TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's visit to Toledo took a turn Friday when his meeting with the Islamic community went from a listening session to speakers airing criticism for the Republican governor.
The governor arrived at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo around noon to hear about safety and security concerns related to the Israel-Hamas conflict during a visit in which he also stopped at the Jewish Community Center in Sylvania.
DeWine said the visit to the Perrysburg mosque is a continuation of meetings he already had with leaders last month in Columbus.
Imam Aly Lela described the governor's presence as "an example of strength of communications."
Lela said Islam "teaches to love for others what we love for ourselves" and to "spread peace," while standing for justice.
Senior mosque leaders said they are disappointed in the Biden administration for endorsing and supporting Israel amid the conflict and said that even criminals, refugees and animals in the United States have established rights that those in Gaza do not have.
Gradually, the invited speakers became more outspoken, and it was not clear whether senior leaders knew what each speaker was going to say.
At one point, a person stood up and yelled, "Wash your hands from the blood of genocide. Stop supporting a settler colonial state, stop supporting genocide."
The person was urged by the vice president of the mosque, Mahjabeen Islam, to sit down.
One speaker was introduced by leadership as someone who had experienced an "unthinkable loss" in the conflict, delivering comments while protestors stood in the back of the room with red paint on their hands, symbolic of blood.
"To what end will we stop? To what end will it be enough? This extended silence regarding the genocide that is visited on the Palestinians is deafening and we hear it loud and clear," Mona Abushaban said. "We will remember your silence when it is time to vote. We will remember who sat back and watched the numbers climb and we will remember who watched and did nothing."
One speaker suggested the governor issue a statewide directive condemning Islamophobia and remove the Israeli flag from his Twitter page.
"If you really want to stop Islamophobia, you can start with removing that (Israeli) flag on your Twitter bio along with that (Israeli) flag on your lawn that calls me a human animal and terrorist in one," Jasmin Adu-Hummos said.
Iman Hashim, a 16-year-old Perrysburg Junior High School student who is Palestinian American, confronted the governor for what she called his "deafening silence," saying it's the reason children like her are being slaughtered in America.
She cited the case of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy in Illinois, Wadea Al-Fayoume, who was stabbed to death by his landlord in what authorities allege to be a hate crime.
"The perpetrator pushed and pulled that knife in and out of that 6-year-old boy's body 26 times. Twenty-six times. Allow those words to sink into your heart the same way that dagger sunk into Wadea's heart," Hashim said. "Every single day, when students like me go to school, we feel like we enter a prison where we are constantly being watched, targeted, restricted and subjected."
The governor then visited the Jewish Community Center, where he sat at a round-table discussion with Jewish community leaders.
One man whose daughter attends an Ohio college said he is concerned about the safety of Jewish students on campuses and the ability to exercise their religion. He said students often feel a need to remove symbols of religion when walking to class out of fear.
He urged the governor to speak to university presidents about student safety on state campuses.
The governor then went on a short tour and answered questions from reporters about the visits.
"I came here today to visit the mosque, to visit the synagogue, to hear from the Muslim community, to hear from the Jewish community and really, also, to speak out as governor of the state of Ohio," DeWine said. "In the state of Ohio, we should not, we do not tolerate hate. We don't tolerate hate groups or people who are going after a particular religion."
The governor said he listened to concerns and is trying to understand those and see what he can do.
"A very specific thing that came out of this discussion today, as you heard, is a concern about what's happening on our campuses. Some college students who are Jewish do not feel secure so that's something I will continue to discuss with the presidents of the universities," he said. "There's this balance, it's not easy, but it's important we have balance. The balance is we respect the First Amendment. We want people, colleges of all places should be a place where people can debate."
In October, DeWine announced nearly $8 million in grant money to support safety and security enhancements at religious institutions, chartered non-public schools, licensed preschools and nonprofit organizations in Ohio. On Friday, he said it may not be enough.
"We'll go back and look at the money," DeWine said. "We'll see, are we going to need more money? And we'll continue to monitor that."