Proposed mosque in Sterling Heights stirs opposition

posted on: Sep 10, 2015

Across the street from a proposed mosque in Sterling Heights, signs make it clear it’s not welcome:

“We don’t want it!!!” and “build it elsewhere!” read some of the placards planted off 15 Mile Road next to an American flag flapping in the summer breeze.

It’s a view shared by some in the city, which has emerged in recent years as a center for a growing Iraqi-American Christian population, known as Chaldeans, Assyrians, or Syriacs. Some of them fled persecution in Iraq at the hands of Islamic extremists, and now worry such extremism is coming to their new home in metro Detroit.

But some Muslims say they have been stereotyped during the debate over the Shia mosque and feel the opposition is rooted in a prejudice against Islam. In recent years, there has been strong opposition to mosques being built across metro Detroit, including in West Bloomfield, Plymouth, Pittsfield Township and Warren.

Tonight , the city’s planning commission is expected to hold a public meeting on the issue and may vote on whether to grant permission for the American Islamic Community Center to build a $3- to $4-million mosque on the site.

The dispute has sparked tensions between some Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims in metro Detroit, leading to a war of words on social media. Problems in the Middle East have added to the tensions, with both sides accusing each other of being extremists like ISIS. Two rallies were held in late August opposing the mosque and another one is planned at City Hall before tonight’s meeting.

But there are also attempts to defuse the tensions. Last week, the head of Chaldean Church in metro Detroit, Bishop Francis Kalabat met with Imam Hassan al-Qazwini, both of Iraqi descent, at the Iraqi Consulate office in Southfield to promote dialogue over the issue. And Steve Spreitzer, president and CEO of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, is calling for greater understanding of Islam, noting the prejudices that some Catholics and Jews faced in the 19th and 20th Centuries when they tried to open their centers in the U.S.

“To draw conclusions about any religion by the behavior of people who have hijacked the religion for political and economic gain, is to miss the bigger picture,” Spreitzer said. “At the heart of Islam is neighborliness.”

At the same time, Spreitzer said he understands why some Chaldeans might have concerns considering what’s happening in Iraq. “The pain, anger and suspicion is grounded in life experience and can’t be dismissed,” he said.

Iraqi-Americans, most of them Christian, make up more than 12% of Sterling Height’s 131,000 residents, according to 2013 Census figures. An intersection near the proposed mosque, 15 Mile and Ryan, is a center of Chaldean life in the area, with Iraqi restaurants, centers, and groceries. A 11,500-square-foot center, the Chaldean Community Foundation, is opening this fall on 15 Mile close to where the proposed mosque would be.

Source: www.freep.com