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Terror Fears Drag Corzine, Menendez Into Arab Candidate's Race
POSTED: 11:36 am EST March 22, 2006
NEWARK, N.J. -- Two weeks ago, fear of an Arab company taking over operations at
U.S. ports led to the collapse of the deal. Now an Arab-American businessman's
candidacy for county office is drawing concern from Democrats who fear he is
sympathetic to suicide bombers.
In northern New Jersey's Arab-American community -- one of the nation's largest
-- anger is rising over what some consider a renewed wave of anti-Arab bias.
Two years ago, Sami Merhi, a Lebanese-born businessman from Totowa, narrowly
lost a bid to run as the Democratic Party's candidate for Passaic County
freeholder because of remarks he made in 2002 that some interpreted as
sympathetic to Palestinian suicide bombers.
This year, he won the party's blessing to run for the seat, but now finds
himself dogged by the same comments, and facing opposition from Gov. Jon S.
Corzine and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez because of them.
"I feel like every other person in this community feels -- every one of us is
becoming another Dubai," Merhi said, referring to the Arab country whose bid to
take over U.S. port operations was derailed amid a storm of controversy. "It's
not fair and it's not American. America is 'us.' You can't remove anyone from
the 'we."'
Party leaders plan to reconsider their endorsement of Merhi, 57, this weekend.
"If this guy goes down, there will be repercussions not only in New Jersey, but
in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and lots of other places" where Arab-Americans
are politically active, said James Zogby, president of the Arab American
Institute in Washington.
"It's a really sad commentary on the part of politicians that they can't discern
between a port deal and an Arab-American who has been working hard and raising
money all these years for the Democratic Party and who had good relations with
the Jewish community," Zogby said. "They shut off their brains then, and they're
shutting them off again."
At issue are comments Merhi made at a September 2002 fundraiser for U.S. Rep.
Bill Pascrell, D-Paterson. In his remarks, Merhi condemned the Sept. 11
terrorists as "cold-blooded murderers" and "crazy fanatics." When asked if he
would apply the same label to Palestinian suicide bombers who target Israelis,
Merhi said, "I can't see the comparison."
In an interview with The Associated Press, Merhi said the point he was trying to
make was that while all murder is wrong, the World Trade Center attack was mass
murder on an unprecedented scale. It also was an attack in which his godson was
killed.
"I said then and I say now: There is no justification for the killing of
innocent people anywhere for any reason," said Merhi, who runs a medical
marketing firm with his partner, an Israeli Jew. "I was talking from my heart,
still feeling the pain of my godson's loss."
Party leaders cited his remarks at the fundraiser as a factor in Merhi's
one-vote loss for the party's nod in 2004. This year, he prevailed in a 13-10
vote for the Democratic party line.
Top Democrats reacted swiftly.
Menendez, who is making a tough stand on terrorism part of his campaign to hold
onto the U.S. Senate seat to which Corzine appointed him, said he will not
support Merhi. In a letter to Passaic County Democratic Chairman John Currie,
Menendez wrote, "If true, Mr. Merhi's remarks are extremely disturbing."
"Terrorism is unacceptable in any form, and should be condemned by every
candidate for office in this country," he wrote. "The Democratic Party has been
at the forefront of opposing the murder of innocent civilians throughout the
world, whether they be in Israel, Darfur, or anywhere else."
Currie did not immediately return a message seeking comment left with his
office.
Corzine said he also will not support Merhi due to the comments, which his
spokesman Anthony Coley termed "divisive." Pascrell is still supporting Merhi's
candidacy, calling him a longtime friend and citing his charitable and civic
work in the community, including six years as volunteer president of the board
of managers for the county's nursing home.
"The congressman feels that obviously Sami made a huge mistake with those
remarks," spokesman Caley Gray said. "He was wildly out of line with those
comments, which the congressman immediately condemned."
Aref Assaf, president of the Paterson-based American Arab Forum and a friend of
Merhi's, said yanking the endorsement would be akin to hanging out a sign
reading, "Arabs need not apply."
© 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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