Chapter 1: Imam Ousama El-Arabi Arrives to America

OUSAMA EL ARABI -- middle eastern man, tan skin, about 5ft4in tall, a little heavyset, dark eyes and hair, bearded, wearing a long gray robe and a dark gray cap image on link at very bottom-- stepped out of the plane.

It has been a long travel, from his native Saudi Arabia, with a small stop in Paris, all the way to the promised land, America.

Once he descended to the terminal, he picked up his luggage and then walked around, wandering, looking for someone.

Finally, 10 minutes later he saw a big white cardboard that had written his name on it, so he walked straight to the man who was holding the cardboard.

“Hi, welcome to the United States” said JIM ROWE, a white man in his late 40s, 5ft8 ft tall, bearded and elegantly dressed in suit and tie, image on link at bottom of file and promptly shook hands with Ousama.

JIM: “Hi Ousama, right? al ... Arabi? – reading from a paper on his hand- hi hello my name is Jim ... Jim Rowe...”

A smile from Ousama. And a short, dry reply – Salaam, Nice to meet you, Jim.

JIM: “Well let me get the car so we can go to my place and you can unpack all your belongings...”

He asks for his car to the valet parking and a white SUV arrives. He opens the door for the cleric to step in, and helps him to get his baggage inside

Jim: “Ok let’s go...”

As he drives away, Jim asked : “How was that trip?,,, I’ve heard it’s like almost 24 hours of airplane eh?”

OUSAMA: “Yes it’s tiring.-- ... Lots of waiting and so on, specially with all the security measures”

They were about to arrive to Jim’s place, when they reached some traffic

JIM: “What’s going on?”

Blocking the street, there was a group of people, shouting slogans in front of a terrain that had some building in costruction.

USA! USA! USA! No Islam here ¡ No Sharia law ¡ No terrorists here ¡

OUSAMA: “Aha! So I guess this is where our Islamic complex will be built eh...”

JIM: “Correct ... eh, if these guys allow it!”

Ousama observed the group of around 80 to 100 protestors, noticing they were mostly white adult men, and also the dearth of women and people aged under 40 was telling.

Several were carrying USA flags, but some were holding Confederate and even white pride flags.

“So mostly older white men protesting ... great!”

He hurriedly wrote something in a small booklet he had in his pocket

A couple of men in particular seemed very vocal, shouting and waving their fists a lot and pointing their fingers, angrily, at Ousama when they saw him inside the SUV

No terrorists, No Islam here, This is a Christian nation!!! USA! USA!

Well, now I’ve found the enemy to defeat -- he whispered

He exchanged hostile glances with the pair of men, but finally they broke eye contact and resumed their random shouting among the crowd

Ousama chuckled.

Cowards, they can’t even hold glances for a few seconds

He grabbed again his notebook, covered in arabic phrases, and he wrote in arabic script “ Investigate protesters, find weaknesses”

JIM: “Don’t take them too seriously, the city council has already decided and voted in favor of the construction of the place...”

OUSAMA: “Yes? Including the mosque? A mosque is fundamental, it is the cornerstone for our faith and soul of our community...”

JIM: “Eh yes, remember, I’m part of the city council and yes ... even if I’m one of the moderate conservative members there, we had some resistance from hardcore conservatives, as usual ... but finally reason and openness prevailed...”