'Anti-Mosque Activity' in More than Half of US States

Categorized | Loon People, Loon Politics

Tags | ACLU, American Civil LIberties Union, anti-mosque, Anti-Muslim, Islam, Islamophobia, US States

‘Anti-Mosque Activity’ in More than Half of US States

Posted on 29 May 2012 by Emperor

Rev. Stacy Walker-Frontjes, of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in DeKalb, Ill., talks with Mohammed Labadi as she tours the house that serves as the group's mosque.

Anti-Mosque activity has been rampant in the USA over the past five years:

Proposed mosques spark opposition in some U.S. communities

(USA Today)

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which were carried out by hijackers from Arab countries, animosity toward Muslims sometimes has taken the form of opposition to construction of mosques and other Islamic facilities. National debate erupted over plans for a community center that became known as the “Ground Zero mosque” in Lower Manhattan.

In the last five years, there has been “anti-mosque activity” in more than half the states, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Some mosques were vandalized – a $5,000 reward is being offered in a 2011 Wichita mosque arson case – and others were targets of efforts to deny zoning permits.

Mosque opponents often raise concerns about traffic and parking, but Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU’s freedom of religion program, says they can be “sham arguments” that mask anti-Muslim sentiment.

“I hope that eventually there will be greater acceptance for all faiths, including Islam,” Mach says.

Read the rest…

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JT

“Maybe the message isn’t getting across if he is always having to tell people”

There are about 400 people at the mosque. Of them, one will decide to park illegally. The mosque will be informed and the Imam will tell the fool to remove his car. He’s not constantly having to tell every single person there. Use your sense, please.

The message is obviously getting across, but there will always be some idiot who is late and will break the rules. It happens all the time, everywhere, not just at mosques. There’s (non-Muslim) fools like that on my road, and they have to be told constantly.
jawad

“That may be so but if there are zoning/parking issues they shouldn’t be ignored”

I agree w/ that completely.
Steve

“only use zoning/parking issues to disguise their bigotry”

That may be so but if there are zoning/parking issues they shouldn’t be ignored
jawad

“Maybe the message isn’t getting across if he is always having to tell people”

the message isnt getting through to a few, but that doesnt change the fact that these groups dont want mosques because they are muslim centers of prayer and only use zoning/parking issues to disguise their bigotry.
Steve

“now do you suggest I go and put graffitti on School gates or throw a brick through the window?”

Of course not. As you say the council/police should be informed if there is illegal parking and planning committees need to be informed of any possible problems which could arise before anything is built.

Where I live a supermarket chain has been pushing for years to build a huge new supermarket – each time they have been blocked by local residents because the road infrastructure couldn’t handle the increase in traffic.
Steve

“and JT is right. my imam here in the US is ALWAYS telling people to stop parking in ways that inconvenience others.”

Maybe the message isn’t getting across if he is always having to tell people
Sam Seed

I agree with Steve with regards to people having disregard for parking and often they do inconvenience others. But they also inconvenience other worshippers by blocking their cars and these are the ones that usually arrive late for prayer. I too get annoyed with this, many a time the Imam has addressed this issue during sermon.

However, this has nothing to do with the mosque, it is a place of worship. The nearest mosque (house conversion) to me is always packed out and the congregation overflows onto the car park. Add to that, they need to have 2 services as it is always overcrowded. If local residents have an issue with people parking on their drive ways and such, the council should be engaged. Attacking the mosque is not going to resolve the issue. There are inconsiderate Muslims, just as there are inconsiderate non-Muslims.

Steve, you say there is a mosque that causes traffic problems. Well, I have a supermarket nearby that causes traffic problems, a school run that causes traffic problems, there are two schools on my road and sometimes people block my drive to collect their kids, now do you suggest I go and put graffitti on School gates or throw a brick through the window?
jawad

because it was a gigantic super massive mega-mosque of DOOM
khushboo

Ah, reminds me of the good ole days when they used these excuses for Park 51 and then when that didn’t work, in came Geller and her hateful minions with the real reason why they didn’t want Park 51.
jawad

its obvious these groups are using zoning laws to prevent these mosques from being built because they dont want muslims to have a building for prayer.
im sure there are a lot of legit zoning reasons for certain mosques somewhere in the world to not be built but for the most part these are coordinated efforts to prevent the spread of islamic centers of prayer because of a hatred of the religion itself. they use excuses like traffic, parking, etc but all they talk about is “shariah law” and “terrorist recruiting”.

and JT is right. my imam here in the US is ALWAYS telling people to stop parking in ways that inconvenience others.
Steve

AJ, I have one mosque which causes traffic problems, I have plenty of halal butchers which cause no problems and when I was on ANL marches the EDL didnt exist

please read what I write
JT

Steve, if there are legitimate claims regarding parking or traffic then that is for the council to sort out. It’s not the business of anti-Muslim activists from many miles away to try and find some way to prevent the construction of the mosque. That’s something that seems to be a regular occurence only when a mosque is involved. It’s a matter of concern for the locals only.

By the way, if you do walk into any mosque then most likely you will hear the Imam angrily telling off congregants who have decided to park in front of neighbours’ driveways. At my mosque, the police has no problem dishing out parking fines if someone has parked where they shouldn’t have. It’s not at all a case of Islamophobia, and I have never heard any Muslim claim it is. Islam is very clear that Muslims should behave in accordance with the law and that the rights of your neighbours should be respected. I heard an Imam say that it is useless to offer prayers if you have in the process severely inconvenienced someone by blocking the road.
http://aayjay.wordpress.com AJ

Steve, you poor guy – you have mosques in your area that make your life miserable, you have butchers near you plastering “halal” on their shops, you have paraded in anti-EDL rallies that seem to be as thuggish as EDL…you seem to have a personal experience for everything….
Steve

Garibaldi, even Mosquebusters have to work within the law, if they can show a legitimate legal reason why a mosque should not be built in an area then that mosque should not be built. It’s the same with any planning application – people have all sorts of reasons why they don’t want things built and I daresay the reason in some cases is an anti islam sentiment but in most cases I would say people protest about something being built because they rather like the area as it already is regardless of whether it’s a mosque, a church, a supermarket, a sports stadium, a golf course etc.
Garibaldi

@Steve,

Of course all opposition to mosque construction is not anti-Muslim sentiment. However many times Islamophobes mask their opposition to mosques under zoning laws, etc.

Groups like Mosquebusters don’t really lend confidence to many of those neighbors who have legitimate concerns about the size of a mosque or how it will affect traffic:

http://www.loonwatch.com/2012/04/joshua-haddow-hate-the-thought-of-muslims-being-near-you-call-mosquebusters/
Steve

Not all opposition to any mosque is because of anti-muslim sentiment. The fact is being muslim doesn’t entitle you to build what you like where you like. Same as anybody else.

We get it in the UK too, planning permission will be sought for a vast new mosque and if it is turned down the local papers of the area have some people screaming “islamophobia”.

In my area another huge new mosque was opened a couple of years ago on a busy route through the city – now that route is very often blocked at times during the day by cars double parked, parked on the grass verges and parked on pedestrian crossings. The people who provided planning permission for that mosque clearly shouldn’t have passed it. It would be useful if the police got involved and towed the cars away but they never will – the scream of “islamophobia” will be raised and everybody else using that route will continue to have to suffer.
mindy1

Why waste energy on hate??? If those people used all their energy to HELP the world, we might not be in the mess that we are in
Benjamin Taghiov

Is America becoming an Anti-Gay Theocracy?

“Mel White. White, along with his husband and partner of 30 years, Gary Nixon, founded Soulforce, an organization committed to using nonviolent resistance to end religion-based oppression. White and hundreds of Soulforce volunteers protest outside megachurches that preach hatred and bigotry in the name of religion. White travels to communities where young gays, lesbians, bisexuals or transgender people have committed suicide. He holds memorial services for them in front of the church doors.

He accuses the pastors of these churches of murder. His books “Stranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America” and “Holy Terror: Lies the Christian Right Tell Us to Deny Gay Equality,” are two of the most important works that examine the innate cruelty and proto-fascism of the Christian right. White, more than perhaps any other preacher in the country, has pulled young men and women back from the brink of despair, from succumbing to the tragic fate of Tyler Clementi. And White is scared”.

Read full story after the jump

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/9428-the-war-on-gays