Islamophobic backlash greets Florida Islamic center
Residents at Palm Beach County hearing raise Muslim birth rates, terrorism and call to prayer as mosque project draws hostility
PALM BEACH, Florida (MNTV) — Plans for an Islamic center and school in Palm Beach County, Florida, have drawn a heated anti-Muslim backlash, in what advocates call part of a wider wave of hostility toward Muslim places of worship across the United States.
Dozens of residents disrupted a county zoning hearing Friday over the proposed center near Delray Beach, raising questions about Muslim birth rates, alleged ties to terrorism and whether the center would broadcast the call to prayer, according to accounts of the meeting.
One speaker asked whether the county could ban the call to prayer; another asked whether officials had investigated possible links to terrorist groups.
The remarks drew applause from parts of the room. A Muslim woman who said she was a convert was booed when she asked whether the reaction would differ for a synagogue or church.
The meeting repeatedly descended into disorder.
County Commissioner Maria Sachs called the behavior “child-like” and threatened to adjourn as residents shouted over one another.
She later argued the deeper problem was the county’s zoning system, under which houses of worship can win administrative approval without a public hearing if they meet existing rules.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil-rights group, says protests against proposed Islamic centers have spread to communities across the country, and that legitimate questions about traffic and zoning are increasingly used as cover for hostility toward Islam.
The climate in Florida has sharpened since late September, when the state designated CAIR a domestic terrorist organization — a move CAIR is challenging in court, and which a judge has partly paused.
CAIR rejects the designation and describes itself as a civil-rights and advocacy organization. Muslim and Palestinian advocates say the episode reflects a broader environment in which religious minorities face growing suspicion.
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