Friday, June 2, 2006
TNR has a very good run-down on all that's gone on to date with the Islamic Society of Boston and their Boston Mosque project, here: Boston Marathon: A Long Fight Over a Controversial Mosque [note: TNR links are flukey...sometimes they require subscription, sometimes not. I can get in today for the full article, yesterday I couldn't.] [via Miss Kelley]
There are some particularly interesting bits, like:
...For his part, Fitaihi was the source of an embarrassing turn of events for some members of the Jewish community in Boston. The long-time ISB trustee attended interfaith dialogue meetings on behalf of his group with Temple Israel in Boston. But around the same time, in 2001, he authored anti-Semitic statements in British and Egyptian Arabic-language papers in which he praised suicide bombings against Israel and said Jews are "murderers of the prophets" and would be punished for their "oppression, murder, and rape of the worshippers of Allah." After undergoing an internal review of Fitaihi's writings, and considering their "historic and linguistic context," the ISB later apologized in letters to Temple Israel and other Jewish groups for offending, and said the words of its trustee--who has since moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia--"were not meant to incite hatred of an entire faith or people."...
That "apology" was quite a bit too little and very, very late by the way. (Aside: See Sissy Willis's entry on "speaking with forked tongue" [via Miss Kelly's comments) Also here:
...Places of worship in America often evolve out of the desire of religious groups in given neighborhoods or areas to have gathering points for prayer in their communities. But according to an ISB document, three trustees live abroad--in Saudi Arabia or Qatar. A fourth--Kandil--lives part-time in Egypt, part-time in Virginia, according to an affidavit submitted by Kandil. This has unsettled citizen groups and individuals who have been critical of the land transfer, including the David Project, CPT, and Sapers, leading them to question the motives of absentee leaders. Specifically: If such leaders have weak ties to Boston, is their intent to simply provide a gathering place for Boston Muslims? Or is it to proselytize an extremist brand of Islam to a vulnerable community? Another leader, board of directors chairman Yousef Abou-Allaban, who filed the lawsuits with Kandil, was forced to flee the United States "out of concern for his safety and the safety of his children" and is now residing in the United Arab Emirates, according to the ISB suit. Two ISB leaders signed the deed for the land in 2003 at the American consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia...
The other article on the subject appearing recently is this one, at CBN: Fear of Islamic Extremism Keeps Boston Mosque in Limbo
