You are sending a link to... Dueling Protests over Temecula, California mosque
As we are going to press with articles on Mega mosque controversies in America in the New English Review, we received this report in The Californianabout “dueling protests’ courtesy of Man Bakh, an Iranian American apostate and board member of Former Muslims United. In our article we referenced the 25,000 square foot Temecula, California mosque project and connections to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Balkh was part of a group protesting the Temecula mosque project. He noted in The Californian Report:
On one side of the debate stood a group of about two dozen sign-bearing men and women, some wearing American flag T-shirts and hats with slogans such as: "Proud American."
For this group, standing on the south side of Rio Nedo, the center's plan to build a 25,000-square-foot mosque is part of an "Islamic expansion" that could lead to the country being taken over by Muslims.
"We don't have to let that happen," said Mano Bakh, a Wildomar man who said he escaped Islam when he left Iran in 1979 to come to America.
On the other side of the debate ---- and the other side of Rio Nedo ---- stood about 60 members of the Islamic Center and members of local churches who support the center's construction plans.
The Muslim Brotherhood connection was evident in the person of Salaam al-Mayarti, Executive Director of front group, Muslim Political Action Council (MPAC). Note the controversy over dogs brought by the protesters to this rally and al-Mayarati’s response:
An e-mail that circulated in Southwest County calling for mosque opponents to bring dogs to the anti-mosque side of the rally didn't really have much of an impact. As of 1:45 p.m., there were only two people with dogs, both of which were well-behaved pooches restrained by leashes.
The call for dogs, animals that some Muslims consider unclean, was criticized by members of the Interfaith Council as a sign of disrespect.
One of the women who brought a dog, Zorina Bennett of Temecula, said she attended the rally to stand with those opposed to the spread of Islam.
"They don't fit in; they don't belong in this country," she said. "It's spreading all over the U.S. like a cancer."
Asked whether she was making a statement by bringing her dog, Bennett said she brought along Meadow, her 6-year-old Vizsla, because she takes her almost everywhere she goes and because "American families all have dogs."
Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said the call for dogs was "not in good taste."
"We love God and God's creatures," he said, adding that any concern Muslims have with dogs has to do with them wandering around in their prayer areas for cleanliness reasons.
Later, Al-Marayati and Hadi Nael, president of the Islamic Center's board of directors, addressed the members of the Interfaith Council at 12:30 p.m., thanking them for their support.
"Thank you for embracing the mosque and the great values of America!" Al-Marayati said. "The value of hope, not fear."
Bakh and a woman protester gave some cogent arguments about why mosques in Temecula, Mufreesboro and Ground Zero are being opposed:
Diana Serafin, a Murrieta woman who helped organize the rally, said people opposed to the mosque have been unfairly criticized as religious bigots.
"It's not just the mosque," she said. "It's a political way of life that they're trying to force on us. It's not religion; it's a political movement."
Bakh, the Iranian immigrant who said he has cast away Islam, said the problem with the religion is that there is no moderation, no respect for opposing viewpoints.
Asked if there were some good things about Islam, Bakh said, and “I've seen the worst side of Islam. ... There is a good side of the Muslim, but there is no good side of Islam. If you believe in Islam, you have to believe in the writing of the Quran. There is a moderation in the Muslim people, but there is no moderation in the Islamic ideology. It's black-and-white.
Watch this KABC-TV, Los Angeles, video of the dueling protests over the Temecula mosque project:
.jpg)
%20(2).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
