International Freedom Coalition Condemns Violence Against Peaceful Speech
Detroit, Michigan
The International Freedom Coalition (IFC), a confederation of communities victimized by jihadist violence worldwide, today condemned a physical assault on the driver this week of an advocacy truck delivering a direct message to Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. The message urged him to break his silence, publicly denounce jihadist terror against Africans, and demand the release of girls enslaved by jihadist groups in Nigeria, Sudan, and beyond.
Details are slowly emerging. On Thursday afternoon, the driver was grabbed by the collar, roughed up and pursued into a nearby store, where individuals who objected to the truck’s message forcibly seized his cell phone. The police told the driver to turn off his signs as he was inciting violence.
“This attack represents an attempt to silence the pleas of tens of thousands of Africans suffering under jihadist terror,” said Stephen Enada, head of ICON-S, the largest Nigerian-American human rights group. “The victims we represent—those murdered, beheaded, buried alive, and enslaved by jihadists across Africa—deserve to have their suffering acknowledged and addressed by political leaders.
The truck carried a clear message that should have offended no ethnic or religious group: “ABDUL EL‑SAYED, END YOUR SILENCE ABOUT THE JIHAD MURDER AND ENSLAVEMENT OF BLACK AFRICANS IN NIGERIA AND SUDAN.”
The IFC launched the campaign because mainstream media and major human rights organizations routinely overlook or downplay jihadist atrocities against Africans and others for political and ideological reasons. Jihadism is an ideology whose adherents are committed to conquering and subjugating non‑jihadists, including Muslims who resist it. Its victims—Christians, moderate Muslims, and others across Africa—have been rendered largely invisible by an unspoken agreement to cover up politically incorrect atrocities.
Daowd Ibrahim Salih, head of IFC’s Darfur desk said, “We are African Muslims. Janjaweed jihadists have been murdering our people and enslaving our girls and women. They have killed tens of thousands and they burned many alive in El Genina, Western Darfur State. We wanted to get help from Americans. We want Abdul El Sayed to condemn the murder of African Muslims and help us if he becomes a senator. I will fight the Janjaweed Jihadists every way I can.”
Chioma Okeoma, head of IFC’s Biafra desk said, “This attack on a peaceful messenger has no place in a democratic society. Violence against those who peacefully advocate for victims of jihadism is unacceptable. The suffering of peoples and communities affected by jihadist violence deserves urgent attention, and compassion. Americans should protect their right to be heard.”
Simon Deng, head of IFC’s South Sudan desk was enslaved as a child in Sudan. He said, “I want to know who blocked the voices of African victims of terror? Jihadists made me a slave. I escaped. Many still have not. Who is it that wants them to remain slaves to jihadists?”
IFC President Charles Jacobs: “We don’t yet know the identity of the attackers, but we do know that the alliance of leftists and radical Islamists – by their own logic – simply cannot allow the American people, who instinctively would defend these African victims, to hear and see the truth. It is troubling that the police forced the drive to turn off his signs. Are we going to allow free speech to be destroyed by physical attacks and intimidation?”
Jacobs said, “Anyone can Google images of Nigerians under jihad assault – images that can turn one’s stomach: men beheaded, people being buried alive, mass graves. IFC members from Sudan, Nigeria, Darfur and Biafra wanted American black citizens to see their plight and come to their aid. That’s what the truck was for. Those who desperately need to keep these atrocities from American eyes reverted to violence. We will send more trucks.”
Jacobs continued, “Jihadism is an ideology whose adherents are committed to conquering and subjugating non‑jihadists, including Muslims. The victims of these attacks – who also include Middle Eastern Alawites, Kurds, Yazidis, Druze and Christians – deserve recognition and support from the American public and those they chose to be the nation’s policy makers.”
The IFC calls on El-Sayed and others to condemn the ideology by name instead of remaining silent or deflecting.
About the International Freedom Coalition
The International Freedom Coalition (IFC) unites communities that have suffered jihadist violence and institutional erasure—including Sudanese, Nigerian, Lebanese, Kurdish, Coptic, Iranian, Syrian, Alawite, Druze, and Israeli communities—in a shared, documented record of atrocities that the United Nations and major Western human rights bodies have declined to compile.
For more information: https://www.internationalfreedomcoalition.org/
Media Contact Details
Ellie Raymond
International Freedom Coalition
social@internationalfreedomcoalition.org
