Militant Islam Monitor > Weblog > Florida Christian Academy files lawsuit charging Muslims with discrimination and intimidation Florida Christian Academy files lawsuit charging Muslims with discrimination and intimidationAugust 11, 2004 MIM: In what possibly could be he first lawsuit of it's kind ,the Kissimmee based Celebration Worship Center and Christian Academy, led by Pastor Lee Wasson, has filed a a lawsuit against a Muslim consortium and The UHF alleging discrimination and a campaign of intimidation intended to force the school and church from from the premises. The Universal Heritage Foundation, is a cynically named Islamist propaganda enterprise under the aegis of the Islamic Circle of North America and the Muslim American Society The UHF is run by Zulfiqar Ali Shah, who was president of the Islamic Circle of North America and the Muslim American Society, two Saudi backed Islamist organisations whose websites carry articles justifying suicide bombings , and advocate Da'wa and Jihad as the means of bringing Islam to the world . The chief clerics of the UHF and MAS are Sheik Yusuf Qaradawi, who ruled that women are obligated to become suicide bombers according to Islam, and Sheik Abdur Rahman Al Sudais who proclaimed on Saudi television that Muslims should "kill all Jews and American worshippers of the cross'. Al Sudais and presidential Ralph Nader were the two slated keynote speakers at the UHF's inaugural conference Both speakers had to 'cancel' their appearences due to the controversy which erupted after Al Sudais's inciteful anti Western and anti Christian and Jewish rhetoric became public. MIM:Background: In December 2003 the Universal Heritage Foundation held an inaugural conference to celebrate the purschase of a "pristine 31 acre campus' located 15 minutes from Disney World. The land used to house a cooking school which had gone bankrupt and also housed the Kissimmee Christian Academy run by pastor Lee Watson. The Academy has now filed a law suit against the property owners named as 'Superstop Petroleum" a consortium owned by Denise and Muhammed Qureshi. The suit alleges that : The Counter Plaintiffs became reasonably and justifiably concerned for their safety and the saftety of student attending the Counter Plaintiff's school, and that Wasson and Celebration have encountered hostility and diiscriminatory treatment against them based on their status of Christians and activity on the premises as a private school and church". -------------------------------------------- For related articles on the UHF,MAS/ICNA, Superstop Petroleum, the Qureshi's, and Zulfiqar Ali Shah see: Florida Trail of Terror: http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=rabinowitz2%2Ehtm -------------------- MAS and ICNA Muslim American Subversives and Islamist Collaborators of North America aim for a United States of Allah: http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/216 ------------------------ MAS/ ICNA Qatar cleric Qaradawi in the UK "If you give terrorists Apache helicopters they won't have to blow themselves up " http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/220 ---------------------------- Maulana Shafayat Mohammed embraces Bin Laden buddies and Militant Islamists (This article contains pictures and information about UHF CEO Zulfiqar Al Shah.) http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/126 ------------------------- Will Of Faith - Christian Academy Fights Back Against Muslim Extremism August 3, 2004 - by William A. Mayer - Editor & Publisher, PipeLineNews.org Osceola County, Florida - PipeLineNews - The great 18th-century conservative political philosopher Edmund Burke said, "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing." Yet, as we near the anniversary of our third year of war against radical Islamic terrorism, thoughtful observers might be struck with daily examples of such moral lassitude - failure to confront evil. We see it in the political sphere, where cheap advantage is sought with the hopes of defeating a political party. In the media, where all pretense of objectivity seems to have been cast aside. In education, where the preaching of diversity-based moral equivalency has already, in large measure, established the de-facto state religion of secular humanism. We even see it in traditional institutions of faith, where heretofore established orthodoxy is overthrown in the name of inclusiveness. So it comes as a relief when one happens upon someone who takes the Burkean charge to heart. One such individual is Lee Wasson. Mr. Wasson is pastor of an evangelical Christian congregation in Osceola County, Florida called Celebration Worship. Over a period of years he and his staff built and operated a church and parochial school - the Kissimmee Christian Academy - which at its peak educated about 140 students. The instruction these children received was exemplary, featuring one of the highest percentages of "graduates-to-college rates in the county " - 100% last year - and a promotion rate that is also among the highest. Celebration Worship had been located on a 6 acre parcel of a larger, 31 acre piece of property which had been owned by David Peoples. Mr. Peoples ran a rather well developed travel and cooking school on the property. Unfortunately, Peoples' school failed and he was forced to file for bankruptcy. Up to that time, Celebration Worship had been operating under the existing contract with Peoples. Celebration had been complying with all of the terms of the lease, including making payments on a timely basis as well as making substantial improvements to the property.
All that changed for the worse on October 1, 2003. Super Stop Petroleum, a corporation owned by a Pakistani, Denise Qureshi, purchased Mr. Peoples' parcel of land in bankruptcy proceedings, thus subsuming Wasson's lease. Shortly after the purchase of the property, Super Stop allowed a Muslim consortium to take possession of the part not leased by Wasson's church/school complex. This included all of the buildings that Mr. Peoples' enterprise had occupied. The Muslim group was headed by a known Islamist – Zulfiqar Ali Shah – and was allowed by Super Stop to act as its agent, essentially becoming Celebration's landlord. Mr. Shah and his minions incorporated the group as a 501c3 tax-exempt organization, naming it the Universal Heritage Foundation [UHF.] Shah and other individuals associated with UHF have professed adherence to radical religious beliefs and have a long history of making, sometimes shockingly, intemperate remarks:
"Either the best Muslim will get power, or the worst Kaffir ["worst infidel" - etymology – North African word, essentially the same as nigger, not so surprising given the North African Arabs' track record with regard to the slave trade]. Allah has created us as the Khaleefah [leaders] and we do not know Biology, Chemistry, Geology, when the Muslims knew those sciences they rules those lands and controlled them. We need to learn these sciences then we know how to control this earth. Rasool (S) struggled for 13 years, he was tortured abused, made sacrifices, even lost his uncle. Victory will not come sitting down. We need to prepare ourselves in all aspects." - Zulfiqar Ali Shah from remarks on the "History of Islam" prepared for the consumption of young Muslims. UHF's stated purpose was to further the religious and educational training of Muslims and to present to the community in general, the peaceful side of Islam. UHF, as part of its marketing plan organized an inaugural event – "Islam for Humanity" – showcased to be touchy-feely and Christian friendly. As the event neared it became clear that the speakers chosen for it represented some of the worst examples of Islamist theology:
The firestorm that erupted when the list of participants became public knowledge forced UHF to remove Wahaj from the speaker's list. Not so surprisingly, Siddiqui not only remained part of the event but he currently sits on UHF's board of directors. Because of the controversy, the event had to be relocated and eventually concluded with a disastrous amount of almost universally negative press. Belying its loftily stated goals of accommodation, UHF immediately upon being given de-facto status as Wasson's landlord, instituted a program of harassment against Celebration Worship. UHF violated the existing lease, cut off water and power and also undertook a campaign of psychological terror that resulted in Celebration being denied its right to enjoy the use of its facility. Super Stop engaged in similar tactics, which in short course led to Celebration Worship being constructively evicted from the property. Wasson has since obtained other facilities and is once again providing a place of Christian worship and education for his parishioners. To his credit Wasson is fighting back against those who drove his small flock from its previous location. The law firm of Brown, Garganese, Weiss & D'Agresta, PA. was retained by Wasson and they have just filed a 4 count complaint, naming Super Stop Petroleum as defendant. The complaint will allege that:
The suit states that Super Stop granted UHF permission to act as its agent with regard to Celebration and that UHF then violated the existing lease in numerous ways. Super Stop's de-facto granting to UHF the authority to act as its agent, makes Super Stop responsible for actions taken - in that regard - by UHF:
The firm will also claim that for their part, Super Stop Petroleum:
Celebration is asking compensation for all recoverable compensatory as well as consequential damages, which could amount to a judgment of several million dollars against Super Stop. Celebration also seeks declaratory relief, stating exactly what their rights were under the lease. Lawsuit aside, Wasson has moved on, now seemingly stronger than ever - buoyed by his decision to fight back against an institution whose public persona screams peaceful Islam but whose private actions have placed the dark side of the religion on trial, literally. Celebration Worship's Christian Academy though down in registration has retained new facilities and is once again growing, now devoid of the Universal Heritage Foundation's harassing tactics and malevolent presence. In many ways Lee Wasson's struggle mimics America's actions post 911. He didn't seek this test of wills, but he is by no means running from it, instead meeting it head-on with determination and more than a bit of resolve. Toward that end, he has established a legal defense fund to help his organization to help defray the daunting legal costs entailed in such an undertaking. If you are interested in contacting Pastor Wasson, offering your support and possibly making a tax-exempt [funds so raised go ONLY to defray the legal costs entailed in defending against UHF's predation] contribution, he can be reached at:
Lord Mayor Nazir Ahmed In South Florida Tasneem Khan FLORIDA, USA : Sep 28 (PNS) - Lord Mayor Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham, England, has called upon the Muslims throughout the world and in particular those living in the West and the United States to follow the true teachings of Islam and set an example for others to follow with their deed and character.
He was the guest speaker at the Universal Heritage Foundation of Florida fund raising dinner at Mehfil Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. Due to some unavoidable weather circumstances due to hurricane Jeanne, the audience was very limited and as such the fund raising for starting a University in Kissimmee, near Orlando was put off for some other time, besides a couple of other speakers including Dr Muzammil Siddiqui of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) couldn't make it due to the bad weather.
The visiting Lord Nazir of Pakistani origin, spoke at length and congratulated Dr Zulfiqar Ali Shah and his colleagues for undertaking the huge task of starting a higher learning institution in America. He also called upon the Muslims to fully support this project which would be a great benefit for the generation growing up in this part of the world.
Lord Nazir said after 9/11 the whole world had changed and as such the Muslims had to face greater challenges living in a different culture and different environment. He said we as Muslims should set an example for others to follow and specially it was the need of the hour under the prevailing circumstances here in America that we remind locals that we were good citizens of this country and they loved peace and propagate harmony.
He said we shouldn't be afraid of calling ourselves Muslims, in fact he reminded the gathering that we should speak aloud that we were the followers of Islam, which was a great religion and should try our best to keep our Islamic values and culture alive. He said the same should also be transferred to our children so that they could better understand the values of Islam and let others know the beauty of their religion.
He said the Muslims faced problems due to the fact that we haven't followed the religion in its true spirit and there was much difference in what we say and what we do. Lord Nazir went on to say that it was against the basic teachings of Islam and that was the reasons others were offended by us.
Lord Nazir said the Pakistanis living in the United Kingdom have earned their great reputation due to their hard work and sincerity and today there were a number of Pakistanis holding offices at higher level. He said now there were nearly 200 Muslim councilors, about a dozen magistrates, Deputies and Lord Mayors making an impact on economical, social and political system of that country.
A local Muslim community activist and Chairman of the Islamic School of Miami, Engineer Tasnimuddin introduced Lord Nazir and besides Dr Muzammil, who addressed through the phone, Maulana Shafayat Mohammad, Amir of Darul Uloom in Pembroke Pines also addressed the gathering.
The End. |