A coalition of concerned citizens is contemplating its next move now that the Fairfax County (Virginia) Board of Supervisors has granted a Saudi-funded Islamic academy a zoning exemption to allow it to expand its facility.
The Virginia Anti-Shariah Task Force (VAST) had lobbied hard against the move. But on Monday, by a 6-4 vote, the Fairfax County supervisors sided with the Islamic Saudi Academy which had requested a zoning exemption to expand its 34-acre campus to accommodate 200 additional students. While there were some concerns about added traffic problems, the Virginia Anti-Sharia Task Force voiced its concerns about the curriculum at the school. During his testimony before the vote, VAST chairman James Lafferty shared his group's concern that the Academy was "raising the next generation of terrorists." "We believe that the Islamic Saudi Academy is not only teaching shariah law, it is practicing shariah law," Lafferty charged. He then cited an example when the principal of the Academy followed shariah law instead of state law in dealing with a student's complaint of being assaulted. (See related YouTube video) Lafferty tells OneNewsNow that the county, in approving the facility's expansion, clearly pandered to the Islamists who support the school. "It is clear that a majority on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has either been intimidated or bought by the radical Islamic lobby in northern Virginia," he says. "We lost by one vote -- a Republican crossed and voted with the liberals. That was disappointing." But Lafferty says that Republican, Michael Frey, and the other supervisors who supported the Islamic school are still accountable to the voters. "Particularly Mr. Frey, I think, is going to have a difficult time [being re-elected]," he states. "There were several snotty remarks made about born-again Christians and about religious fanatics. They have not seen religious fanatics. They have not seen born-again Christians yet. But they will see them at election time." Lafferty says VAST is also considering legal options.
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