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Abu-Ghazalah
calls for brining home the U.S. troops occupying Iraq and
repealing the U.S. Patriot Act
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NEWARK,
Ohio, February 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Maad
Abu-Ghazalah is hoping to be the first Muslim American ever elected to
Congress.
He
will vie in the March 2nd Primary against fellow Democrats
Tom Lantos and Rohit Khanna.
The
Palestinian-born Abu-Ghazalah, 44, has already raised $30,000 at a
fundraiser at the Muslim Community Association (MCA) in Santa Clara,
California, reported the New California Media (NCM), a group
comprising some 700 ethnic communities worldwide.
His
platform calls for brining home the U.S. troops occupying Iraq,
repealing the U.S. Patriot Act, ending the corporate influence on the
policy-making mechanism and protecting the environment.
Abu-Ghazalah
has already received the endorsements of several American
organizations and figures, notably the Mexican American Political
Association (MAPA), the American Muslim Alliance and the Armenian
National Committee of America in addition to various editorials in
widely circulated American newspapers.
Muslim
In White House
At
a recently held fundraiser dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Newark, the
young and ambitious Abu-Ghazalah received a morale boost from
different ethnic communities in the U.S..
Salim
Mastan, a Muslim American of an Indian origin and the sponsor of the
event, wished to see a Muslim in the White House by the year 2020 and
asked the community to support Abu-Ghazalah.
Dr.
Agha Saeed, founder and
secretary general of the American Muslim Alliance, spoke next,
endorsing Abu-Ghazalah’s campaign.
He
regretted that the number
of Muslims running for government office was considerably down since
the 9/11 attacks.
Abu-Ghazalah
thanked, for his part, the organizers, saying that he did not care
whether to loose or win but the most important thing was to mobilize
the community.
On
his campaign, he said youth volunteers have already helped him
distribute 5000 video tapes about his platform.
A
nationwide coalition of U.S. Muslim organizations announced on
February 17 the
formation of a task force to increase political participation
of community members and develop alliances on
a wide variety of social, political, economic and moral issues.
Abu-Ghazalah
In Lines
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Supporters
contributed 30,000 dollars for his campaign
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According
to his website,
Abu-Ghazalah was born in the occupied Palestinian city of Nablus in
1962.
He
immigrated to the United States in 1979. Since arriving in America, he
has earned three degrees - a Bachelor in mathematics from the
University of Notre Dame, a Masters in computer science from the
University of Virginia, and a law degree from Santa Clara University.
In
1997, he founded a successful software business, MAG Systems, which
has 70 patent law firms and corporations as clients nationwide.
He
was President of the Middle Eastern Law Students Association at Santa
Clara University and also served as President of the San Francisco
Chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC),
where he has volunteered his time since 1997.
Maad
has worked hard to create alliances within the civil rights and
anti-Iraq war movement and was one of the founding members of the
California Civil Rights Alliance, which consists of over a dozen civil
rights organizations.
