DELAWARE: Why is minor damage on some mosque signs worthy of a major TV News report?

It was only minor vandalism at the Islamic Soceity of Delaware but you’d think it was a major terror attack.

(The news story here is condensed from the 3 pages of the original)

Delaware Online  A white picket fence was broken into pieces. A wooden sign with the name of the mosque was knocked down, and another sign was damaged. A cross, a sign used by the Christian faith, was created from the resulting debris.

“This is very hard. This is very shocking for us,” said Mahamed Allimulla, president of the Islamic Society of Delaware. “We’re just trying to realize why this happened.” (3 guesses) The destruction at the property was thought to be the first and only problem at the mosque, several leaders there said Friday.

Syed A. Balkhi, social secretary at the society, was left wondering if this was a message targeting the Muslim community. “Is this the first step? I don’t know,” Balkhi said, adding he wondered what going to happen the next time. “That’s what I’m worried about.” (Ewwww, maybe next time a window will get broken. Call out the National Guard)

The group was expected to meet later that day to figure out what the next step was going to be, Balkhi said. The concern was that the center had never been vandalized in the nearly 25 years the building has been there. “Even after 9/11 this sort of thing never happened,” he said. (It took this long for people to learn how bad the ideology of Islam really is)

State police were at the scene of the incident, and a representative from the state Human Relations Commission was there to gather evidence of a possible hate crime. State police say anyone with information about the crime is asked to call Troop 6 at (302) 633-5000.

In 2011, there were three crimes driven by hatred of another religion reported in the state of Delaware, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. There were a total of 15 hate crimes reported statewide that year, according the federal crime data. (But I bet they didn’t make the evening News)

There’s not yet been any official determination by police or the human relations commission on what was discovered Friday morning at Islamic Center of Delaware.

At the afternoon prayer service, Hadi told those gathered that the Islam faith requires peace with others, no matter their religion. He talked about a teaching from the Koran where someone who was thought to be an enemy was later someone who came in peace. “It might happen the one who broke the fence, one day we might see him here praying with us,” he said. (Don’t dream)

The vandalism is creating concerns that had never occurred to members of the Delaware group, said Irfan Patel, vice president of the Islamic Society of Delaware.

“We’ve being hearing news of these things happening at other Islamic centers and other religious organizations, but the fact that this has hit home it’s very concerning for us,” Patel said. “Mainly for the fact that we have this Islamic school here next door and that school has kids starting from age of 3 to eighth grade.”

While they have security at the center, Patel said they will consider increasing it, this may include hiring guards. Allimulla said he’d like to sit down with whomever is responsible for the damage. That frightening statement, taken while hidden by the darkness of night, should not have happened, he said.

“I would like to send a message: You are a loser and you are a failed person and you are a coward person,” he said. “If you had any questions about the Islamic faith come to the table and we would like to talk to you and and we want to explain everything. Islam is a peaceful religion.” (HAH! And you wonder why people don’t like you?)