Italians See Mosque As "Occupation"

Courtesy Of: IslamOnLine
Mon. Jan. 22, 2007

COLLE DI VAL D'ELSA, Italy — Despite assurances from Muslims and support by the mayor, the construction of a mosque in Italy's honey-colored town of Colle di Val d'Elsa is being strongly opposed by locals, some seeing the Muslim worship place as a symbol of "occupation".

"This is not a big city and we don't know if there will be an invasion of Muslims," Letizia Franceschi, a lawyer who leads the protests against the mosque, told Reuters on Monday, January 22.

"Unfortunately, it is written in all the national newspapers that in many mosques they preach hatred and teach activities that are illegal in our country."

As construction started last month in the town park, a severed pig's head was found outside the mosque site in an apparent mafia-style intimidation effort against the project.

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Locals have set up tents outside the site to protest the mosque constructions, welcoming support from many driving by.

"Yes to integration, No to occupation," said a sign carried by the protesters.

"There's just no need for a big mosque here," said resident Tiziana Cervelli.

"This is a little town."

Opponents of the project complain it takes up too much space in a communal park.

The one-million Muslim minority has been frequently attacked by Italy's rightist opposition.

This month, the anti-immigrant Northern League Senator Roberto Calderoli called for a crackdown on the "strange" and "subversive" activities of Islamic centers.

Politicized:

Mayor Paolo Brogioni defended the mosque constructions.

"The Muslims are just as much residents of the town as any other," said the centre-leftist mayor.

The town has rejected two requests for a referendum on the issue.

"A wall between the two communities is the last thing we want," asserted Brogioni.

The 400-strong Muslim minority in Colle di Val d'Elsa, which lies in the heart of Tuscany, also sought to calm down residents' fears.

"The construction of this mosque has unfortunately become politicized, making it easy to create controversies and accusations," said imam Feras Jabareen.

"Rome has the biggest mosque in Europe -- do people think Muslims come to Rome just because it has the biggest mosque? That's absurd."

Jabareen has tried to show locals that they have nothing to fear, to no avail.

Seeking to temper down the locals' fears, the Muslim minority signed Italy's only existing declaration of cooperation with the town hall.

They also planted a Christmas tree at the mosque site in a goodwill gesture.

The Muslim minority also tried to answer the funding questions front-paged by some local newspapers.

Jabareen said that a quarter of the roughly one million euros needed for the mosque comes from a foundation that controls prominent Tuscan bank Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

The information was confirmed by the bank.

The rest of the funds comes from private sources within the country with nothing from abroad, added the Muslim imam.

Muslims have for years been praying in a small, dark room with Oriental rugs on the floor and pictures of the holy city of Al-Madinah on the walls.

If completed, Colle di Val d'Elsa's mosque will become only the fourth major mosque in Italy.

Italian Interior Minister Minister Giuliano has pushed for tighter control of foreign funds for local mosques.

The United Nations racism envoy warned last year that the European country faced a "disturbing and profound trend of xenophobia".