World Muslim Congress' Unity Ceremony Set to Counter Mulberry Quran Burnings

World Muslim Congress' Unity Ceremony Set to Counter Mulberry Quran Burningshttp://www.theledger.com/article/20130826/NEWS/130829384&tc=ix?p=2&tc=pg

Mike Ghouse  talks about his plans Monday with Curtis Rahman, Suzanne Carter-Moore and Lynne Weatherholtz Broom.

CALVIN KNIGHT | THE LEDGER

By Suzie Schottelkotte
THE LEDGER

Published: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 12:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 12:21 a.m.

MULBERRY | It's not the sprawling Unity Church of Dallas, but Mike Ghouse said Monday he's pleased to stage his group's annualUnity Day ceremony Sept. 11 at the less imposing Mulberry Civic Center.

"This is where we need to be," he said. "We are going to show the world that this is how we do it."

Ghouse, president of the Dallas-based World Muslim Congress, is bringing his group's annual ceremony to Mulberry to counter a Florida minister's plan to burn 2,998 Qurans at a Mulberry resident's home a few miles away. Ghouse traveled to Mulberry on Monday to scout locations for the peaceful ceremony and to meet with others who oppose Pastor Terry Jones' protest.

City Manager Rick Johnson said the city has no reason not to rent the Mulberry Civic Center to the Muslim-based group, but said he hopes ongoing construction at the center won't pose a problem.

The city has been battling water intrusion in the basement, and tests are underway now to determine how the water is seeping in.

"We've been taking reservations for the civic center through January, and this one is no different," Johnson said.

"There just may be some work going on, and the building may not look very good."

Ghouse estimated the ceremony could draw 100 participants. The civic center can accommodate 180 people.

The program at the Dallas church, in contrast, has attracted as many as 500 participants, Ghouse said

He said the ceremony will promote unity among all faiths and peaceful resolution to conflict.

Suzanne Carter-Moore said she's glad to see Ghouse in Mulberry.

Soon after Jones announced his plans to burn 2,998 Qurans at a home near Mulberry — one for every American who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — she's been on a crusade to counter the demon­stration.

"We don't want to stand for radicalism, regardless of where it comes from," she said.

Her high school friend, Lynn Weatherholtz Broom, has joined her in organizing an effort against Jones' protest, and now a 17-year-old George Jenkins High School senior, Curtis Rahman, is taking up their cause as well.

"My brother was just deployed to Afghanistan," he said. "I'm standing up for what I believe in."

Since Carter-Moore initiated a Facebook page called Not In Mulberry Terry Jones, 400 people have indicated they support the effort.

Ghouse announced last week that the World Muslim Congress is moving the one-day event to Mulberry.

Jones said last week he welcomed the event, which he said won't interfere with his plans to burn 2,998 Qurans at the home of Bill McKinney off Shepherd Road.

Jones said McKinney offered his home for the event after Jones sold his church and property, the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, earlier this summer.

Jones said he's anticipating about 20 to 50 supporters will attend the burning.

[ Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached atsuzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. ]

Pastor Looking for New Place to Burn Qurans Due to Flooding in Mulberry - Ledger

Pastor Looking for New Place to Burn Qurans Due to Flooding in Mulberryhttp://www.theledger.com/article/20130827/NEWS/130829333/1001/business?p=3&tc=pg

Pastor Terry Jones, Pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Bradenton.

ERNST PETERS | THE LEDGER

By Suzie Schottelkotte
THE LEDGER

Published: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 4:38 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 at 9:40 p.m.

MULBERRY | Terry Jones is searching for a new place in Mulberry to burn 2,998 Qurans on Sept. 11 because his first site is under water.

Bill McKinney, the Mulberry resident who offered his home for the protest burning, said Tuesday the event won't take place in his yard because it's flooded.

Jones, a Florida pastor who's organizing the protest, said he remains committed to staging the event near Mulberry and is looking for another site.

"I'm not worried," he said Tuesday. "Something will come along."

Tuesday afternoon, Jones, and a friend and his daughter drove around Mulberry looking for possible sites, including the Carter Road Sports Complex on South Carter Road. He hasn't found one yet.

McKinney said he's disappointed he had to cancel two weeks before the protest, but he doesn't expect his 1-acre yard to dry out before then.

"This is an old cow pasture," he said, "and with all the rain, I've been under water for about a month. If it wasn't for my property being under water, this (event) would happen. I haven't changed my mind about that."

McKinney, 58, said the water is up to his 4-year-old grandson's knees.

McKinney, who lives off Shepherd Road, said he told Jones Tuesday he would have to find another venue. He said no one has pressured him into pulling out of the protest.

Despite plans by groups to challenge his protest, Jones said he won't be intimidated into leaving the Mulberry area.

"If we have to, we will fill up the back of a pickup truck with (Qurans) and set them on fire in front of City Hall," he said. "We are going to do what we're going to do. We will stay within the confines of the law, but we will push it as far as we can."

Jones said he plans to burn 2,998 Qurans in memory of each American lost in the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. He staged a similar event in March 2011, burning a single Quran and sparking deadly violence in Afghanistan.

Jones said he didn't set out to stage this latest protest in Mulberry. He was searching for a location earlier this summer after selling the Dove World Outreach Center, his church in Gainesville, when McKinney stepped forward, saying he shares Jones' ideology.

"I really wanted to do this," McKinney said Tuesday. "We have got to stop the Islamification of America. They said they were going to take over America and we have to take them at their word."

McKinney, who said he's a faithful man but practices no specific religion, said he doesn't consider Islam a religion, but rather a geo-political system.

"If it's a religion, that gives it standing and protection under our Constitution," he said.

He said he'd been telling Jones for the last month that his yard might be too soggy for the event.

The call from McKinney on Tuesday sent Jones to Mulberry in search of a new location. He said his church has purchased land near Bradenton for a new worship center, and he could stage the Sept. 11 protest there, if need be.

"But we are determined to go ahead and keep it here," he said during his visit to Mulberry. "People are expecting it to be here."

Jones said he's anticipating about 20 to 50 participants.

Since Jones announced his plans in July, others have scheduled Sept. 11 events in Mulberry to counter the protest.

Suzanne Carter-Moore, who grew up in Mulberry, initiated a Facebook page entitled "Not In Mulberry Terry Jones," and the Dallas-based World Muslim Congress is bringing its annual Unity Day ceremony to Mulberry.

Mike Ghouse, resident of the World Muslim Congress, finalized plans Monday for the celebration designed to counter the burning of the Muslin holy books with peaceful prayer.

Ghouse said the ceremony celebrates the unity among faiths and ways in which communities promote that unity.

"We want (the protestors) to know that violence is a behavior that will not be tolerated," he said.

The Muslim group also is sponsoring a blood drive in conjunction with the ceremony.

[ Suzie Schottelkotte can be reached atsuzie.schottelkotte@theledger.com or 863-533-9070. ]

Muslim Group Will Protest Quran Burning - Mulberry Ledger

Muslim Group Will Protest Quran Burning

By Suzie Schottelkotte
THE LEDGER
Published: Tuesday, August 20, 2013 at 4:31 p.m.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20130820/NEWS/130829938?Title=Muslim-Group-Will-Protest-Quran-Burning-

MULBERRY | As a Florida pastor plans to burn 3,000 Qurans in protest at a home near Mulberry next month, members of the Dallas-based World Muslim Congress are planning a counter demonstration of their own.

 

Mike Ghouse, the organization's president, said he hopes his group's peaceful gathering in Mulberry will stand in contrast to Terry Jones' burning of the Muslim holy book.

 

 

“Everybody in the world is going to be watching what happens in Mulberry,” he said. “We want them to know violence is not a behavior that will be tolerated.”

 

 

The Muslim group is moving its Unity Day ceremony, held annually in Dallas since the 2001 attacks on the United States, and will stage the Sept. 11 event in Mulberry.

 

 

“We usually have about 500 people of all denominations at the ceremony,” he said today. “I don't expect that many people to come to Mulberry, but we're hoping people from the community will turn out.”

 

A separate group of residents in Mulberry already is planning its own protest to the burning. Suzanne Carter-Moore, a Lakeland resident who works and grew up in Mulberry, initiated a local effort upon learning of Jones' plans in July.

 

“I just don't want Mulberry to appear like we are condoning his actions,” she told The Ledger last week.

 

Jones, who couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday, is planning to burn the Qurans in Mulberry also on Sept. 11. He has said he plans to burn a holy book for every person who died in the 2001 attacks.

 

He said he chose the Mulberry area after a resident, Bill McKinney, offered his property for that purpose. Jones has sold the Gainesville property where his church, Dove World Outreach Center, was the setting for a similar burning in 2011 that sparked deadly riots in Afghanistan.