[angelize56]

Tenn. Muslims Face Resistance to Plans

Sat Dec 25, 1:46 PM ET U.S. National - AP

By WOODY BAIRD, Associated Press Writer

SOMERVILLE, Tenn. - Muslims planned to turn an old sod farm near Memphis into a cemetery, but angry neighbors protested, complaining the burial ground could become a staging ground for terrorists or spread disease from unembalmed bodies.

It was not the first time a group faced opposition when trying to build a cemetery or a mosque, but the dispute stood out for the clarity of its anti-Muslim rhetoric.

"We know for a fact that Muslim mosques have been used as terrorist hideouts and centers for terrorist activities," farmer John Wilson told members of a planning commission last month.

Similar disputes have arisen elsewhere when Muslim groups sought to develop mosques or cemeteries, which are often the first Islamic institutions in some communities.

Opponents of a proposal to open a mosque in Voorhees, N.J., distributed an anonymous flier warning that Islamic worshippers might include "extremists and radicals." Arguments over a proposed Muslim cemetery near Atlanta persisted for more then a year before officials approved preliminary plans.

Critics of the projects generally complain about potential damage to the environment, reduced property values and traffic congestion, but many also associate Islam with terrorism.

Rabiah Ahmed of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said she noticed more protests of Muslim building proposals after the 2001 terrorist attacks, so she was not surprised by the cemetery critics near Memphis.

"It's not shocking, but it is discouraging," Ahmed said from the council's headquarters in Washington.

Opponents told the Fayette County planning commission in November that power lines would be prime targets for terrorists in the region about 20 miles east of Memphis.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you may think this is farfetched, but that is what the Jewish people thought when the Nazis started taking a small foothold, a little at a time, in their community," Wilson said.

In a telephone interview later, Wilson said he and his neighbors are primarily worried about their property values, but, he added, news reports cannot be ignored.

"I don't think anyone who has read the newspaper or seen what investigations have gone on about other mosques would not have those kinds of concerns," he said.

Belinda Ghosheh, owner of the five-acre plot being considered for the cemetery, said a meeting of planning officials drew such a hostile crowd she feared for her safety. One woman yelled, "We don't need bin Laden's cousins in our neighborhood."

Ghosheh and her husband, a native of the Middle East who has been a U.S. citizen for more than 20 years, live in neighboring Shelby County.

"These people would possibly have been our neighbors if we had decided to build on that property," she said. "If this doesn't go through, we're still getting rid of it. I would never live out there now."

Annette Cutliff, a planning commission member who voted for the cemetery, was also at the meeting. "When I walked to my car, I looked over my shoulder," Cutliff said. "I was concerned because emotions were running high."

Critics also complained that the cemetery could be a health hazard because Muslims traditionally do not embalm their dead.

But Muhammad Zaman, a physician and associate professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee, said the practice is safe. "The decomposition of the human body does not add anything different than what it is," Zaman said.

One neighbor, Herbert Howell, said a cemetery should not be allowed regardless of who would be buried there.

"We are not at war with all the Islamics," Howell said. "I have no problem with who they are or what they are. If it was a filling station, I wouldn't want that either."

The Muslim Society of Memphis received a "special use" zoning exemption from the planning commission, which is appointed. But a committee of the elected county commission disapproved.

"They were very concerned about votes," Cutliff said.

The application was withdrawn before a vote by the full commission.

Memphis businessman Mohammad Halimah said the group is considering several options, including refiling the request.

Halimah, a U.S. citizen with four children born in the United States, said more than 15,000 Muslims live in the Memphis area, and their small private cemetery is running out of burial space.

In the meantime, he and several colleagues are trying to meet with residents individually to discuss their concerns. No zoning change is needed for a cemetery on church grounds, so building a mosque on the site is also a possibility.

Complaints about the proposal, he said, are often based on ignorance. Some residents do not understand that Islam teaches peace.

"Our religion stresses acceptance by our neighbors," Halimah said. "Even if the law is on our side, religiously we have to be careful."

[Big-K]

It's a freakin cemetary people! Let them bury their dead in peace!

[linskyjack]

Yeah--I love this guy Wilson:

Ladies and gentlemen, you may think this is farfetched, but that is what the Jewish people thought when the Nazis started taking a small foothold, a little at a time, in their community," Wilson said.


Yeah, this guy Wilson is a real Jew lover! I bet you he is out there with the Anti-Defamation league whenever some synogogue is desecrated. I feel sorry for all the decent Muslims in this country who have to deal with bigoted rubes like these freaks in Tennessee.

[Fidelista]

"a meeting of planning officials drew such a hostile crowd she feared for her safety. One woman yelled, "We don't need bin Laden's cousins in our neighborhood."
Sounds like this woman should burning crosses---wearing a sheet.

"burial ground could become a staging ground for terrorists " ----stupidity has no limits LOL!
Do you ever wonder how many of these ignorant bigots there really are? >f

[linskyjack]

Fidelsta there are so many of them---thats what is frightening.

[LuckyStrike]

Five acres is not a lot of land. Everyone has to be buried somewhere unless they are cremated. Dead neighbors are the most peaceful kind. If there are 15,000 Muslim residents in the area, presumably most are U.S. citizens born in this country or naturalized long term residents who are loyal to the United States. As far as the danger of unembalmed bodys, there was a time when embalming was rare, and so long as you are not a grave robber this should pose no more danger than the septic systems rural homes have, probably less, and certainly much less than a neighboring landfill.

[AKA Arizona]

Terrorism is a double edged sword, a very powerful one. The threat of terrorism is a greater threat than the actual act of terrorism.
Ignorance is even a greater threat, and perception is reality, so the fears of these people are real, it falls into the stereo type category. Looks like the Muslim's should be trying to educate first that way there are no misunderstanding and everyone will know that they just want a cemetery.......

[linskyjack]

I think that the people in this community could have been educated for years about this issue and they still would have done the same thing.

[Infidel_Kastro]

Basic ignorant idiots ranting. It is probably less harmful for us to bury our dead w/o embalming them, less chemicals involved. Leave them alone and let them bury their dead.

[linskyjack]

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by Infidel_Kastro

Basic ignorant idiots ranting. It is probably less harmful for us to bury our dead w/o embalming them, less chemicals involved. Leave them alone and let them bury their dead.

And reserve a plot for bin laden!

[AKA Arizona]

Originally Posted by Mulder

And reserve a plot for bin laden!

[tdi_veedub]

Why would any Muslim in their right mind want to live in such a redneck town anyways?

It's a frickin Mosque, and a cemetary. They are entitled to their religion, just like the rednecks are entitled theirs.

Besides, I thought that the purpose of embalming was to preserve the body for just a little bit longer so that it wouldn't start decomposing at the funeral? It will decompose regardless, just one a little bit faster than the other. I don't see how an embalmed body is safer than a non-embalmed one.

Health risk my ***, they are just racist rednecks looking for a valid reason, because they know that noone will accept their true reasoning.

[robomatic]

The litmus test is simple: Put yourself in the other guy's shoes: If it was a Christian group seeking to use the territory for the same purposes, would there be a problem?

If there are other issues that are being masked by the particular religion such as traffic, parking, monuments, noise, suitability, they sould be considered on their own merits, not related to religion.

If the issues are purely sectarian, then this should be brought to the forefront, because IMHO, the great majority of Americans have common sense and a sense of sympathy.

[linskyjack]

Robomatic, so whats your point?