Dearborn is home to one of the largest Arab American communities in the U.S., with 54.5% of residents reporting Middle Eastern or North African ancestry, according to the 2020 Census.By Corey Walker, The AlgemeinerAbdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, is facing a federal civil-rights lawsuit accusing his administration of using taxpayer-funded city resources to promote Islam while refusing comparable recognition to Christian and Jewish holidays and retaliating against a journalist who challenged the disparity.The lawsuit, filed Thursday by Dearborn resident and Federalist senior legal correspondent Margot Cleveland, paints a picture of a city government that, according to the complaint, was willing to spend public money celebrating Ramadan but repeatedly brushed aside requests for equal treatment of other faiths.The American Freedom Law Center, which represents Cleveland, alleges that Dearborn’s conduct violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution, including protections involving religious freedom, free speech, and equal protection.At the center of the case are Ramadan displays that appeared on city property in 2025.According to the complaint, Dearborn spent approximately $1,500 on Ramadan banners reading “Ramadan Kareem” and $5,000 on a large, illuminated crescent-moon display in a city park.Cleveland says she subsequently asked whether the city would provide comparable recognition for Easter and Passover.Her April 2025 email to the city attorney, according to the complaint, went unanswered.Rather than remove the Ramadan displays, Cleveland alleges, the city expanded them.In February 2026, Dearborn installed crescent-and-star lights on municipal streetlights for Ramadan. Hammoud described the initiative as reflecting “who we are as a city,” according to the lawsuit and reporting on the dispute.The complaint alleges that no comparable city-sponsored programs were provided for Easter, Passover, Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, or Yom Kippur, despite Cleveland’s repeated requests.Cleveland has emphasized that she was not asking Dearborn to stop recognizing Ramadan.“I wish my Muslim neighbors a blessed Ramadan and merely seek equal treatment for Christians and Jews,” she said, according to National Review.The lawsuit argues that distinction is crucial: Cleveland claims the problem is not the city’s recognition of Islam but the alleged decision to make religious recognition available to Muslims while denying similar treatment to Christians and Jews.The lawsuit also places Hammoud’s confrontation with a Christian pastor at the center of its allegations of hostility toward critics.During a September 2025 City Council meeting, Pastor Ted Barham criticized the city’s decision to rename a street after Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News.Hammoud responded by calling Barham a “bigot” and “Islamophobe,” according to the complaint.“[Y]ou are a bigot and you are a racist and you are an Islamophobe. And although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here. And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of the city … because you are not somebody who believes in coexistence,” Hammoud said to the pastor.Days following the verbal altercation, the American Freedom Law Center sent a letter warning “the City of Dearborn has become a hostile place for Christians and Jews.”Cleveland’s lawyers argue that the mayor’s treatment of a Christian critic serves as evidence of a city administration that has treated religious critics differently depending on their viewpoint.Dearborn is home to one of the largest Arab American communities in the US. According to the 2020 Census, 54.5% of the city’s residents reported Middle Eastern or North African ancestry.The complaint additionally alleges that Hammoud used his official mayoral email account in connection with an iftar event, raising questions about the use of public resources for religious activities.The American Freedom Law Center characterized the alleged disparity as a violation of the Establishment Clause in the Constitution.“The clearest command of the Establishment Clause is that the government may not prefer one religion over another,” AFLC attorney Robert Muise said in a statement.Cleveland’s lawsuit also alleges retaliation over her journalism and public criticism of Hammoud.According to the complaint, Cleveland attended or attempted to attend city meetings and repeatedly contacted city officials about the religious-display issue.She alleges that city officials eventually restricted her participation in a community meeting because she was attending as a journalist.The complaint further alleges that the city’s attorney instructed City Council members not to communicate with Cleveland because she was represented by counsel, even after Cleveland’s attorneys allegedly clarified that council members could communicate with her directly.The lawsuit contends that these actions amounted to retaliation for protected speech and petitioning the government.The complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, nominal damages, and attorneys’ fees.The post Dearborn mayor sued over alleged discrimination against Jews, Christians appeared first on World Israel News.