Boston Muslims defend themselves agaisnt Lies

RELIGIOUS TENSION GROWS IN BOSTON OVER NEW MOSQUE - TOP Jason Szep, Reuters, 1/6/08http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-01-06T203705Z_01_WRI674185_RTRUKOC_0_US-RELIGION-MOSQUE-BOSTON.xml BOSTON - It was to be the biggest mosque in the northeastern United States, a center of worship for Boston's 70,000 Muslims and a milestone for America's Muslim community.Instead, construction of the $24.5 million center has been stalled by lawsuits and a deepening row between Jewish and Muslim leaders that reflects broader suspicions facing American Muslims after the September 11 attacks.Jewish leaders charge that former and current officials in the Islamic Society of Boston, which is building the 70,000-sq- ft (6,500-square-meter) mosque, are linked to terrorist groups and have failed to distance themselves from radical Islam and anti-Jewish statements.The Islamic Society denies any connection to terrorism and considers itself victimized by a campaign to taint the mosque with accusations of ties to radical Islamic teachings. The society says it has repeatedly distanced itself from anti-Jewish statements by some of its leaders. . .American Muslims are watching the case closely."Unfortunately, I see the Boston case as indicative of a growing trend in anti-Muslim rhetoric that has grown after 9/11," said Arsalan Iftikhar, legal director of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation's largest American Muslim civil rights group."It has especially impacted local Muslim communities in terms of building their mosques," he said. "High concentrations of Muslim populations are being given a hard time for just trying to practice their faith."Demographers estimate there are five to six million Muslims in the United States. (MORE)