As America approaches the 25th anniversary of the horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks, a Smithsonian-affiliated museum in Dearborn is still framing the aftermath as something more traumatic for Arab-Americans.
The Arab American National Museum, located in the heart of Dearborn, Michigan, a political stronghold of Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D-MI), features exhibits that claim Arab Americans “suffered twofold” from the terrorist attacks.
The crux of the argument is that they suffered from the horror of the attack that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, and from what the museum describes as unfair treatment by the U.S. government.
Flipping the narrative into making Muslims the primary victim is next-level. Especially with the 25th remembrance ceremony about to take place at Ground Zero in just over two weeks.
It's disgusting. And it's a rewrite of reality that these Smithsonian-related exhibits are becoming synonymous with. One would expect to attend a museum and be inundated with science and facts, not fabricated narratives to gin up sympathy by creating non-existent victims.
A federally funded Smithsonian affiliate in Michigan is marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with exhibits and programming that emphasize discrimination against Arab and Muslim Americans in the attacks’ aftermath.
— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) August 25, 2026
The Arab American National Museum in Dearborn has received… pic.twitter.com/sQZZcJnb2V
Instead of focusing on the nearly 3,000 people killed that day, the displays lean heavily into stories of detention, deportation, and discrimination against Arab and Muslim communities in the months that followed, according to Fox News Digital.
"The Arab American community suffered two-fold as a result of the tragic events of September 11th. As with all Americans, they suffered the horror and grief. However, Arab Americans were unfairly held responsible, yet not a single Arab American was found guilty of any connection to September 11th," one display reportedly reads.
The museum goes on to suggest some of the "suffering" experienced by "Arab Americans" involved immigration laws being enforced after the fact.
One placard claims some were "deported for minor visa violations or petty offenses which previously would have been overlooked."
That's a bold claim considering several of the 9/11 hijackers had clear immigration violations that were overlooked. Violations that stricter pre-9/11 enforcement could have addressed — and possibly prevented the tragedy.
According to the 9/11 Commission and related government reviews:
- At least two hijackers (Satam al-Suqami and Nawaf al-Hazmi) were visa overstays on September 11.
- Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi had previously overstayed their authorized stays.
- Ziad Jarrah entered on a tourist visa but enrolled in flight school without changing his status as required.
- Hani Hanjour entered on a student visa but never attended the school it was issued for.
- Multiple hijackers made false statements on applications or violated the terms of their visas while inside the country.
Wonder if any of that information is in this Smithsonian affiliate.
I asked the Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History why her organization promoted a "MASS Action Toolkit" that claimed "objectivity" is an aspect of "white supremacy culture." pic.twitter.com/XXKZED5ivy
— Brandon Gill (@realBrandonGill) July 21, 2026
The museum has received hundreds of thousands in federal grant money over the years, and its programming continues to treat America’s post-9/11 security response as the bigger story. Just because your audience at an Arab American-specific museum might be more interested in certain angles on history doesn't give them a license to rewrite what actually happened.
Dearborn is home to the largest American Muslim population per capita, as well as the largest mosque in North America. El-Sayed drew strong support (nearly 80 percent) from Dearborn earlier this month during the Democrat primary.
RedState has previously documented several examples of the Smithsonian’s slide into ideological activism. Reporter Jennifer Oliver O'Connell recently covered how descendants of American slaves have publicly called out the National Museum of American History for its distorted, anti-American portrayal of Black history.
Editor Bob Hoge also highlighted the museum’s bizarre decision to glorify Anthony Fauci’s most humiliating public moment — his famously terrible first pitch — while treating him as a heroic figure despite the mountain of evidence showing how badly he mishandled the pandemic.
Museums should never be shaped by woke activists. Nor should they be shaped by activists of any political stripe. They should be shaped by facts. The Smithsonian and its affiliates have seriously lost their way.
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