[MGSA-L] Three Legal Mosques Operating in Athens, Many More Illegally By Philip Chrysopoulos - Nov 23, 2015 1 8 Google +0 0 0 15 tzami1-thumb-largeThree mosques are operating legally in Athens at the moment after getting licenses in the past two years, and many more illegally according to a Kathimerini report. The Hamza mosque at the Victoria Square area started operating in the summer offering a house of prayer mainly to migrants from Bangladesh. Chelal Chelal from Bangladesh, who is in charge of the mosque, lives in Greece for twenty years now and knows the legal framework for operating the mosque. Another mosque for Greek Muslims operates in Piraeus and another one for Pakistanis at a west Athens neighborhood. Both mosques received legal licenses in 2014 and 2015 according to the constitutional framework. Τhere are several mosques operating illegally in Athens that service a Muslim population estimated between 130,000 and 200,000. It is estimated that there are around 25 spread in many At

[June Samaras]

Three Legal Mosques Operating in Athens, Many More Illegally

By Philip Chrysopoulos -  Nov 23, 2015


http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/11/23/three-legal-mosques-operating-in-athens-many-more-illegally/

Three mosques are operating legally in Athens at the moment after getting
licenses in the past two years, and many more illegally according to a
Kathimerini report.

The Hamza mosque at the Victoria Square area started operating in the
summer offering a house of prayer mainly to migrants from Bangladesh.
Chelal Chelal from Bangladesh, who is in charge of the mosque, lives in
Greece for twenty years now and knows the legal framework for operating the
mosque.

Another mosque for Greek Muslims operates in Piraeus and another one for
Pakistanis at a west Athens neighborhood. Both mosques received legal
licenses in 2014 and 2015 according to the constitutional framework.

Τhere are several mosques operating illegally in Athens that service a
Muslim population estimated between 130,000 and 200,000. It is estimated
that there are around 25 spread in many Athens areas. The founders of
illegal mosques follow the strategy of establishing and operating the
mosque first, and applying for a license later. There are several places of
worship that operate and have already started procedures to become legal.

However, in light of the bloody Islamic State hits in Paris on November 13
and the warnings for new attacks in Europe and the U.S., France decided to
shut down places where the Muslim priests preached politics and sent
fundamentalist Islamic messages against the West.

In Greece, authorities have no way of monitoring or knowing what is being
preached inside the mosques. The only people who can inform authorities of
the content of the preachings are the operators themselves.

The report cites a Greek Police official on condition of anonymity who
claims that preachers disseminating extreme positions in relation to Islam
has nothing to do with the mosques.

“We have noticed that those recruited by the Islamic State are not always
pious Muslims, but people with other characteristics: no job, not many
friends, with family and psychological problems, delinquents or
substance-depended. Those are no longer to be found in the mosque. The
problem is not the preachers who are legally bonded, but ‘guests’ who come
for a few sermons only,” the police official said.

- See more at:
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/11/23/three-legal-mosques-operating-in-athens-many-more-illegally/#sthash.oIm81WHi.dpuf

-- 
June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : june.samaras at gmail.com
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