DAR AL ISLAM-ITALY: MOSLEMS GET WHATEVER THEY WANT DESPITE PEOPLES PROTESTS

Muslims victimised over mosque plan
By Malcolm Moore in Colle di Val d'Elsa
Last Updated: 12:19am GMT 01/01/2007

One of Tuscany's oldest and most idyllic hill-top towns is in turmoil over the building of a large mosque, with a golden dome and an illuminated glass minaret.

For 20 years, the 14,000 residents of Colle di Val d'Elsa have had a community of around 300 Muslims living among them.

A small Islamic cultural centre was established years ago, but the atmosphere of peaceful cohabitation has turned sour after proposals for a much bigger centre incorporating a mosque.

A severed pig's head was left outside the gates of the site, where work has begun. Anti-Muslim graffiti has appeared on walls and local Muslims have been pelted with sausages.

Last weekend, 500 people, many of them fascists from a group called Forza Nuova (New Force), staged a protest.

"The things that have been happening are very wrong, and out of character for the town," said Paolo Brogioni, the mayor of Colle, whose Muslim community now does not venture out on to the cobbled streets. Colle di Val d'Elsa lies in the hills of Chianti. The plan is for a 5,500 sq ft mosque, with space for 700 worshippers and a library, to serve Muslims from across Tuscany.
The building would be surrounded by a portico and gardens containing a fountain and a palm tree.

The foundations had been laid and the building should be completed by February, said Aurelio Fischetti, the engineer in charge of construction.

Monte dei Paschi, a Siena bank, is paying £335,000 of the £700,000 cost, with the rest being privately raised.

Rosa Ciliano, a spokesman for the local imam, Feras Jabareen, said the building was "not a mosque". She said: "It is a cultural centre, with a mosque attached. Lately, the current centre has been full and there have been people out in the street."

But Massimo Bertinelli, a campaigner against the project, said: "If you go into their current mosque on a Friday there are often just three or four people there." The protesters say they have gathered two petitions for a referendum on the mosque, but both were rejected.


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