Weekend News Roundup
Anyone who has lived in Ohio, along I-75, and had to travel north towards Toledo, could not miss the huge mosque, out in the middle of nowhere. It was there when we moved to Findlay, Ohio in 1987. At that time, it must have been quite a sight for anyone traveling the highway, as the minarets could be spotted miles away. The Christian Science Monitor has an article this week about the mosque, it's history and the community.
Just like last week I have ignored articles that I just decided not to include in my post. If you have a complaint - tough! Vagabondblogger gets fed up with the news sometimes, thus leading to total frustration and temporary insanity.
Check out the Weekend News Update - Prelude, from yesterday for a few censored comics and a photo essay on the "Violent Femmes" - the Taliban's effeminate side.
For the full article, please click on the links (as usual.)
The Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, Ohio, has roots going back 75 years has shaped a faith for today.
PERRYSBURG, OHIO - From Interstate 75, the sight is striking: A gleaming white mosque with twin minarets in the classical Islamic style rises out of the Ohio countryside.
One of the accomplishments of the center as it grew over the years has been forging a flourishing community (550 families) from Muslims of 23 nationalities, as well as both Sunnis and Shiites. From the start, people were expected to keep ethnic or sectarian differences out of the mosque.
"We try to knock down this kind of division and to teach mainstream Islam," says Imam Farooq Aboelzahab, an Egyptian trained at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. The imam says he had a lot to learn himself when he arrived in 1998.
"I had to learn from the last imam how to be more open-minded, more flexible, and to compromise on little things and focus on important issues," he adds.
Abandon Stereotypes, Muslims in America Say
The United States must stop treating every American Muslim as somehow suspect, leaders of the faith said at their largest annual convention.
Leaders of American Muslim organizations attribute the growing intolerance to three main factors: global terrorist attacks in the name of Islam, disappointing reports from the Iraq war and the agenda of some supporters of Israel who try taint Islam to undermine the Palestinians.
American Muslims say they expect the attacks to worsen in the presidential election and candidates to criticize Islam in an effort to prove that they are tough on terrorism.
Ex-Diplomat Testifies for Muslim Charity
From 1993 to 1999, Abingdon was consul-general in Jerusalem, and like others he was under orders not to have contact with Hamas.
Abingdon said the Israelis provided intelligence to the CIA, and defense attorney Nancy Hollander asked him if he found the Israeli information reliable. "No," he answered, and she asked why not.
"I feel the Israelis have an agenda ... they provide selective information to try to influence U.S. thinking," he said.
You know what vivi. I was in Toledo last winter for a quick visit. The town is very very small. All they have of the departments store is one branck of Wal mart, 3 Mcdonalds, so funny. I didnt notice any mosque there. I am wondering. The Stigma of islam and terrorism will stay forever. We have to deal with it. The Americans are not the kind of people of recognise the differences between Muslims cultures or nations or regions. The Evil was done to them in the name of Islam, what do you want them to think and how you expect them to react. Just swallow it as the Africal American swalow it racially.
ReplyDeletenice post my dear
Safwat, NY
he & she: The mosque is south of Toledo, literally, in the middle of nowhere, off I-75. Btw, even though Toldeo doesn't have much, they did produce the actor (Lebanese) who played Max Klinger, the cross-dressing soldier in the TV Show "MASH".
ReplyDeleteDid you put the link about getting around censured websites because this is an issue in Egypt? We were offered a mind-boggling package for Riyahd but I just couldn't do the restrictions.
ReplyDeleteLynda: No. I posted it because I used to have a few readers in China, and blogger is now blocked; flickr is blocked in the UAE and I heard somewhere that YouTube is blocked in Turkey. I just posted it for readers who might need it. So far, I have had no problems here.
ReplyDeleteYou know what Vi, there is a small shami community in Toledo ( Syrian, Lebanese) I know few of them( mostly Doctors too). It was my first time to go there. A big jet plane took me to Detroit then I discovered that the plane to Toledo is a 16 passengers, 2 fan engines. It was Sunday right and my first time to ride those kites. The trip for me was horrible i was screaming like a panic child, while the rest of the passengers were all drunk, kept laughing at me. it was horrible 30 minutes. On my way back I took a bus to Detroit. I couldn't make it again. What is really interesting in that Toledo lies on the line of I-80 which starts behind my house in Jersey
ReplyDeletehe & she: If I can drive, I don't fly! I hate puddle jumpers!
ReplyDeleteAs for Toledo - not much there. We went to Toledo once, when we were living in Findlay, OH. I think we went to a mall - it sucked and we never went back.
Get a hot / cool or whatever car and start driving. Road tripping is so much more fun than hopping into a sardine can, tossing your cookies, and then never, ever wanting to get onto a plane again.
Gee. do you want me to go to California driving?
ReplyDeleteHahaha - it would be a start, but you really don't have to go to that extreme. A day trip would fit the bill.
ReplyDelete