Muslims in Pompano Beach, Florida, who want to build a new mosque in a black neighborhood for a growing existing congregation, are facing a lawsuit from a man who says the facility would present “substantial harm to the well-being, safety and health of the community.”
Last year, the city approved a zoning change to allow for construction of a new mosque and school at 1501 NW 16th Avenue, a site near Antioch Missionary Baptist Church and the World Wide Christian Center.
The lawsuit to try and stop the construction has been more than a year in the making by people from those two churches, according to officials with the South Florida Chapter on American-Islamic Relations.
Though he has not been served with his organization’s copy of the lawsuit filed by Antioch Missionary Baptist member Rodney Wright, Altaf Ali, executive director of the South Florida chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, said in court the Muslims will defend their right to build a new mosque. The Islamic Center, the CAIR and CAIR Florida Inc. are named as defendants in the lawsuit filed last week.
“Imagine what this country would be like if we all were of one religion. It would be boring,” Ali told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “Freedom of religion is one of the great things about America.”
But the man who said he engineered the lawsuit, Rev. O’Neal Dozier, pastor of the World Wide Christian Center, said the action has nothing to do with religion.
“The press wants to make this story something else other than what it is,” Dozier told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “This is a homeland security issue.”
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He said the current mosque is located in a “white” beach community and the proposed new location would be in a black community near one of the largest prisons in Broward County.
“The last thing we need," Dozier said, "is to have our young black males and women being indoctrinated in the ways of al-Qaida and Hamas."
Ali admits that there are some “fanatic” Muslims. “But Muslims are peaceful people,” he countered.
Dozier claims he has been personally criticized for his stand. “I have been called a bigot and a racist," he said. "How can I be that? I am a black man, 58. I have endured some things in this country.”
The lawsuit claims the leader of the mosque, Imam Hassan Sabri, has repeatedly been associated with others who are tied to terrorist groups including Hamas, al-Qaida and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The connections outlined in the filing appear loose, and there is no accusation of direct wrongdoing.
Sabri has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing, and neither he nor his mosque have been the target of any publicized investigation.
Wright is being represented by attorney Larry Klayman, who also is founder of the conservative group Judicial Watch.
Klayman maintains that the lawsuit does not amount to an anti-Muslim action and says that the mosque sacrificed public safety.
"The mosque is radical, the imam is radical," Klayman said. "We believe they will go out and recruit people in the African-American community to do their bidding."
Klayman also has brought cases against Dick Cheney, Osama bin Laden, Fidel Castro and the Teamsters, as well as his own mother.
Ali said blacks and Muslims in the Pompano Beach community have had a good relationship. The Islamic Center of South Florida has been in Pompano Beach, about 30 miles north of Miami, for more than 20 years
“We have talked with blacks in the community," said Ali. "They say if we are going to provide a benefit to the community, 'Come on.'"
