Bloomfield Township trustee Stephanie Fakih has been formally censured for a social media post that called Zionists "scum of the earth." The Board of Trustees voted 6-1 with Fakih being the dissenting voice after a nearly three-hour session filled with emotional public comment, as WWJ Newsradio 950 reported.
The statement by Fakih, a Lebanese American, was made on October 4 as tensions between Israel and neighboring territories continued, recently, these hostilities have involved both Hamas and Hezbollah, Fakih described her comments as stemming from anger and hurt, reactions to a year of conflict in the Middle East, in a statement obtained by The Oakland Press, she emphasized a distinction between Zionism as an ideology and Judaism as a religion and denied claims of antisemitism made against her.
During the board meeting, township attorney Derk Beckerleg clarified that Fakih's remarks could not be legally classified as a hate crime or ethnic intimidation which meant that the board did not have the authority to remove her, as reported by WWJ Newsradio 950.
Nevertheless, her online post, which included a photo of destruction in Lebanon, brought her staunch criticism and prompted calls for her to take steps towards healing the community divide, this was despite Fakih not seeking re-election with her term set to expire on November 22, as confirmed in the clickondetroit article.
Speakers at the meeting expressed a spectrum of views some supported Fakih, citing losses and hardship endured by Palestinians, whilst others condemned the remarks as fuelling antisemitic sentiment especially in light of recent vandalism and discriminatory flyers in Oakland County, as detailed by The Oakland Press, a climate already fraught with tension did no service to assuage, temper tensions though attempts were made to tone down the discourse.
David Kurzmann from the Jewish Federation of Detroit was cited in a clickondetroit interview stating that the censure was a formal act of expressing disapproval that hoped to “health the wounds in the community caused by her actions.”
