Pak Sahafat – The United States of America, which always proclaims the slogan of freedom, democracy and human rights, has not allowed a Muslim mayor to a celebration ceremony in the White House, in an action contrary to its claims.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency, the US Secret Service announced that it prevented the Muslim mayor of Prospect Park in New Jersey from attending the Eid al-Fitr celebration at the White House with the presence of President Joe Biden.
The American news agency Associated Press wrote in this regard: Mohammad Khairullah, shortly before his arrival at the White House to participate in the Eid al-Fitr celebration, said that the White House contacted him saying that the Secret Service opposed his entry and that he could not participate in the event.
Khairullah added that the White House official did not give him an explanation about the reason for banning him from entering this celebration.
Khairullah, 47, notified the Council on American-Islamic Relations of New Jersey after being told he would not be allowed to attend the ceremony.
The group has called on the Biden administration to halt the release of information collected by the FBI on the alleged terrorist list, which includes hundreds of thousands of people. This group has informed Khairullah that a person with his name and date of birth is in this list.
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Khairullah was an outspoken critic of the ban imposed by former US President Donald Trump on the entry of citizens of several predominantly Muslim countries into the country. He has also traveled to Bangladesh and Syria to participate in humanitarian work with the Syrian American Medical Association and Watan Foundation.
Khairullah said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press on Monday evening while he was on his way to his home in New Jersey: This action left me confused, shocked and disappointed. It’s not that I couldn’t go to the party. The problem was the reason why I did not go to this party.
He clarified: There is a list that targeted me because of my identity. I think that the highest office in America should not be influenced by such a list.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the US Secret Service, confirmed that Khairullah was not allowed to enter the White House complex, but declined to say why.
Khairullah was elected mayor for the fifth consecutive term in January. He said that in 2019, the American authorities interrogated him for three hours at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and demanded information on terrorists. This interrogation was done after his family trip to Turkey. Khairullah’s wife’s family lives in Turkey.
He also said that in another case, the American authorities detained him at the border for a short time when he was planning to enter America with his family from Canada.
Khairullah was born in Syria and left Syria in the early 1980s. His family first went to Saudi Arabia and then immigrated to Prospect Park in 1991 and have been living in this city since then.