|
Distortion, cowardice
and Sami Merhi
HERALD NEWS, April 5, 2006
Re "Borking the candidacy
of Sami Merhi" (Alfred Doblin, March 24)
Alfred Doblin is absolutely
right to denounce the smear campaign against Sami Merhi, Arab-American
Democratic nominee for Passaic County freeholder. Merhi's critics have
distorted certain comments he has made to falsely suggest that he
justifies Palestinian suicide bombings -- in the hopes that they can
frighten a public that has been conditioned to mistrust anyone or
anything Arab (remember Dubai the Devil?). These critics have no shame.
Most egregious is the fact
that Gov. Jon S. Corzine and Sen. Robert Menendez refused to support
Merhi without even speaking to him about what he actually said and what
he meant by it. The only explanation for this is that the governor and
senator are so scared of offending pro-Israeli interests that they do
not even care about what Merhi actually said and whether his credentials
and background would make him an asset to Passaic County.
I always thought that it
was the voters who got to make that decision. At least where this
Arab-American nominee is concerned, it looks like certain special
interests are playing gatekeeper. The residents of Passaic County should
demand to know who is trying to usurp their right to choose their
elected representatives.
Maha Kabbash, Green Brook |
