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| Muslim youth camp work will begin soon in Iowa | |
| 2006-03-24 | |
| The president of a Cedar Rapids-based Muslim group proposing to build a youth camp here said he hopes to start initial work, including land surveys, early next month. "We hope to start initial work sometime within a few weeks," said Manzoor Ali, president of Muslim Youth Camps of America, or MYCA. "I will be back the first or second week of April to start developing the project plan," Ali said during a telephone interview Thursday. On Wednesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved and signed a lease of up to 25 years with MYCA. Under the agreement, the Corps can terminate the lease at the end of the five-year period if it determines MYCA has not finished a sufficient level of building or planning by that point. Otherwise, the lease can be renewed for 20 more years. The camp would host up to 60 campers, about half as many as initially first proposed by MYCA in 1999. "Obviously, we are very happy about that and we appreciate (the) cooperation of the Corps of Engineers," Ali said. "For the last eight years, we've been working together. ... We will follow the lease according to the plan." Ali said he did not know when the camp would open but said he hoped to release more details after the MYCA board meeting in early April. Construction is expected to take place during a five-year period. MYCA's original proposal called for a 17,500-square-foot lodge, 12 tent camping platforms, 10 cabins and a 75-foot-tall prayer tower. Those plans have since been cut in half and the $934,000 camp would now include a 2,400-square-foot central lodge, five cabins, five tent pads, a central bathroom facility and a trail system. The camp would occupy the former Girl Scout Camp Daybreak on more than 100 acres of land two miles northeast of North Liberty adjacent to Coralville Lake. The Girl Scouts used the area until a 1990 fire destroyed their lodge. The land has remained in federal custody under the U.S. Corps of Engineers. An Army Corps of Engineers spokesman has said the MYCA has the right to start camping on the site immediately but must receive local, county or state permits before it can build. Although MYCA is a Muslim-based organization, the camp would be open to children of all faiths, representatives from the group have said. Under the lease, non-profit groups can use the federal land intermittently during the non-camping season, with a total of about 1,500 people a year. Terese Lisenbee, who lives near the proposed camp along Cumberland Ridge Road, said she does not have any problems with the camp as long as it adheres to the size set out in the lease. "The only concern that I think my husband and I have had is once they lease the land ... they'll try to expand it to a larger campus than what the specs were supposed to be," Lisenbee said. "We wanted to keep it more like a camp setting similar to what the (Girl Scout) kids were in." Questions about sewage and infrastructure improvements on the site remain. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is responsible for issuing a wastewater permit to MYCA. Chuck Corell of the DNR's water quality bureau was out of the office Thursday and unavailable for comment. Johnson County planning and zoning administrator Rick Dvorak also was out of the office Thursday, but assistant administrator RJ Moore said MYCA seems to be meeting prior concerns expressed by the county. "I think Rick feels that they're moving in a direction that the county can feel comfortable with," Moore said.
Front Page Magazine took a look at some of the fine folks involved with this project: Camp Terror | |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #21 Let's see if the ACLU files a lawsuit to allow gays to be part of the "pack". |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-03-24 22:55 |
| #20 hmmmmm maybe the camp funds will dry up in the next round of seizures |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-03-24 20:22 |
| #19 If they teach the Koran, it's a madrassa. And if children of other religions are allowed, it's for conversion. I'm sure little Johnny will be REQUIRED to pray 5 times a day and learn the texts, not just encouraged. I'd look into the camp rules before I extended that lease. Dhimmies. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-03-24 19:38 |
| #18 In related news, virgin futures are up on the Iowa Commodity Exchange. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-03-24 19:20 |
| #17 "Build it (Madrassas in this case) and they will come!" |
| Posted by: borgboy 2006-03-24 17:33 |
| #16 Get 'em Zen! |
| Posted by: 6 2006-03-24 17:15 |
| #15 Clever, Zenster. RWV, my experience with Iowa City folks (factory, not university) was that they were very independent yeoman farmer types, exceedingly pro-active, and very clear in their minds what needs to be done and when/how to accomplish it. Whatever tests I needed done on my experimental products during test runs were done and the results handed to me by the time I'd got myself organized to initiate things. A pleasure to work with, once I figured out they meant Hawks, not hawgs. (I still don't know who they are, but it became clear we weren't discussing livestock.) ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-03-24 16:32 |
| #14 Bravo! Bravo! ENCORE!! |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-03-24 16:24 |
| #13 All Hail Zenster. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2006-03-24 16:04 |
| #12 Iowa has been hosed up for some time. This is just one more folly in a long line of politically correct abominations. To whit, the current governor, Tom Vilsack, has been actively recruiting illegal Mexican labor for the meat packing plants (they also vote Democrat whether they know it or not) and has signed a deal with Illinois to settle parolees from Joliet in the suburbs of Iowa City. The folks in Iowa City are not too happy about the results of either initiative. My brother, who lives in North Liberty, has been talking about this for some time. While no one (outside of the University) thinks it is a good idea, the politically correct power structure can't bring itself to say no. My guess is that the camp will experience a series of accidents and fires during the construction phase. Would be jihadis should be aware that most Iowans outside of the PC bastions around the university are armed and can return fire quickly and accurately. |
| Posted by: RWV 2006-03-24 16:00 |
| #11 With apologies to Allen Sherman (Sung to the tune of "Camp Granada") Camp Jihada Hello mullah, hello muttawa Here I am at, Camp Jihada Camp is pious, IÂ’m just saying And they say weÂ’ll have some fun once weÂ’re done praying I went biking with Ali Balbeks And his backpack was full of Semtex You remember Hakeem Heyder He got lashes for not eating all his dinner All the Shiites hate the Sunnis And they both think, the Kurds are loonies The mullah wants no, Omar Khyams So he reads to us from something called the Koran Now I donÂ’t want, this should scare ya But the imams are preaching terror You remember Jibril Wazi Now he wants to go and be a kamikaze Take me home, oh Madaar Pedar Take me home, I hate Jihada DonÂ’t leave me out in, Sadr City Where I might get blown to pieces, itty bitty Take me home, I promise I will be holy Thinking pure thoughts, only them solely The imam forbids me to say IÂ’ve been here one whole day Dearest Pedar, darling Madaar HowÂ’s my precious baraadar? Let me come home, if you miss me I would even let Aunt Sophie hug and kiss me Wait a minute, theyÂ’ve stopped praying Try this vest on, the mullahÂ’s saying Seventy virgins, gee thatÂ’s better Madaar Pedar, kindly disregard this letter. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-03-24 15:52 |
| #10 This camp is also not far from the nuclear plant in the outskirts of Cedar Rapids and about 3 1/2 hours from Chicago. A starving student document forger was arrested in CR after having shared an apartment with a 9-1-1 hijacker in Chicago previously, but he apparently chirped. Is there any connection to the group scouting out sites for camps in Oregon? |
| Posted by: Danielle 2006-03-24 13:02 |
| #9 This reminds me of http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/religdisc/boyscouts.pdf |
| Posted by: pihkalbadger 2006-03-24 12:30 |
| #8 I happen to know that that very area is over run with deer. Jeez, hope there's no hunting accidents out there. |
| Posted by: SOP35/Rat 2006-03-24 12:08 |
| #7 Besides which, we aren't going to get rid of every Muslim in the world, we're only going to defang the dangerous ones. We need to be prepared to live with those who survive in a civilized fashion. We should be constantly sending the message, living in peace can be good, living at war will be hell. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-03-24 10:55 |
| #6 Although MYCA is a Muslim-based organization, the camp would be open to children of all faiths, representatives from the group have said. Sure, how else will the campers earn their raping and beheading badges? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-03-24 10:52 |
| #5 Ahem, let's not go making threats about bodily harm to folks in the U.S. That could (conceivably) get the 'Burg (and Fred) into some trouble, and we don't want that. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2006-03-24 10:46 |
| #4 should be |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-03-24 10:35 |
| #3 Ya'll see, these phucktards don't yet know who the enemy is. This calls for some serious |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-03-24 10:33 |
| #2 Jihadi Scouts? |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-03-24 10:20 |
| #1 Hat tip to Annon in another post for this story. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-03-24 09:31 |