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“Camejo (C) and the Green Party are the only ones who have demonstrated an honest commitment to justice and inclusion for all nationalities and religious faiths.”
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By
Ayub Khan, IOL Correspondent
SAN
FRANCISCO, November 1 (IslamOnline) -
An alliance of four prominent Muslim groups in California
announced their endorsement for the Green Party gubernatorial candidate
Peter Camejo.
The
American Muslim Alliance (AMA), the American Muslim Council (AMC), the
Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the Muslim Public
Affairs Council (MPAC), held a joint press conference at the
Commonwealth Club of San Francisco Wednesday, October 30, to issue the
endorsement.
The
Muslim groups expressed their dissatisfaction with both Democratic and
Republican parties. “The Muslim and Arab community represents
close to a million people in California. Governor Davis [Democrat] has
failed to reach out to us with respect and honor during his tenure. This
has been an especially flagrant oversight in the aftermath of the
September 11 attacks and the violations of civil liberties that it
inflicted on our community," said Dr. Agha Said, National Chairman
of the American Muslim Alliance.
He
said that Republicans fared no better when reaching out to Muslims. “Bill
Simon and the Republican Party have entirely overlooked the Muslim
community and it is clear that Muslim and Arab issues will be swept even
further under the rug if Simon is elected,” he said.
Announcing
the Muslim group's endorsement of the Green Party, Dr. Said said:
“Peter Camejo and the Green Party are the only ones who have
demonstrated an honest commitment to justice and inclusion for all
nationalities and religious faiths. For that reason it is a great
pleasure to offer him the endorsement of our organization.”
Camejo
accepted the endorsement and said that he was honored by it.
“This endorsement is living proof that the Green Party is the party of
the people - especially communities of color who have been overlooked or
tokenized by the two main political parties,” said Camejo.
“The
Green Party is growing by leaps and bounds as more and more voters turn
away from the money dominated Democratic and Republican parties and
demand that politicians look after the interests of regular folks.”
The
Muslim groups' endorsement was first ever for a third-party candidate.
According
to some estimates some 400,000 of the one million Muslims living in
California are eligible to vote.
