Posted by Iranian on December 8, 2006, 7:51 pm, in reply to "Houston suburb in dispute over mosque plan (Makes me proud to be an American)" --Previous Message--
209.74.96.60
I like to see the Pig race that would be funny!
: KATY, Texas - A plan to build a mosque
: in this Houston suburb has triggered
: a neighborhood dispute, with
: community members warning the place
: will become a terrorist hotbed and
: one man threatening to hold pig
: races on Fridays just to offend the
: Muslims.
:
: Many neighborhood residents claim
: they have nothing against Muslims
: and are more concerned about
: property values, drainage and
: traffic.
:
: But one resident has set up an
: anti-Islamic Web site with an
: odometer-like counter that keeps
: track of terrorist attacks since
: Sept. 11. A committee has formed to
: buy another property and offer to
: trade it for the Muslims’ land. And
: next-door neighbor Craig Baker has
: threatened to race pigs on the edge
: of the property on the Muslim holy
: day. Muslims consider pigs unclean
: and do not eat pork.
:
: “The neighbors have created havoc
: for us and we didn’t expect that,”
: said engineer Kamel Fotouh,
: president of the 500-member Katy
: Islamic Association.
:
: Fotouh vowed to press ahead with
: plans for a mosque on the 11-acre
: site, as well as a community center
: that would offer after-school
: activities, housing for senior
: citizens, a fitness center and an
: Islamic school.
:
: “We just bought it,” Fotouh said.
: “And we are going to use it. We have
: the right like any one of them.”
:
: Katy, population 13,000, is a mix of
: middle-class bedroom-community
: neighborhoods and small farms on
: Houston’s western edge and boasts of
: being the hometown of Oscar-winning
: actress Renee Zellweger. It is 70
: percent white and 24 percent
: Hispanic.
:
: The Houston metropolitan area has
: about 170,000 Muslims, according to
: the Islamic Society of Greater
: Houston, and among their many
: mosques is one built in Houston by
: former NBA star Hakeem Olajuwon.
:
: The Islamic association bought the
: land in Katy in September for $1.1
: million. It said the overall cost of
: the project has not been determined.
:
: Dispute started with cattle
: The dispute began when the group
: asked Baker to remove his cattle
: from their newly bought land. Baker
: agreed but mistakenly thought the
: Muslims also wanted him off the land
: his family has lived on for more
: than 100 years. The rumor spread.
:
: Baker, who makes marble and granite
: fixtures for kitchens and bathrooms
: and also owns livestock, said he got
: so mad he put up a sign announcing
: the pig races.
:
: Baker’s attempt to offend missed its
: mark, according to Fotouh. Muslims
: do not hate pigs, he said; they just
: don’t eat them.
:
: As for the Web site, the address is
: virtually identical to that of the
: Katy Islamic Association. The site
: claims the neighbors will have to
: hear the Muslim call to prayer from
: the mosque’s minaret five times a
: day — the Islamic group denies that
: — and offers an audio sample.
:
: Besides keeping track of the running
: total of post-Sept. 11 terrorist
: attacks, the Web site provides home
: addresses of some association
: members and advises people who see
: anything suspicious to contact the
: FBI. Many people have sent
: anti-Islamic e-mails to the site.
:
: Complaints to the county
: A few complaints about the mosque
: project have also trickled in to
: Harris County offices: The “Coming
: Soon” sign was on government
: property; the parking lot gravel was
: piled up without a permit; the
: project would increase traffic in
: the quiet neighborhood.
:
: County Commissioner Steve Radack
: said traffic concerns can be
: addressed as they are elsewhere,
: with off-duty police officers. He
: also noted the group has said it
: would comply with rules on drainage
: and flood control.
:
: Cynthia Blackman wrote Radack that
: the center was a security risk:
: “Would you and your family safely
: and comfortably live next to this
: 11-acre Muslim mosque and
: facilities?”
:
: The reaction has not been all
: negative. Fotouh said one man came
: to the mosque on a Friday afternoon
: and apologized for his neighbors.
: “He moved me, really,” Fotouh said.
: “The sense of fairness, the sense of
: standing by the underdog.”
:
: Though he now concedes the Muslims
: are probably not after his land,
: Baker said he is obligated to go
: through with the pig races, probably
: within the next few weeks, because
: “I would be like a total idiot if I
: didn’t. I’d be the laughingstock now
: because I’ve gone too far.”
:
:
:
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