US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama personally apologized on Thursday to two women after campaign volunteers barred them from appearing in a picture because of their head scarves.
Obama spoke by telephone with Shimaa Abdelfadeel and left a message to Hebba Aref after Muslim leaders urged the Democrat to personally apologize to the women.
During a rally in Detroit, Michigan, campaign volunteers on Monday told the two Muslim women they could not stand behind Obama because of their head scarves.
“The actions of these volunteers were unacceptable and in no way reflect any policy of my campaign,” Obama said in a statement.
“Our campaign is about bringing people together and I’m grateful that Ms Abdelfadeel accepted our apology and I hope Ms Aref and any who were offended accept my apology as well,” he said.
The Obama campaign had already apologized for the snub. But the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) had called for a personal apology from Obama to help redress the grievance and also combat growing anti-Islamic sentiment in the US.
“Although we welcome the Obama campaign’s apology, we are extremely concerned about the level of Islamophobia in our society that would prompt other minorities to view Muslim supporters as potential liabilities,” CAIR’s national legislative director Corey Saylor said in a statement. “We hope that Senator Obama will personally apologize to the two women and that he decries the current Islamophobic climate in our nation that is not only attacking him, but has even jaded some within his own campaign.”
CAIR, the leading US group for Muslims’ civil rights, also urged Obama to invite the women to the stage at a future rally.
Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR’s Michigan branch, said Abdelfadeel and Aref were “very pleased that the senator personally called them to apologize.”
The women said Obama told them that “such behavior has no place in his campaign and does not represent his values,” Walid said, adding that CAIR welcomed the apology.
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