14 March 2012

By Juan Cole

A crowd gathered at the Brookfield Public Library raised questions Tuesday not just about a proposed mosque in the area, but about the faith and ideology of those who plan to use it.

"We're not fighting against a religion, what we're fighting against is a tyrannical ideology," said Janet Spiewak of the conservative Eagle Forum, which hosted the discussion.

She urged residents to raise concerns about the mosque's traffic impact and other zoning issues at the city's upcoming meetings on the project, presumably as a way of stopping it from being built.

"We can, through public pressure, force the aldermen and the mayor to acknowledge where the majority of Brookfield stands," she said.

The project was intended to be discussed inside the library, but more than 30 people showed up, so it was moved outside, while the regular Forum meeting continued inside.

Islamic Society of Milwaukee President Ahmed Quereshi and Executive Director Othman Atta answered a barrage of questions – at times hostile – on the size of the building, terrorism, sharia law, the role of women in Islam, and what is and isn't in the Qur'an.

Their answers were at times met with derisive laughter and heckling. Some people focused on basics such as traffic; others threw out examples of violence and terrorism done by people claiming to act in concert with Islamic teaching.

Police officers watched from cars nearby.

"We are not advocating extremism," said Atta, noting that as an attorney he has sworn an oath to uphold the laws of the United States. "We're here as American citizens. Our goal here is just to provide a house of worship for the community who reside here."

The Islamic Society is proposing to build a 12,950-square-foot mosque and community center on 4.25 acres east of N. Calhoun Road on Pheasant Drive.

The Society, which operates a 70,000-square-foot complex near S. 13th St. and W. Layton Ave. in Milwaukee, said it has about 100 families who live within a 4-mile radius of the Brookfield site.

Members of the Brookfield-Elm Grove Interfaith Network, which has endorsed the project, attended the gathering as a show of support.

"People were afraid of us, too, when we first moved here in 1961," said the Rev. Suzelle Lynch of the Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield.

Much of the rancor had abated by the end, with some residents inviting the Muslim leaders to host a local forum and asking that copies of the Qur'an be sent to local churches.

"My question is about what's being taught there," said Swannie Tess. "I'm 80 years old, and I'll be dead in 10 years, but I have children and grandchildren growing up."

Tess said she'd like to hear more in a different, less-charged setting.

"I thought it was a good exchange," said Quereshi. "It started out a little bumpy, but by the end, people were having a good conversation."

Australia: man arrested over mosque attack

Newcastle police say a two-month long investigation combined with information from the community has led to a 25-year-old man being charged over an attack on a local mosque.

Early last month several men tried to kick in the door of the Wallsend mosque after childrens' scripture classes. A Maryland man will face court in April after being charged with intimidation, causing malicious damage and entering enclosed lands.

Newcastle Crime Manager, Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Humphrey says the investigation is ongoing. "It's just another example of the public doing the right thing and giving the information to police. The actions of the person are now subject to Court so I can't comment on those but a lot of crimes are solved by the information from the public being accurate and timely, and in this case it's been very successful."

Detective Chief Inspector Humphrey says the incident was caught on CCTV and police used the footage as well information from the public to make an arrest.

"There've been enquiries ongoing and as a result of some good information from the public at least one of the persons has been identified and spoken to by police and he's been issued future court attendance notices," he said. "We anticipate that another gentleman who could assist us with our inquiries will be spoken to in the coming weeks when he returns from interstate."