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A sign from the 2024 conference in Detroit.
A controversy is swirling around Hussam Shaheen, a Palestinian freed in February as part of a prisoner swap for Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Jerusalem Post, which refers to Shaheen as a "terrorist," reports that he is scheduled to speak at the international People's Conference for Palestine in Detroit, set for August 29–31. According to the conference, attendees will be able to “hear directly about the prisoners’ struggle in Zionist prisons from freed prisoner Hussam Shaheen.” Shaheen had been serving a 27-year sentence in an Israeli prison for attempted murder.
The theme of the conference is "Gaza Is The Compass."
Israeli-American journalist Doron Levin of Metro Detroit condemned the booking, telling the Detroit News that Shaheen is a "convicted terrorist." Levin also questioned how Shaheen would be permitted entry into the United States, "which has suffered tragically from Islamic terrorist violence."
"As for the premise of Shaheen's attendance at the rally, it should be obvious to anyone interested in Palestinian self-determination that the only legitimate path to this goal must be a peaceful one, a path based on reconciliation and mutual recognition between the Palestinian and Israeli people," Levin told The News. "Subversion and violence, such as what lay at the foundation of today's events in Gaza, are what landed Shaheen in prison and undoubtedly have set back his cause rather than advanced it."
The conference pushed back in a social media posting, saying:
We reject the attempt by pro-Israel figures and media to smear and silence the People’s Conference for Palestine. These same figures, who spent years screeching about free speech, are now calling on the federal government to crack down on our rights and silence Palestinian organizing. We want to be very clear: we remain undeterred and committed to the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
The world has witnessed two years of genocide with full US complicity. While public support for Israel has plummeted, pro-Israel figures now believe that if they vilify Palestinian prisoners and journalists, they can pull the wool back over the eyes of the public. We affirm that nothing will silence us from sharing the stories of Palestinians tortured in Israeli prisons or of journalists who risked their lives to document Israel's genocide.
The conference comes as Israel pushes to take over Gaza City, which is seen as key to controlling Gaza. It also coincides with a rising death toll in Gaza, while Hamas continues to hold hostages, both dead and alive.
At the same time, some Israelis are protesting in the streets, demanding an end to the war and the return of the hostages.
The Jerusalem Post reports on Shaheen:
Once a leader and international coordinator for Fatah’s youth movement, Shaheen later became involved in the factions’ military wings. In the book The Rise and Fall of Arab Jerusalem: Palestinian Politics and the City since 1967, it was detailed how Shaheen established an al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade cell in Jebl Mukaber and procured firearms for an aborted 2001 attack.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced in 2002 that four members of the Jebl Mukaber Martyrs’ Brigade cell admitted that Shaheen had recruited them into the terrorist organization and supplied them weapons for two failed Jerusalem terrorist attacks. Shaheen was arrested in 2004 in Ramallah and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
One conference session on Sunday, Aug. 31, is being billed:
Earlier this year, we witnessed a historic victory: thousands of Palestinian prisoners were freed as part of the initial ceasefire agreement, a testament to the power of steadfastness and struggle. Today, as the conditions in prisons worsen and mass arrests intensify, the role of prisoners remains critical. In this panel, we will hear directly from former prisoners about the worsening conditions inside Israeli jails, the significance of prisoner exchanges, and the enduring importance of the prisoners' movement in our struggle for Palestine.
Other speakers at the conference will include Omar Assaf, a 74-year-old Palestinian activist from Ramallah in the West Bank. According to The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz, an Israeli publication, Assaf is the coordinator of the executive committees of the Palestinian Popular Conference, which praised the Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel. After the attacks, he was held in an Israeli prison for six months without charges before being released.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat and Palestinian-American representing Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, is also scheduled to speak.
The conference is backed by a number of organizations, including the Democratic Socialists of America and, according to The Jerusalem Post, Jewish Voice for Peace.
