organizers normalized a speaker list that included two terrorists should force Americans to ask what is truly happening here at home.
The answer is that Islamist organizations and individuals within our borders have a purposeful, long-range plan to influence the hearts and minds of Americans, shape the policies and future of our government, and penetrate our universities.
Where did this plan originate? Shortly after the Muslim Brotherhood created Hamas in the late 1980s to fight Israel, U.S.-based members of the group created the Palestine Committee to provide financial, political, and propaganda support for Hamas. In 1993, the Palestinians and Israelis signed the Oslo Accords, hoping to provide a road map to potential peace, a two-state solution, and Palestinian self-rule.
Hamas condemned the Oslo Accords and sought to derail this peace effort. Leaders of the U.S.-based Palestine Committee reacted and planned a meeting to discuss next steps. The meeting was held in October 1993, and the FBI wiretapped it. The FBI learned this group vowed to support Hamas while operating under cover to avoid law enforcement scrutiny. These leaders declared “war is deception” and planned to deceive the American public about their motives while remaining true to their ideologies when addressing the Palestinian and Arab populations. These leaders specifically discussed their intent to infiltrate media outlets, the U.S. government, and America’s leading universities.
AT CROSSROADS IN GAZA: WHY THE CEASEFIRE DEAL IS A DEFINING MOMENT
This plan was contrived in 1993, and today, we see it on full display in congressional districts and local government races, on major American campuses, via social media and legacy media outlets, and yes, at conferences such as the People’s Conference for Palestine. America needs to recognize what is happening inside our borders today, understand who is responsible, and realize what this may mean for our future. The People’s Conference for Palestine is just a recent tactical development in the Islamists’ long-range playbook. Many organizations supporting this conference, many of whom spoke and many who attended, have a different vision for the future of America than most Americans.
In America, those who hate us have the right to hate us. They also have the right to gather and talk about hating us. The People’s Conference for Palestine was never about Palestine. It is part of executing a decades-old plan, which is all about America.
