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2011-06-28 Home Front: Culture Wars
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E-mails scrutinized in Murfreeboro mosque suit
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A lawyer representing plaintiffs suing Rutherford County to stop construction of a mosque accused the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro of building a "training center" that "may be used as an arsenal for jihad."
"The ICM has sponsored public rallies in support for Hamas in 2009 and 2010," Tom Smith said before Chancellor Robert Corlew III Monday. Smith is a Franklin attorney representing 17 plaintiffs with Murfreesboro attorney Joe Brandon Jr. A rally the ICM staged in 2009 was billed as promoting peace in Gaza at a time when Israel was waging war against Hamas in response to rocket strikes.
The plaintiffs want Corlew to reconsider his May ruling that the plaintiffs weren't harmed by the Rutherford County government's decision to approve the ICM's building plans for a 52,960-square-foot center with a mosque.
Corlew said he would review the arguments before making a decision about his ruling that recognized the ICM's First Amendment right of freedom of religion.
The ruling further defended the congregation's property right to build a mosque on 15 acres zoned for religious meeting place land use.
Defense attorney Josh McCreary advised Corlew to stick by the ruling.
"This is not a zoning case," said McCreary, pointing out that the future mosque is next door to Grace Baptist Church. "This particular piece of land did not need to be rezoned."
The land in question was part of a farm owned by plaintiff Ronald Todd's family. Todd, who attended Monday's hearing, said afterward that he would not have sold the land for the mosque had he known that the buyer would end up selling it to the ICM.
"I like to be a good neighbor when I can, but when the neighbor will not speak to you or look at you, how can you? And they hide from you. They need to clear their image in the news," Todd said.
Plaintiffs' attorney Smith also maintained that Corlew should consider new written testimony from Tim Cummings, president of Dynamic Communications LLC, about his research into the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro's website.
Smith said Cummings found evidence that the ICM's reading list was promoting the writings of two Hamas supporters, Dr. Jamal Badawi and Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
McCreary said Cummings written testimony is hearsay. "It's not admissible," said McCreary, adding that the county has had no chance to cross examine Cummings' testimony. "It's the worst kind of hearsay." 
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Posted by ryuge 2011-06-28 06:29||
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