Jersey City Ward D Councilman Yousef Saleh and Board of Education President Dejon Morris got into a verbal dispute at an iftar celebration yesterday, with both electeds giving contradictory accounts of what happened.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I was invited to the annual Ramadan Iftar at Al Huda [sic] Islamic Center as a guest to celebrate the break of the fast, To be told by Ward D Councilman Yousef J. Saleh I was not WELCOME. THE councilmen [sic] verbally attacked me at the front door while i just arrived to the Islamic Center stating ‘you have some nerve coming here’ ‘your not welcome [sic].’
I was invited,” Morris wrote on his Facebook page last night.
“When Ward D Councilman Yousef J. Saleh stood to give his remarks he publicly apologized to me for verbally disrespecting me. He stated ‘I want to apologize to Dejon the President of the school board for what I said to you’. After Ward D Councilman Yousef J. Saleh finished his speech he then comes to my area of the table and begins to verbally insult and verbally attack me even deeper.”
Morris claims that Saleh, who is Muslim, called him a disgrace to the BOE and told him to leave or “watch what happens,” which led Morris, a police detective, to question if he was threatening him.
He also asserts that Saleh continued to get louder to the point when a Jersey City police officer and Hudson County Sheriff’s officer came to check in on the situation.
“I was invited and then disrespected. Many people said that he reacted in that manner because he was fasting. As a sitting councilmen [sic] he should have more self control.
Totally disrespectful,” Morris also wrote.
In his own lengthy Facebook post, the Heights representative on the city council said that he told Morris he had some nerve coming to the event since the BOE decided to recognize Eid on April 8th instead of April 10th, despite many in the Muslim community objecting.
During his remarks, Saleh recognized that the dates of Eid and Ramadan are determined by the lunar calendar, which can make the holidays difficult to plan for and said he also offered Morris an apology.
“After the speeches I approached Trustee Dejon Morris and sat across from him and extended my hand in an olive branch and he refused. He proceeded to yell at me and interrupt me saying that I did not know the circumstances for why they did not change the date, and I told him I did. I stated irrespective of what the reasons are, the date needs to be changed,” the councilman wrote.
“**I then asked Dejon if he could make sure this did not happen again next year and he absolutely promised that HE WOULD MAKE SURE TO NEVER CHANGE IT, EVER, and that he would make SURE it was celebrated on the wrong date in PERPETUITY.**
At this point I told him that those remarks were disrespectful to the entire Muslim community and asked him why was he here in a mosque if he felt that way, and that he should leave. He said he was invited here and he would stay so I said that’s his prerogative, and I told him ‘you will see, that the Muslim community will vote you out.'”
Saleh continued that he called Morris a joke and walked away after he asked him if he was threatening him, as well as reiterating that he threatened to continually have the school district celebrate Eid on the wrong day, which the councilman called “a complete abuse of power.”
In response, Morris again took to Facebook to write that Saleh was a liar who caused a public scene, which he called a clear case of bullying, and added that the BOE will work hard to ensure Eid is celebrated on the correct date in 2025.
Late last night, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8) posted on X in support of Saleh.
“.@yousefjsaleh is a friend and an incredible councilman. And he’s a friend who has always been honest and direct even when it’s been to express a disagreement,” he wrote.
“Advocating for the students of the Jersey City public schools who observe Eid should not be met with resistance, especially when we pride ourselves on our community’s incredible diversity. I’m proud of my friend and will always stand with him as he stands for his community.”
Last week, Trustee Younass Barkouch, who is also Muslim, was removed as vice president in favor of Trustee George Blount, with the former claiming this was happening, in part, because he fought with the Muslim community to get the proper Eid date acknowledged.
Dejon’s manipulation of this shows his poor character. Saleh said he had some nerve coming after refusing to change the date of need when given the open and easy opportunity. Furthermore, when he said “watch what happens” the full quote is “watch what happens when Muslims vote you out”
Disgusting character by Dejon.