AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Mayor Mohamed Khairullah, a Muslim who had been invited to take part in the White House’s belated Eid al-Fitr ceremony, was banned from the event held to mark the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Khairullah, who has been the Democratic mayor of Prospect Park, New Jersey for 17 years, was born in Syria.
The White House had invited him alongside some other Muslim Americans to take part in its annual Eid al-Fitr event on Monday, but the secret police did not clear him.
He said he was on his way to the White House when he was called and told that he was not cleared by the Secret Service.
“I’m baffled,” Khairullah said in a statement Monday night. “I don’t know the reason.”
Khairullah said his experience of being turned away from an event hosted by US President Joe Biden that he was invited to "reeks of Islamophobia by certain federal agencies."
He said in the past he frequently faced travel problems due to his name being on an FBI list mistakenly. He guessed that might be the reason for the ban.
Muslims inside the US are often the target of Islamophobia while police racial profiling against Muslims and other minorities is commonplace in the United States.
The White House declined to say on what grounds the invitation was canceled and the longtime US Muslim official had been dis-invited.
"While we regret any inconvenience this may have caused, the mayor was not permitted to enter the White House complex for this evening’s event," White House Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.
"Unfortunately, we cannot provide additional commentary on the specifics surrounding the protective means and methods used at the White House," Guglielmi added.
In a written statement, US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden congratulated “Muslim communities across the country and around the world as you celebrate Eid al-Fitr and conclude the holy month of Ramadan.”
Biden added that he was “moved by the generosity that is shown by families that can provide food and give charity to those in need through Zakat-al-Fitr," a particular amount paid by Muslims at the end of the lunar month.
Eid al-Fitr was celebrated in most countries on April 22, 2023.
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