I am on the mosque by me's website now.
I don't see any holiday events listed; but there are a lot of night classes, programs, committee meetings and it seems summer school programs are starting for camp.
I wonder if this is why?
Posted on Fri, May. 21, 2004
Shiites Rally Across Mideast Against U.S.
HUSSEIN DAKROUB
Associated Press
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims demonstrated in Beirut Friday to warn the United States against attacking holy sites in Iraq. Smaller groups rallied in three other Mideast nations, with protesters in Bahrain clashing with police.
Wearing white shrouds symbolizing their readiness to die in defense of the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, more than 200,000 protesters marched through Beirut's suburbs. Many chanted "death to America, death to Israel."
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah accused U.S. forces of desecrating holy shrines in Iraq, and called on Muslims to fight to the death for the two Iraqi cities. Hezbollah fought an 18-year guerrilla war that led to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
"Let the Americans understand that those who wore shrouds today, including clerics, men, women, children and adults, did not come to show off," Nasrallah said. "We will not abandon our religious duty. Today's march is a step on the road to defending the holy sites."
Shiite Muslim communities in Lebanon, Iran and Bahrain have been outraged by continued fighting in Karbala and Najaf, which are home to shrines that are among the most sacred in Shia Islam.
In Manama, Bahrain, police fired tear gas to disperse about 5,000 demonstrators, but the angry crowd broke through the police blockade and continued its march to protest the fighting in Karbala and Najaf, shouting, "Death to America!"
"Our shrines are our lives. Leave them alone!" one banner read.
The nearly two-mile march had been approved by security authorities, but police tried to stop the demonstrators halfway through, but protesters kept on moving and turned over an empty police car and set it on fire.
Bahrain's king Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa fired his interior minister, saying the march should have been allowed to go on. A royal decree replaced Interior Minister Sheik Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa with Gen. Rashed bin Abdallah bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa.
"What happened between the police and the protesters didn't please us," the royal statement said. It said citizens had the right to protest against "the violation of the holy cities and what happened in Iraqi prisons" - a reference to the physical and sexual abuse of Iraqi detainees.
In Tehran Iran, police shoved an advancing crowd, beating them with sticks, as about 200 protesters outside the British Embassy threw stones and firecrackers, demanding the embassy be closed and the ambassador expelled. "Down with Israel, UK, USA," read a banner.
In Amman, Jordan, around 1,000 worshippers held a one-hour sit-in in front of al-Husseini Mosque to protest Arab silence on Israel's recent incursion into the Gaza Strip that left at least 40 Palestinians dead.
The protesters carried red and green Jordanian and Palestinian flags. They shouted the battle cry of "Allah Akbar," or God is great, and "America is the head of the snake."
The U.S. military has said it is doing its best to avoid damage to the shrines in Iraq. In fighting last week, the Imam Ali mosque received four holes in its golden dome, and both sides blamed each other for the damage. The mosque is the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, who is revered by Shiites.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/world/8727252.htm
I looked on their website Calpernia, and read their newsletter for the month also. No special events.
As a matter of fact, the few things they have scheduled regularly for Fridays (Arabic lessons, lessons on how to prey and read the quran) have been temporarily suspended.