Who would want an ISIS training facility in their neighborhood? I know I wouldn’t. But what would be the criteria to meet that says you were not trying to do so? Well, one Michigan resident is finding out very quickly.
It seems that David Salha, a U.S. citizen that owns a mattress store in the town of Lupton, wants to build a “secular summer camp for kids,” as reported by RAWSTORY. The one objection to his dream of a camp on the 150-acres property he owns…he’s Muslim.
In an article written by Kate Abbey- Lambertz of the Huffington Post, David Salha is described this way:
“Salha, who emigrated from Lebanon when he was 8 years old, is a U.S. citizen. He doesn’t strictly follow Islamic law and chooses to be called by his Americanized nickname, David, instead if his given name, Nayef. His wife, stepson and some other family members are Christian.”
The article also points out what Salha wants the property to be used for. While it doesn’t seem very menacing, others disagree for some reason. The article shares that the camp would be used this way:
“The camp would be a place for Salha and his wife to bring Amen’s Boy Scout troop and his youngest daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Preparing for retirement, Salha plans to rent it out to other youth groups to subsidize taxes for his sprawling, wooded retreat, where he once watched in wonderment as a baby black bear ate a duck and then washed his paws in the lake “like a human.”
Amen is his son by the way. It’s quite hard to believe that a man wanting to build an ISIS training facility, would openly rent out this property to other youth groups. Even Christian organizations. Unfortunately, it seems the fear that certain mainstream media outlets fuel has caused many in Salha’s town to question his intentions.
As of last week, the Ogemaw County Planning Commission has voted that Salha is denied his request for a special-use permit to build the youth camp on his own property. With this judgement, Salha had this to say:
“As an American, I should not be refused for things that other camps was not refused for… I will sell everything I have to get my civil rights. This is where my kids live, and they have to learn that they have rights like everybody else. They cannot be denied for made-up reasons.”
So where does this type of discrimination end? Where does the mass-produced fear stop? More importantly, where does the even distribution of law begin? Unfortunately, we seem to be left with more questions than answers. I, for one, fear the homegrown terrorism that seems to be on the rise. Not just from groups such as ISIS, but also the extreme-right Christian groups that call themselves patriots, but are nothing more than disillusioned and racist radicals themselves.
