Western Resistance

« Germany: Predictable Muslim Reaction To Integration Test | | Bangladesh: Islamists Threaten 5 Journalists With Death »

January 2, 2006

US: Boston Islamic Society - The Enemy Within?

The Boston Islamic Society, founded in 1982, has been busy of late, filing lawsuits against anyone who dares to even question their motives or their legitimacy in constructing a mosque at Roxbury, whose cost is estimated to run to $24 million dollars. When complete, it will be the largest Muslim religious building in the northeastern US. It will have a 125-foot minaret and a 75-foot dome.

The first "groundbreaking" happened on November 7, 2002, when luminaries of the mosque and the City posed with shovels for the cameras. John Kerry (remember him?) praised the IBS for its "outstanding work", which was happening at a time when people needed "cross-cultural understanding and cooperaton."

But despite IBS' threats of lawsuits against its critics, the Boston Globe yesterday brought out a list of "questions the Islamic Society should answer".

The last time the Islamic Society tried to answer a newspaper's questions, it messed up badly. In March, 2004, Dr Walid Fitaihi (pictured, right), one of the founders of the group was reported to have written in an Arabic newspaper that Jews were the "murderers of Prophets" and other anti-semitic comments, such as Jews would be punished for their "oppression, murder, and rape of the worshipers of Allah" by the Boston Herald. Fitaihi was a trustee and treasurer of IBS.

The answer to the Herald's commentary was placed on IBS' website on 10 September 2004, where it has remained. It states: "Ultimately, we decided, based on what we know of Dr. Fitaihi's views, the historic and linguistic context of the articles, as well as Dr. Fitaihi's internal statement on the issue, to accept his contention that the articles were intended to condemn particular individuals whom he believes were working to destroy one of Islam's holiest sites, killing innocent children, and thereby blocking the possibility of peace in the Middle East; the articles were not meant to incite hatred of an entire faith or people."

On October 14, 2004, the Boston Globe reported that Boston Islamic Society was publicly distancing itself from Dr Walid Fitaihi, following pressure from various groups, including Jewish citizens' groups. IBS sent a letter, signed by 7 board members, to Mayor Thomas M. Menino, apologising for producing "ambivalent" statements about the case.

But the "ambivalent" September 10 statement remains on their website, so perhaps they are not as morally scrupulous as they would like to appear. Yesterday's "questions" in the Globe include the following points.

One of the eight founders of the group is Abdurahman Alamoudi (pictured left). He is serving a 23-year prison term for being involved in an assassination plot. He was an outspoken supporter of terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah, and has been identified by the US Treasury Department as a fund-raiser for al-Qaeda.

It took seven months for the Boston Islamic Society to repudiate Dr Walid Fitaihi's anti-semitic comments.

For years, one of the listed trustees of the ISB in its tax returns and on the website was Yusef al Qaradawi, the Qatari-based sheikh, who has praised suicide bombers and advocated killing homosexuals. He has given his blessings to the killing of US soldiers in Iraq, and was asked to attend an IBS fundraiser event in 2002 (he is barred from the US, so he appeared via video-link). Qaradawi has said that Pokemon should be banned in Islamic nations, because it promotes Darwinism(!)

An examination of the Society's library in 2003 by an Islamic scholar found several publications and videos which promoted hostility to the US and were derogatory of other faiths.

These are the allegations contained in the article, by Jeff Jacoby, who condemns the recent recourse to lawsuits as an overreaction which "does rank-and-file Muslims no favors -- and gives all of us, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, another reason to wonder about its motives."

Recently, on 14 December, the Weekly Standard discussed the nature of the lawsuits emanating from the ISB.

There followed lawsuits. The ISB sued Fox Channel 25, the Boston Herald, and 14 other private citizens and organizations for having conspired to defame the organization. Meanwhile, a citizen of Boston sued the Boston Redevelopment Authority for giving the land for the mosque to the ISB at a price significantly below market value.

They got the land, which had been valued as being worth more than $400,000, for a mere $175,000. To get the documentation signed by all the trustees, paperwork had to be sent to Saudi Arabia.

Private citizens named in the lawsuit, filed in May 2005, include TV and media news pundit Steve Emerson, who is described in the suit as a "widely discredited and self professed 'expert' on radical Islam and Islamic terrorism." The suit further claims "Emerson's research and findings have been routinely, publicly and severely criticized as both uninformed and biased against Muslims."

Another private citizen named in the defamation suit is Charles Jacobs (pictured right), who belongs to a group, the David Project which aims to come to a "fair and honest understanding of the Middle East conflict."

The Standard notes that Mr Jacobs is also founder-chairman of the American Anti-Slavery Group, which for more than a decade has helped free 80,000 slaves, and also someone who has drawn attention to genocides in Darfur. The Jewish Advocate notes on November 3 that, as well as charges of defamation, the lawsuit had been expanded to claim that the defendants conspired to deprive the plaintiffs of "their basic rights of free association and the free exercise of religion."

On Tuesday November 1, the David Project released a statement, containing the following: "The ISB lawsuit is an ugly and obvious attempt to bully American citizens into not exercising their fundamental First Amendment rights: the right to engage in free speech, the right to express views to governmental bodies about important public policy issues, and the right to communicate with other citizens."

The expansion of the suit was covered by the Boston Globe on 1 November.

In early November, a Suffolk Superior Court judge denied a motion to dismiss another lawsuit from progressing through the courts. This lawsuit, states Jewish Advocate, is against the city of Boston, charging that by selling the land to the ISB at a knock-down price, it violated the mandatory separation of church and state. The case was filed against the city of Boston and the Boston Redevelopment Authority by James Policastro.

The Weekly Standard states that one City Councillor, Jerry McDermott, has been looking into the possible waste of public money in the land deal between the city and the ISB, and has called for an open investigation. As a result, he has been threatened by ISB with lawsuits. He has also received threatening phone calls to his house, which he shares with a wife and two children.

Steve Emerson, the TV news pundit states that extremists "are adept at getting a toe-hold" in the States, and this time "it's happening at the behest and with the sanction of the government."

More information on the background of this case can be obtained from the website of Citizens For Peace and Tolerance, one of the defendants in ISB's lawsuit.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 2, 2006 5:00 PM

Comments

Post a comment