OT:Religious Schools

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This story from the New York Times may be of interest to you.
-SJW

Islam School Ruffles Virginia Town
Filed at 1:29 p.m. EST
By The Associated Press

ASHBURN VILLAGE, Va. (AP) -- Plans by Saudi Arabia to turn a sod farm
into an Islamic school's campus have this quiet, fast-growing
community buzzing with improbable rumors -- and county officials
facing political and personal threats. 

One couple is afraid that bullets fired by terrorists from within the
compound would kill local children. A woman is positive the students
will grow into terrorists. An unsigned flier warns that Middle Eastern
strangers will roam the streets while real Virginians are away at work. 

Beyond the rumors, the furor over the proposed $75 million,
3,500-student school has split Ashburn Village, a mostly white
professional bedroom community 35 miles northwest of Washington.
Supporters say religious freedom should be respected. Opponents
contend the school will be controlled by an ``oppressive foreign
government.'' 

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors votes Wednesday on whether to
allow construction. 

``We want to be good neighbors, and the school is going to be
beneficial to the local community,'' said Nail al-Jubeir, spokesman
for the Saudi Embassy in Washington. 

``People don't understand. They haven't met a lot of Muslims in their
life. It's really sad,'' said Kathryn Kern-Levine, who has urged
Ashburn residents to display a Muslim star and crescent in their
windows to welcome the school. 

But Sandra Elam, leader of the opposition group Concerned About
Loudoun's Future, insists opposition is not about religion but is in
essence a boycott of the Saudi government. ``I'd feel the same way if
it were the communist Chinese government coming in here and saying we
want to put in an atheist facility to train everyone to be an
atheist,'' she said. 

The controversy began last fall when plans were announced to build the
Islamic Saudi Academy. The school's Saudi backers settled on Loudoun
County after scrapping plans for a campus in Poolesville, Md., which
met heavy resistance in part because of opposition to growth and
zoning. The ensuing debate led to charges of bigotry and cultural
intolerance as well. 

The Virginia announcement triggered a flurry of complaints, letters to
the editor of the local newspaper, sermons, rumors and a deluge of
letters to the county's planning department. 

``This has been one of the nastiest issues we have ever dealt with,''
said Joan Rokus, a county supervisor. ``There have been threats of
life and to re-election.'' 

In December, an anonymous flier appeared on doorsteps, warning
residents that the school would bring in ``foreigners from Muslim
Terrorist Countries'' and that ``thousands of Middle Eastern strangers
(will roam) our streets while we work.'' 

William and Annette Groves, who oppose the ``Saudi Arabian invasion,''
wrote to county officials that they didn't want to be ``exposed to the
possible terrorism danger of having a Muslim and Saudi target in our
backyards. ... Bullets fired by terrorists from within the Saudi
training center could reach and kill Loudoun children.'' 

The Rev. James Ahlemann, who opposes the school and has addressed the
issue in his sermons, said he is concerned about who is building and
paying for the school. 

``Saudi Arabia persecutes and imprisons and kills Christians, Jews and
people of other faiths, and I don't think that a country that is doing
that ought to have favored status and have the right to build here in
the United States,'' Ahlemann said. 

``It's a sanctity-of-life issue for me, just like abortion, because
Saudi Arabia is killing people for their faith,'' he said. 

His words have had an impact in Ashburn Village. 

Kern-Levine, the school supporter, said she attended an Ahlemann
sermon. Afterward, she said, three of the pastor's parishioners came
to her and ``started trying to tell me that the Koran (Islam's holy
book) is an evil book. ... It was just ugly.'' 

A recent State Department report on human rights in Saudi Arabia lists
several abuses, including limits on the freedom of speech and the
press. But it said it had no reports of government action against
private non-Mulsim religious services last year and made no mention of
indiscriminate killing of non-Muslims. 

A growing Muslim community in the Washington area, estimated at
200,000, has turned increasingly in recent years to private Islamic
schools to educate their children. About 1,300 attend the existing
Saudi school, in nearby Fairfax County, with almost 1,000 on a waiting
list. 

Under the Loudoun County proposal, the 1 million-square-foot school
complex would resemble a small college campus. The main building would
have a dome, a minaret and separate classes for boys and girls after
grade 5. Students are expected to pay a fee of $900 a year. 

Non-Muslims who enroll will be required to attend classes on the
Arabic language and Islamic studies but will be exempted from daily
noon prayers. 

Anthony Nozzoli, the school's project manager, said that in response
to local sentiment, the school has decided to do away with arched
windows, which some fear would clash with the local architecture; a
pop-up security barrier; and an 800-student dormitory. Students will
commute in buses. 

He said the school also will contribute generously to local fire and
rescue squads, accept at least 200 local students to decrease the
burden on area schools and build athletic facilities for the community. 
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