Candidate Dumped over
Terror Comments
By Wayne Parry
Trenton, NJ: Passaic County
Democrats removed an Arab-American freeholder candidate
from their ticket Saturday amid a furor over comments he
made four years ago that some interpreted as sympathetic
to suicide bombers.
"I'm in shock, feeling betrayed," said Sami Merhi,
a Lebanese-born businessman from Totowa. "They should
be ashamed of themselves."
At issue are comments Merhi made at a September 2002 fundraiser
for US 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 earlier last week,
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.
After narrowly losing out on the party's nod in 2004 because
of the comments, Merhi was endorsed by the party last week.
But after top Democrats, including Gov. Jon S. Corzine and
US Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) weighed in, saying they opposed
his candidacy, Passaic County party leaders scheduled a
meeting to reconsider their endorsement.
Merhi said he appealed to party leaders during Saturday's
meeting to support him and accept his explanation that his
comments had been wrongly interpreted. He said he opposes
terrorism in all its forms, and that killing innocent people
is always wrong.
But he said party chairman John Currie told him, "We
love you. We all like you. But this is about politics."
Currie did not immediately return messages left at his office
and home Saturday.
Aref Assaf, a Palestinian activist and friend of Merhi,
said he appealed to Currie as the chairman was walking into
the meeting to support Merhi.
"He said, `This isn't about justice; it's about politics.
Sami made a political mistake and he has to pay for it,"'
Assaf recalled. "I knew he was done right then."
The party then withdrew its endorsement of Merhi and chose
Joanne Graziano, a Hawthorne school board member, to run
in his place.
"They have insulted an entire community," said
Merhi, who runs a medical marketing firm with his business
partner, an Israeli Jew. "I have done nothing to deserve
this insult." (Courtesy Associated Press, 3/25/06)
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--arabcandidate-ter0325mar25,0,1187791.story
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