CAIR-Philly, Islamic Leaders to Issue Call for Interfaith Unity
(PHILADELPHIA, PA, 11/18/05) On Monday, November 21, representatives of the Philadelphia office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Philly) and the Lehigh Valley Muslim community will hold a news conference in Whitehall, PA., to call for interfaith unity after some voters objected to using a local mosque as a polling station.
At the news conference, CAIR-Philly and the Muslim leaders will urge people of all faiths to visit area mosques to learn more about Islam and the state’s Islamic community. They will also ask Pennsylvania’s elected officials to reject attempts to marginalize or demonize Muslims.
WHAT: Muslims Respond to Objections Over Voting in Mosque
WHEN: Monday, November 21, 11:30 a.m.
WHERE: Muslim Association of Lehigh Valley, 1988 Schadt Avenue, Whitehall, PA
MALV: Dr. Mohamed Bugaighis, mbugaighis@verizon.net
This year, the Lehigh County Election Board selected the Muslim Association of Lehigh Valley (MALV) mosque as the polling place for the newly created 12th District. (SEE: www.malv.org/ ) The mosque was one of some 58 religious sites selected as polling places.
According to media reports, at least 70 people complained about voting in the MALV mosque, including one with a daughter serving in Iraq who found it “offensive to come to an Islamic center to vote.”
FOR BACKGROUND, SEE: “Pennsylvania Voters Don’t Want to Vote at Mosque”
http://www.wdcmedia.com/newsArticle.php?ID=252
SEE ALSO: “Whitehall Bigots Don’t Like to Vote in the Mosque”
http://www.mcall.com/news/columnists/all-5whitehall.4943342nov13,0,4680840.column
MALV has been making positive contributions to Lehigh Valley since the mid-1990s and is a co-sponsor of the recent fatwa against terrorism and religious extremism issued by the Fiqh Council of North America. SEE: http://www.cair.com/FatwaJuly2005.pdf
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