A promising development, but there are many other questions about this mosque. From the Boston Globe, with thanks to Twostellas:
The Islamic Society of Boston, under pressure from groups including the Anti-Defamation League, publicly distanced itself yesterday from a trustee and treasurer accused of writing “virulently anti-Semitic” newspaper articles.
In a letter to Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the group said it has appointed a board of directors to propose a new governance structure and apologized for failing to condemn the offensive remarks sooner.
The trustee, Dr. Walid Fitaihi, was the author of an article in an Arabic-language newspaper that called Jews “murderers of prophets.” He also wrote that Jews would be punished for their “oppression, murder, and rape of the worshipers of Allah,” according to English translations. Fitaihi remains on the board of trustees, which oversees the group’s real estate assets.
The society is building a $22 million mosque and cultural center in Roxbury, on land sold by the Boston Redevelopment Authority for $175,000.
“We unequivocally condemn all hateful, insensitive, and divisive statements,” the Islamic Society said in its letter. “Furthermore, we have expressed these sentiments to Dr. Fitaihi in writing.”
Of course, another problem is that much of what Fitaihi said comes from the Qur’an: see Suras 2:62-65, 5:59-60, 7:166, 9:30, 98:6, etc. Will the Islamic Society repudiate that anti-Semitism?