For Beydoun, a civil rights advocate in the Detroit area’s large Arab community, the loss was immense, but hope persists.

“It makes you very angry, but it also makes you very determined,” he said. “They can destroy a house. They can’t destroy the memories in the house. They can destroy a village, but we’re going to rebuild all that.”

Now, an Israeli military contractor will open a hub to produce military technology in the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights, less than 30 miles away from where Beydoun lives. The firm, Capture Systems Ltd., is set to receive $1 million in backing from the state’s investment arm, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC). The company, which will operate under a U.S.-based entity called Capture Group Inc., specializes in military surveillance and anti-drone technology.

“It just shows you that the state is out of touch with reality. The MEDC is out of touch with reality, and we need to hold them accountable,” Beydoun told Truthout.

Thousands of Michiganders, who have lost their homes or had their loved ones killed in south Lebanon, are contending with what they describe as a sense of betrayal by their own state officials. Members of the Arab community are expressing outrage at the policy.