MAS Victory in Protecting
the Right to Build Islamic Center
In
what has been described as a major victory for religious
freedom and civil rights, the Muslim American Society and
its Freedom Foundation have assisted the Islamic Society
of Boston in achieving a major victory and settling a four-year
legal battle which attempted to stop the building of the
largest Islamic center on the East coast.
The Islamic Society of Boston's Cultural Center, which is
being constructed in the Roxbury section of Boston, had
been under a multi-level campaign of negative reporting
and disinformation. These efforts resulted in a lawsuit
initiated by the David Project, and filed by James Policastro.
The lawsuit sought to stop the completion of the Islamic
center. Consequently, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the
ISB against the David Project, Inc., Citizens for Peace
and Tolerance and other related defendants. Today, the Muslim
American Society, America's largest grassroots Muslim organization,
announced that the ISB, the David Project, Inc., and Citizens
for Peace and Tolerance, have ended all litigations against
each other including James Policastro's suit against the
Boston Redevelopment Authority, Roxbury Community College
and the Islamic Society of Boston.
MAS and its Freedom Foundation was instrumental in bringing
together various religious communities in the Boston area
and developing an outreach strategy that focused on embracing
diversity and fostering mutual respect and trust. "As
MAS, we were able to overcome tremendous efforts and resources
that had been expended towards stopping the construction
of the mosque. I think that this settlement is indicative
of the fact that we achieved our overall goals of protecting
religious freedom and Muslim's civil rights by providing
factual information about the ISB, and Muslim houses of
worship, reducing tensions between various communities,
and complying with the express wishes of the Boston's Mayor
Thomas M. Menino, for all sides to come to some type of
negotiated settlement", stated M. Bilal Kaleem. The
settlement prevents any further legal action by the defendants
to stopping the building of the mosque and re-affirms MAS'
basic principle for the respect and sanctity of all houses
of worship. The construction of the mosque is ongoing, and
on June 9 there will be a special celebration for the capping
of the minaret (top most portion).
MAS outreach efforts on behalf of the ISB settlement was
supported by a diverse coalition which included the Jewish
Workman's Circle, Father Helmick (a specialist in conflict
resolution) American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,
Tekiah, the Boston Tikkun Community, Community Change, Inc.,
The Diocese of St. Francis of Assisi, the Massachusetts
Chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement,
the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild,
United for Justice and Peace, Cambridge United for Justice
and Peace, Clarendon Church and Dorchester People for Peace,
and The Muslim Public Affairs Council.
The new ISB Cultural Center will provide a place of worship
to the ever-expanding Muslim population in the area, and
serve as an educational resource to universities and other
educational institutions. Additionally, the mosque will
house an inter-religious center that will focus on interfaith
dialog, research and positive engagement between diverse
faith traditions.
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