She forgot 911.
Posted on 02/29/2004 3:18:58 AM PST by jempet
JEDDAH, 28 February 2004 — Faryal Al-Masri hopes to be the first Saudi-American to enter the US Congress, contesting elections in California to become a member of US House of Representatives.
Al-Masri is running on a Democratic Party ticket in the 37th electoral district in California, which has been a Republican stronghold for over half a century. But Democrats have high hopes for her. “They are optimistic as they see my birth in Makkah as a good omen,” she said.
In an exclusive interview with Arab News’ sister publication Al-Majalla, which hits the stands today, Al-Masri said it is going to be a tough fight but she is ready for it.
“Ours has been a Republican constituency for more than 50 years. So if I win, I’ll be the first Democrat to get elected in five decades, and people are eagerly looking forward to this election,” she said. Standing against her are three other candidates, including the wife of a former Congressman.
She described herself as well prepared to counter any Republican smear tactics.
“I am ready to counter any attack because of my Saudi, Arab and Muslim background. If they say I am getting oil money for the campaign, I’ll tell them that I don’t accept any donations from outside the United States,” she said.
“If they accuse me of having links with terrorism, I’ll tell them they are lying because I am a staunch opponent of terrorism. I don’t have any connection with terrorists, and terrorism is not limited to a particular people.
“If they try to attack me because I am a Muslim, I’ll tell them: ‘I am proud of my religion, which is a religion of peace and urges people to worship God and fear Him.’”
Al-Masri is equally ready to confront probing on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“There must be a two-state solution,” she said. She also emphasized that the US must pressure both parties as Presidents Carter and Clinton did during their tenure.
Al-Masri is proud to be a Saudi-American woman. “My childhood in Saudi Arabia crucially influenced my life.”
“Saudi women are capable of achieving success in any area if they are given the chance. They have proved their excellence in medicine, education and higher education. Saudi women have more to be proud of than any other Arab women because of their heritage, religion and the country of birth,” she said.
Although Al-Masri opposed the US-led war on Iraq, her son Omar, 24, serves with the US forces there. That has attracted some media attention as Omar is a practicing Muslim, but he has defended his role in the military.
Al-Masri came late to politics. “My interest only started after the first Gulf War and when the US forces were sent to the Gulf,” she said.
She was born in Makkah’s Ajyad neighborhood about 50 years ago. Her father, Mahmoud Ameen Baithulmal, served as a pilgrim guide (mutawwif) until his death. “Since I haven’t visited Saudi Arabia for 30 years, I don’t remember much,” she said.
“But I’ll never forget the Grand Mosque and the Holy Kaaba, where I used to go with my family when I was a little girl,” she told the weekly.
Her mother lives in Jeddah, and she has three brothers — Talal Ameen and Adnan Ameen, both professors at King Abdul Aziz University, and Tareq Ameen, a surgeon — and three sisters — Siham, a doctor, Abla, a school director in Britain; the third is a businesswoman. Faryal met her husband Waleed Al-Masri, a Lebanese engineer, in London while she was studying for a higher degree in journalism there. “We have been married for 28 years,” she said.
Faryal now works as a teacher in American history at a Los Angeles high school. In addition to Omar, she has two daughters:, Laila, 22, and Samer, 21, who are both university students.
The Baithulmal are one of the oldest families in Makkah and had been providing mutawwif service for about 100 years. Their roots go back 300 years when their great-grandfather Abdul Qader was keeper of the baithulmal or treasury in Makkah.
SSSUUUUURRRREEEE it is! As long as there are no people of OTHER religious persuasians around. If there are, then the "religion of peace" becomes the "religion of pieces", as any non-Muslims are FORCED to either convert to Islam or be reduced to piles of quivering, dead, hamburger.
Figures.
She forgot 911.
Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald
http://www.house.gov/millender-mcdonald
Her biography says:
Rep. Millender-McDonald honored to be named by Ebony Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans ™
Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald has been the powerful voice and legislative pioneer of the people of California's 37th District, which includes part of the county of Los Angeles, Carson, Compton, Long Beach, Signal Hill and Watts, since 1996. She is a Democrat with an abiding passion for fairness and justice and is known nationally as a powerful advocate for women, families and small business.
Given her current status coupled with her statements in favor of her old country, I would say she is a bit short of a byte.
One of these days, there is going to have to be regime change in Saudi. Wouldn't want anyone voting against that, right?
I know, minor technicality, but I'd like to see her produce her citizenship papers.
Aint dual citizenship wonderful. I wonder if they would let her run for office in Saudi Arabia without renouncing her US citizenship. Oh, I forgot. She would be some man's property in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, somewhere above his camels and below his race horses in status. She would no freedom whatsoever. She would be able to move subject to his permission.
I say let's open up U.S. elections to the whole world!
It's only fair.
Whaddaya say, Fellow Citizens? Are you with me?
So what. Al Gore and John Kerry have said the same thing.
They get such a pass from all media investigative coverage now.
The 37th district incumbent or this Saudi challenger?
From google searches, Juanita Millender-McDonald is Baptist and was born in Birmingham, AL, in 1938. Her name doesn't sound like the NOI anyway.
The picture of the Saudi challenger, Faryal Al-Masri, as well as the fact that she's from Saudi Arabia, indicate that she wouldn't be part of the NOI, either.
This article cited a false premise that the 37th Congressional district is Republican (when in reality it is a strongly Democrat area -- Compton, Watts, etc.) and failed to give any other clues as to the location of the district or the name of the Republican incumbent. Where is al-Masri running? I couldn't find a campaign website.
It definitely is not the 37th Assembly district, because here was no Democrat candidate this year.
The 37th state Senate district is represented by Republican Jim Battin, and he's up for reelection this year. Most districts are "safe" for incumbents. The only other candidate running in that district is Democrat Pat Johansen.
As you note, the 37th District is held by democrat Millender-McDonald. A google news search of this story turns up hits only from a handful of mid-east sources, notably al-jazeerah. Outside of this story, her name shows up nowhere. Nor is she listed as a candidate in any district in CA in the FEC databanks at opensecrets.org. One would think a candidate for congress in California might call up the local press before notifying al-jazeerah.
I smell a scam to create an aura of influence to benefit this woman's family members back home. That, or she's planning on moving back and figured a little advance PR might make an easier entry into the right social circles.
That's about as good a credential as stating "I'm a full-blown Communist, and ready to defend my views!".
There is no al-Masri, Masri, or Faryal on the Secreatry of State's certified list of candidates (by office, PDF and smaller alphabetical PDF).
There's a Democrat candidate named Maad Abu-Ghazaleh running in the 12th Congressional District, and Peace and Freedom (cop-killer) candidate named Mumia Abu-Jamal running for President. There's nothing between Alexander and Alquist.
Nor on any CA ballot next Tuesday, according to the CA Secretary of State!
Of course she's a Democrat. She'll probably get lots of votes, too. Just getting a foot in the door to let in a little Sharia.
I found it! The article above contained many inaccuracies, names, most importantly: her name, the office, and the competition.
Her name is Ferial Masry, and she's from Thousand Oaks. She wants to run as a Democrat for the 37th Assembly District in the general election. There was no Democrat candidate on the ballot in the Primary two days ago, but she was a certified write-in.
Her main competition is Republican Audra Strickland, who is the wife of the current Assemblyman (not the wife of a former Congressman as the article suggested). There were four (not 3) Republican candidates, of which three each received over 30% of the vote (Robinson=30.3%, Gorell=31.8%, Strickland=35.8%).
The registration was GOP=46% to DEM=35% after the 2001 redistricting.
Strickland wins Assembly GOP primary
Ventura County Star | 3/4/04 |Timm Herdt
Posted On: 03/04/2004 08:03:26 AM By: Rabid RepublicanProbable Democratic nominee Masry could pose challenge
For Audra Strickland, primary election day came just in time.
Hit with a volley of attacks in the closing days of the campaign -- and, at least in her view, faced with the need to respond in kind -- Strickland's lead in the 37th Assembly District Republican primary was beginning to evaporate among an electorate turned off by negative campaigning. In fact, if the election had been decided just among voters who cast ballots at Ventura County polling places on Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney Jeff Gorell would have prevailed by 400 votes.
But Strickland's lead among absentee voters who had cast ballots several days before, coupled with a dominant showing in the Los Angeles County portion of the district, was enough to give her a victory in a $1.5 million campaign that in its final days became one of the nastier political contests in recent memory.
"If the election had come a couple days later, it might have been a different story," a relieved Joel Angeles, Strickland's campaign consultant, said at a victory party early Wednesday.
After securing the GOP nomination in a Republican-dominated district that includes at least portions of every noncoastal Ventura County city, Strickland will now face a somewhat unexpected obstacle, a Democratic candidate, in the fall.
Ferial Masry of Thousand Oaks -- a Saudi Arabian immigrant, mother of a soldier stationed with the U.S. Army in Iraq and a high school civics teacher -- will in all likelihood appear on the fall ballot as the Democratic nominee.Although the actual inspection of write-in votes won't begin for a couple more weeks, computer scans of Democratic ballots show that 3,681 were cast. As the only certified write-in candidate, if at least a third of them are correctly filled out with Masry's name, she will become the party's official nominee.
"It's really like a miracle," Masry said.
Larry Miller of Camarillo, a member of the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee, said Masry could become more of a factor than observers believe. The novelty of a Muslim woman running for elected office has caught the attention of Arab-Americans nationwide, many of whom, he said, will contribute to her campaign.
"She's a viable candidate at this point," he said.
As Strickland, the wife of incumbent Assemblyman Tony Strickland, celebrated Wednesday, Gorell was left to wonder what might have been.
"If we would have had more early money to focus on an absentee-voter campaign, it would have been really helpful," he said. "And I should have focused a little more on Los Angeles County."
Only about 15 percent of district voters live in L.A. County, but nearly half of Strickland's margin of victory came from her advantage there.
Gorell said he will have no problem supporting the nominee. "I think she's an intelligent young lady, and I support her 100 percent," he said. "The campaign is over."
The tension between Mike Robinson, the Thousand Oaks millionaire who launched the attacks, and Strickland, who counterattacked, lingered beyond election day. Strickland did not return a congratulatory phone call Robinson placed to her campaign manager late Tuesday night, and on Wednesday Robinson declined to speak to the media.
Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, who endorsed both Strickland and Robinson, said it will naturally take time for tensions to ease after a hard-fought primary.
"It was a family fight, and time heals these wounds," McClintock said.
McClintock had pledged to be even-handed in the primary, but over the weekend consented to tape some remarks for use in a Robinson radio commercial. The reason, McClintock said, was to directly respond to allegations made in campaign phone calls by Strickland supporters that Robinson had lied about his experience as an administrative aide to McClintock.
"The guy put three years of his life into working in my office," McClintock said. "I felt it important to set the record straight."
Candidate Votes Percent Republican Jeff Gorell 14,104 31.8 Audra Strickland 15,817 35.8 Mike Robinson 13,422 30.3 Eric McClendon 948 2.1 Green Adrienne M. Prince 431 100.0
From ventura.org:
Completed Precincts: 272 of 272
Vote Count Percentage Republican Party AUDRA STRICKLAND 13,680 35.3% JEFF GORELL 12,661 32.7% MIKE ROBINSON 11,517 29.7% ERIC MCCLENDON 769 2.0% Write-in candidate(s) 128 0.3% Democrat Party Write-in candidate(s) 3,681 100.0% Green Pary ADRIENNE M PRINCE 387 97.0% Write-in candidate(s) 12 3.0% American Independent Party Write-in candidate(s) 187 100.0% Libertarian Party Write-in candidate(s) 32 100.0% Peach and Freedom Party (the "Free Mumia" party) Write-in candidate(s) 16 100.0% Natural Law Party Write-in candidate(s) 8 100.0%
Faryal Al-Masri (original size).............. and Ferial Masry (scaled)
The Conejo Democrats (as in Conejo Valley, part of the 37th Assembly district) had a write-in campaign for her, and they used the following picture, which is from the same pose as the Faryal al-Masry picture, above:
Ferial Masry
She must have concealed her moles, wore a lot of eyeliner, wore her lipstick higher, and had the wrinkles retouched. It's amazing what makeup can do to change one's appearance. Maybe one of the pictures is older?
Audra Strickland (GOP nominee) is going to win this seat in November. She has been fundraising successfully during the Primary campaign, and the Republicans have a registration advantage.
Looks like she's wearing a wig in this picture.
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