Massachusetts
Muslims Meet with Democratic Party
By Mario Moreira
On October 10,
2004, a number of American Muslims representing
a wide variety of organizations came together
in Woburn Massachusetts to hear Michael E.
Festa, Democratic House of Representative
for Melrose and Wakefield, MA and George Kivork,
the National Director of Community Outreach
for Kerry/Edwards.
The importance
of this event was two-fold. It allowed the
Democrats to have an opportunity to voice
their respect for the Muslim way of life and
recognize American Muslims as an important
part of the American society. It also allowed
the American Muslims to let the Democrats
know that they are a growing number in the
United States and the political system and
they value the American way of life.
The groups in
which the American Muslims are involved include
various Democratic Town Committees, Democratic
State Committee, Pakistani American Community
Cultural Center, Pakistan Association of Greater
Boston (PAGB), Masjid Al-Quran, Islamic Society
of Greater Lowell, Islamic Center of Boston-Wayland,
Pak-Millennium, Association of Pakistani Physicians
of New England, Muslim American Society (MAS),
American Muslim Empowerment (AME), and the
Association for the Development of Pakistan.
Photo (L to
R): Parwez Wahid, Michael E. Festa, Mushtaque
Mirza, Hanif Butt
Representative
Festa said that it was very important for
the Democratic Party to reach out to the American
Muslim community. He discussed “how
the country will survive in the 21st century”
and the importance of including American Muslims
because of their unique perspective on the
events in the last 3 years. He believes that
they may be able to contribute to the solutions
in moving forward. He stressed the importance
that “every single vote will count”
in this upcoming election and that he wants
the American Muslims involved in this election.
The session
ended with a discussion on what needs to be
done to move forward as American Muslims in
the political system. Topics addressed included:
getting people registered to vote, getting
people out to vote, getting involved in the
local, state, or national political system
and in action-oriented groups promoting peace
and empowerment. There are many American Muslims
in the United States and we can make a difference,
but we need to get involved in the American
political system. This point was forcefully
stressed again and again.
