Muslim group pulls plug on huge Gouda mosque

The management of El Wahda pulled out of the plans for a large mosque in Gouda yesterday "given the fuss". This happened just one day before the plans for the mosque would (probably) have been voted down by the City Council, the Volkskrant reports. There will thus be no controversial "mega mosque" in Gouda. A new proposal will be made for a substantially smaller Islamic center in the former Prins Willem-Alexander Barracks, the management of the yet to be built El Wahda (Unity) mosque wrote to the Gouda City Council on Tuesday. The Islamic community wants to "seriously reach out to politicians and the inhabitants of Gouda Noord", chairman Mustapha Bouharrou wrote. "At a Islamic center/house of God belongs no fear or polarization, but peaceful coexistence, cooperation and meeting." El Wahda hopes to still be able to make use of the vacant Prins Willem-Alexander Barracks with a modified plan, along with De Ark (a school for children with learning difficulties) and Gemiva (a medical day care center). The City Council will have to issue credit for the latter two. The council would have voted on that tonight. The VVD already turned its back on the plans last week, along with the SGP. The ChristenUnie, which could still have made a difference, also seemed negative.