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Action against Merhi is a political lynching , Guest Editorial
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
By AREF ASSAF
WE ARE SAD but not surprised that Sami Merhi has been removed from the
Democratic Party's slate of freeholder candidates for Passaic County. Under
pressure, Passaic County Democrats voted to replace Merhi with another
candidate.
Political lynching of Arab-Americans is now an accepted practice. Every
Arab-American is now Sami Merhi. The sense of being unwanted, unfit and outcast
cannot simply be promoted as a reasonable price for political expediency or
electoral considerations. The prevailing sense of letdown in the Arab-American
community will require a period of mourning and also reflection.
As John Currie, the Passaic County party chairman, was entering the headquarters
to chair the meeting to decide Merhi's future, I asked him to please vote for
and support him, for he is both deserving of the post and a loyal citizen. The
chairman's response was, "It is not about justice and fairness; it is about
politics."
I interrupted him, "But, Chairman, politics is supposed to render justice
possible."
Instead of responding to my assertion, he said, fully cognizant of the presence
of the media and other supporters, "Sami Merhi has committed a political mistake
and he has to pay for it."
I knew then that Merhi's political aspirations had already been decided, by Sen.
Robert Menendez. I knew then that regardless of Merhi's strong appeal for
fairness and understanding, the judgment had already been passed down.
As a besieged community, we must resign ourselves to the reality that
Arab-Americans are now facing a three-headed monster called profiling. One
followed the tragic and horrible attacks of 9/11, when a community of 9 million
Arab and Muslim citizens became the subject of intense and unconstitutional
racial profiling. The second phase manifested itself in the economic profiling
of Arabs as happened in the Dubai port deal, when Sen. Frank Lautenberg compared
transferring port management to Dubai to transferring it to the "devil."
Now, when Arab-American citizens wish to serve their community and their
country, we take their money and then expediently offer them as sacrifice for
the "good" of the party.
This is political lynching of the worst kind.
Arguably, the party leadership, fearing for its survival, deemed Sami's
political life, dignity -- and indeed that of the community -- a reasonable
political sacrifice. The party has cowered to political pressure from
influential leaders who threatened to withhold their support.
Assemblyman Gary Schaer, D-Passaic, told us that the only option for our
community was to present another candidate acceptable to him and upon that
assessment, the assemblyman would openly endorse "our" choice and ensure his or
her success. If this is how the Democratic Party is run, then I truly fear for
my community's future in this great party of diversity and inclusiveness.
Arab bashers have truly hijacked the issue of terrorism by turning it into a
litmus test for Arab-American political hopefuls. Of course, every politician
must unequivocally oppose terrorism.
I, as a private citizen, do so unconditionally.
The truth is that our community is not the first to have been dealt losing cards
before the game even started. Other groups have also been victimized. The hurt
is more intense and more bewildering, however, when today's perpetrators were
once themselves disenfranchised, marginalized and the victims of untold
discrimination.
This shall pass too, as Arab and Muslim Americans, who number close to 9
million, begin to translate their numerical reserve into political currency.
Sometimes, a curse can be camouflaged as a blessing. Mr. Menendez, our community
knows it has been screwed and it will respond to your miscalculations.
It is my sincere hope that this incident will not worsen the already tense
relations between Arab and Jewish Americans, the majority of whom are proud
members of the Democratic Party.
It need not be a zero-sum-game or a mutually exclusive relationship between Arab
and Jewish Democrats. Both groups must forge common grounds on which to focus
their collective energies. As persecuted ethnic communities, we have a lot more
that unites us than pushes us apart.
Aref Assaf is president of the American-Arab Forum based in Paterson. Send
comments toletterstotheeditor@northjersey.com.
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