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Europe
Mosque ban criminalizes Muslims: Italian groups
2008-12-07
Italy's Muslim leaders and opposition groups expressed outrage on Thursday over a proposal by the anti-immigration party of Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni to freeze the building of new mosques in an effort to curb terrorism.

The Northern League, the main ally of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, suggested the ban after two men were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of planning attacks in and near the northern city of Milan, but groups slammed the call as prejudice.

The Italian Communist Party's immigration expert slammed the Northern League for its "latest attempt to criminalize Muslim citizens who live in Italy."

"Those who equate Islam with terrorism are really pandering to those who want to divide the world in an absurd war of civilization," Maurizio Musolino told the ANSA news agency.

Mario Scialoja, who heads the Italian section of the Muslim World League, said such a law would "create discrimination." "A law that penalizes non-Catholic places of worship would be unconstitutional," he told AFP.

The center-left opposition Democratic Party also rejected the proposal. "It would not be useful, and it is unacceptable," said party spokesman Ermete Realacci. "We are proud to be in a country with freedom of religion, and (banning new mosques) does not seem to be the way to address the problem of terrorism," he told AFP.

"Mosques are Islamic places of peace for social gathering and prayer. We teach Muslims in Italy to respect the land they live in and its laws. A proposal to ban the building of mosques is unacceptable and goes against the Italian constitution," An imam from the Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan, Abu Khalil, told AlArabiya.net.

"Even if the allegations happen to be true, a fair government does not punish 1.2 million Muslims because it fears two people," he said, referring to the arrest of two Moroccan men for alleged terrorist plots.

Vatican
The Vatican, for its part, said "civil society" had a right to determine whether a mosque is in fact being used as such. "On the one hand we need to recognize the legitimacy of the place of worship that is the seat of an authentic spiritual presence," said the Vatican's "culture minister" Gianfranco Ravasi. "But if it becomes something else, indeed civil society has the right to intervene and check," he told reporters.
Count on the Vatican for the correct understanding of the problem. If the Catholic Church used its churches to stockpile weapons and ammo, it could fairly expect civil society to become a mite concerned (and civil society no doubt would, well before it would become concerned about a mosque). That there are enough mosques in the world serving as gathering places for terrorists, dishing up hate literature and spittle, as well as storing weapons, is enough to taint the rest. The 'Muslim World League' would do itself and its members a big favor by jumping on the more truculent Muslims in the world.
Italy is home to some 1.2 million Muslims and counts 258 mosques and 628 Islamic associations, according to the Italian press.
Posted by:Fred

#8  Declare the Muzz criminals. Give them 30 days to leave. They won't, so start giving out hunting tags. When we observe how well and efficiently this works, we copy.
Posted by: Woozle Elmeter 2700   2008-12-07 15:00  

#7  Is this the same Muslim World League to which the Islamic Apartheid Republic of Saudi Arabia has pumped 100 billion into since 1962 to disseminate radical Wahhabi Islamic principles?
Posted by: hammerhead   2008-12-07 14:16  

#6  Weapons depot/firing platforms don't have targeting towers minarets and you don't have to take your shoes off to enter.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2008-12-07 12:13  

#5  So what exactly *is* the difference between a mosque and a weapons depot/firing platform?
Posted by: SteveS   2008-12-07 11:45  

#4  Putin has led the way on this one. Their demands should be clear, that mosques can only be built anywhere in Italy, on an equal basis with Christian churches in Saudi Arabia.

This is brilliant, as it cannot be called persecution of a people, but holding their religion to a non-hypocritical standard. If their religion cannot abide religious freedom for others, it limits it for itself.

When they open their mouth to complain, tell them to complain to the Saudis.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2008-12-07 08:43  

#3  Sorta like Monte Cassino.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2008-12-07 08:07  

#2  To put this in a proper perspective, suppose a Serb extremist group---citing Kosovo as justification---were to carry a series of attacs in Europe...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2008-12-07 06:07  

#1  Sooner or later someone's going to start the Muzzie mass deportation ball rolling. When it happens, that bandwagon is going to become awfully full awfully fast.
Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800   2008-12-07 04:51  

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