Backlash greets plans for Muslim cemeteries across U.S.
By DENISE LAVOIE
SLTrib.com
Apr 25 2016
Dudley, Mass. • On the site of a long-idle dairy farm, leaders of a mosque hope to build a final resting place for about 500 Muslim families — to the dismay of many residents of this quaint town in central Massachusetts.
In arguments cemetery developers and activists decry as thinly veiled bigotry, neighbors say they fear burial practices could contaminate groundwater because Muslims traditionally do not embalm bodies and bury their dead without coffins. They also cite concerns about noise, vandalism and increased traffic on the narrow road where the cemetery would be built. One resident said he worried he would have to put up with “crazy music” like the Islamic call to prayer.
Similar sentiments have been expressed by people in communities around the country where Muslim cemeteries have been proposed, including Farmervsille, Texas; Walpole, Massachusetts; Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and Farmington, Minnesota.
In some cases, opponents have succeeded in defeating the new cemetery projects, while in others, Muslim groups have appealed and judges have cleared the way.
In Farmersville, near Dallas, some residents were openly hostile during meetings on a proposal to build a Muslim cemetery on a 35-acre site just outside the city. Farmersville is not far from Garland, where police fatally shot two Islamic State followers last year after they opened fire outside a cartoon contest lampooning the Prophet Muhammad.
“People don’t trust Muslims. Their goal is to populate the United States and take it over,” Barbara Ashcraft said during a meeting in August.
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