A state judge ruled that the construction of a controversial mosque in Sheepshead Bay can move forward shortly after a lawyer for the developer hinted that opponents of the plan are terrorists – citing inflammatory graffiti cheering the death of Osama bin Laden at the mosque site.

On Tuesday, Judge Mark Partnow dismissed a lawsuit filed by the anti-mosque organization Bay People and neighbors of the as-of-right project on Voorhies Avenue between E. 28th and E. 29th streets, ruling that the mosque wouldn’t adversely effect the neighborhood.

The ruling came shortly after the lawyer for mosque builder Ahmed Allowey accused opponents of the plan of acting like racist terrorists. “This is entirely motivated by racism,” said attorney Lamis Deek. “[The Bay People] has forced my client to expend his resources for no good cause and terrorize people with the vitriolic rallies that they hold.”

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Sheepshead Bay mosque critics say it will lead to problems with traffic, parking and noise

Protesters who want to stop the construction of a mosque in Brooklyn’s Sheepshead Bay are bringing their case to court on Tuesday, the latest in a series of such disputes across America.

The nation founded on the principle of freedom of religious worship is seeing disputes from Tennessee to New York’s Staten Island, as Muslims wishing to build places of worship run into opposition – almost 10 years after the 9/11 attacks. The most high profile case was the Islamic centre to be built close to Ground Zero in Manhattan – now it’s the turn of what critics call the Brooklyn “mega-mosque”.

Opponents of the Sheepshead Bay development – who include blogger Pamela Geller, an influential critic of Islam – say it will dramatically alter the quality of life in a quiet, residential neighbourhood. Traffic, parking difficulties and the noise of the call to prayer will be disruptive, says the group suing to stop the construction, called Bay People. “The neighbourhood residents are mostly of Italian/Russian/Jewish/Irish descent and will not benefit from having a mosque and a Muslim community centre,” the Bay People website states.

But others accuse the group of a thinly-veiled anti-Muslim agenda.”They are using traffic and noise as this smokescreen for their bigoted agenda against the Muslim community establishing a mosque in Sheepshead Bay,” says Debbie Almontaser of the Muslim Consultative Network, a group advising Sheepshead Bay Muslims.

Ill-feeling has been further stirred by the death of Osama Bin Laden. While the Obama administration has taken pains to assert that Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader and that America’s war is “not against Islam”, a number of public expressions of anti-Muslim sentiment have since occurred around the US.

Almontaser says that since Bin Laden’s killing, the walls of the Sheepshead Bay property have been vandalised with graffiti that says “He is dead”.

BBC News, 10 May 2011

‘Ground Zero mosque’ opponents demonstrate in August 2010

As potential GOP candidates jockey to distinguish themselves heading into primary season, there seems to be at least one issue on which they widely agree: Sharia law is a continuing threat to the United States.

Invoking Sharia and casting it as a growing danger at odds with American principles has become a rallying cry for conservatives. It’s also quickly becoming an unlikely pet issue among 2012 presidential contenders: Potential candidates have almost unilaterally assailed the Islamic code, making it as much a staple of the campaign stump speech as economic reform, job creation and rising gas prices.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann responded to Osama bin Laden’s death not just by praising the U.S. military. She used the news to remind her followers about a threat she considers alive and well.

“A time to express our deepest gratitude to the U.S. military for taking out Osama bin Laden,” Bachmann tweeted. Expanding on her tweet on Facebook, she wrote, “Osama bin Laden dead! May this be the beginning of the end of Sharia-compliant terrorism.”

While the Al Qaeda leader’s death provides a fresh opportunity to target the Islamic code, Republican presidential candidates have had Sharia in their cross hairs for months.

“Creeping Sharia is a huge issue here in the United States,” former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum told POLITICO. Sharia represents an “existential threat to America,” Santorum said during a foreign policy speech several weeks ago. “The enemy is motivated by an interpretation of Islam, Sharia, that is antithetical to American civilization.”

“Even immediately after Sept. 11, we didn’t see this kind of hatred mainstream in our society,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “There seems to be a coordinated effort to both marginalize American Muslims and demonize Islam.”

Politico, 10 May 2011

See also Adam Serwer, “Creeping sharia law becomes an issue in 2012 GOP primary”, The Plum Line, 10 May 2011