City of Dearborn asked to close on Muslim holidays

AP ^ | 4.15.04

[ambrose]

City of Dearborn asked to close on Muslim holidays

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Good Friday and Christmas are city holidays. Now, with a large Muslim population living in Dearborn, local leaders of the faith are asking: Why not shut down for our holidays as well?

The western Detroit suburb of 88,000 has been a magnet for immigrants from the Mideast for decades and has one of the nation's largest concentration of Arabs.

Nearly 40 percent of Dearborn public school students are Muslim. The city also serves as a cultural and religious center for the estimated 300,000 members of the Arab-American community in southeastern Michigan.

The two major Muslims holidays in question are Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the monthlong Ramadan fast, and Eid al-Adha, which marks the annual completion of the pilgrimage to Mecca. The dates of the holidays change each year because they are determined by a lunar calendar.

"You do have a large Arab-American population in the city of Dearborn, and it is time for people of the Muslim faith to feel equally important," said Ahmed Chebbani, chairman of the American-Arab Chamber of Commerce.

The American Muslim Society on April 6 asked the City Council to make both days city holidays. The council referred the request to the city's legal department. Each of the Muslim holidays last for several days.

One city councilman expressed doubt.

"The city of Dearborn will follow the state and federal holiday calendar, and until that changes, that's where I stand," Thomas Tafelski said.

[ambrose]

ping.

[lilylangtree]

Yikes! Islamics have their ugly foothold in Michigan.

[Mark17]

I was about to ping you, when I saw you posted the article. LOL. Isn't this about typical of the religion of death, er, I mean the religion of peace? How politically incorrect of me to make a Freudian slip.

[TonyWojo]

There are celebrations all over the country for Cinco de Mayo, but the governments do not shut down.

[Guillermo]

They won't be happy until every American male is bowing down to Mecca 5 times a day and every woman is in a full length abayya and veil.

[Old Professer]

They commit suicide with bombs, we do it with indifference.

[Rummyfan]

What's going on in Michigan? First a mosque in Hamtramck wants to broadcast the daily prayer calls over loudspeakers and now this!

[Pikamax]

"The two major Muslims holidays in question are Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the monthlong Ramadan fast, and Eid al-Adha, which marks the annual completion of the pilgrimage to Mecca. The dates of the holidays change each year because they are determined by a lunar calendar. "

BS, no muslim stops from work or close their businesses on either of these days as I can remember. This is someone just trying to be a moron.

[Mark17]

They won't be happy until every American male is bowing down to Mecca 5 times a day and every woman is in a full length abayya and veil.

This came from another thread about Canada making the Bible hate speech, but I will bow to Mecca, and give up my Bible when they pry it from my cold dead left hand, while they pry my gun from my cold dead right hand.

[thackney]

"more proof Michigan sucks" ping

Don't flame this Buckeye too much
real school rivals involve burning cars

[Diogenesis]

First, Islamic law and .... THEN .... NEW CANADA

[BadAndy]

Lots of places are afflicted with the Islamo-cancer. These SOBs have alot of nerve asking for anything from the US.

[KellyAdmirer]

President Bush, please make preparations to send the 101st Airborne to Dearborn next.

[BohDaThone]

"The city of Dearborn will follow the state and federal holiday calendar, and until that changes, that's where I stand," Thomas Tafelski said.

Cities with a lot of Jews as students or teachers sometime close on Yom Kippur, on the grounds that lots of people would be absent anyway. Some cities close on Good Friday afternoon for the same reason, and have defeated court challenges, with the courts saying that the city is not following a religion, it is just making a practical accomodation for absences. If the facts in this case are similar, I see nothing intrinsically wrong with it.

[bluejean]

Oh crap. I can see it now. The city refuses to kiss arab butt, which gets all the their respective undies in a knot, which gets them out in the streets protesting their 'rights' and the 'wrongs' we've done agin 'em, and then they're raising hell in every 'burb and suburb across America, dammit. Only a matter of time now before they're blackmailing us right and left in our own backyards. God help us.

[simply marvelous]

Exactly, York University(where I attend) gives us Jewish holidays off because of the substantial Jewish population. I don't really see anything wrong with it, in my case it's pretty advantageous because it gives us extra study times for exams.

[johnb838]

"The city of Dearborn will follow the state and federal holiday calendar, and until that changes, that's where I stand," Thomas Tafelski said.

Thomas Tafelski better watch it unless he wants to spark a backlash from the Religion of Peace^tm

[spodefly]

Nuke Dearborn!!!

Sorry ... got a little carried away there.

[KellyAdmirer]

Each of the Muslim holidays last for several days.

Maybe this is one of the reasons the Muslim countries have such a difficult time getting past Medieval times. Now they want to bring their wonderful culture here. I don't think so.