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stouffville suntribune thursday march 20 2003 3 by harinelorevolpe how do you think the maple leafe will do in this years playoffe gail neary i dont know if they will make it all the way but they are motivated i think doug gilmour will heal even if he is not playing he can advise them and lend his experi ence alec mcfarlane i i think they will win this year they have some good players they have bought and doug gilmour they still have a fantastic team to win the two goalkeepers are fan tastic francine clune i think theyll do well they surely will win at our house the tvs are always on to catch all the sports we are sports enthusiasts bill clark ttdorft know- and i dont care i think the whole sports scene is a hor rendous waste of money while peo ple in third world countries are starving look at the billions we spend on sports here in north america the whrtchurchstouffville public library is preparing for its annual giant book salemarch 2730 at the library volunteers helping set up for the sale posad for a photo recently from left pat upson book sale committee chair person stouffville lions barbara st john and ivan harris stouffville kinsmen frank mcgillan gary gomick and bruce smith the stouffville richardson lodge masons and the stouffville volunteer firefighters are also helping sjoerdwitteveen photo muslims find serenity in gormley bypepphilpott special now is a difficult time to be a muslim in the united states zafar bangash would agree and for that reason is glad to call canada home mn bangash 52 is president of the gormleybased york region islamic society and edi tor of crescent international a york region newsmagazine of the islamic movement recent media reports tell of canadian immigration officials at us border crossings being overwhelmed with the influx of muslims mostly pakistanis residing in america but without permanent status or citizen ship they are seeking safe haven in canada from new american regulations requiring special registration with the department of justice mr bangash came to canada from pakistan in 1974 making a conscious decision not to seek residency in the us he remembers being a univer sity student in- england and noticing the differences between canada and the us while travelling through north america it was very striking i thought if there was any place where id like to live i think canadawould be the place but canadians are not with out blemish in relating the experience of other york region muslim immigrants following thesept 11 2001 us terrorist attacks he recalls the sense that muslims have been under greater scrutiny there were episodes of school children and women dis tinguishable by their islamic attire being taunted attendance dropped at his mosque on stouffville road in wwtchurchstouffville because people were scared there was no doubt about it but he sees this more as a passing influence of the american media we had a very different experience in canada after an initial fear he said people came forward to i express sympathy with us with out knowing us it was very touching very moving stouffville churches visit after the terrorist attacks the society was approached by community mennoriite church of stouffville and stouffville united church they invited us to come to their church to speak to them and we invited them to come to our centre the congre gations mixed with each other i must say for us as a community it was a new and very inspiring i experience but the serenity it would appear is not permanent war in iraq appears inevitable fears of the past are surfacing among some in the muslim community those residing in the greater toronto area during the gulf war of 1991 are now remember ing how some muslims of arab background were treated then says mr bangash their busi nesses were raided openly done by the rcmr he said but any sense of isolation appears to be dissipating as opposition to war in iraq increases in canada and around the world mr bangash is overwhelmed and reflective on this growing movement we were talking among ourselves and telling each other isnt it a great shame iraq is a muslim country and yet muslims are so lethargic they dontcare yet it is the christian church arid other groups that are on the forefront of this movement to prevent war isnt it a disgrace for us that muslims are the ones who should be upholding the banner of justice but were absent from the scene says mr bangash some of this absence can be explained by past experiences of the rnembers of the islamic soci ety many have come from coun ties where political expression is forbidden some says mr bangash are afraid if they did state their opinion they might be targeted by authorities mr bangash is confident there will not be negative reper- cussions for muslims in york region the peace rallies have been quite an eyeopener the average person is more con cerned than we are and that gives us comfort that we are not on our own as a small community bri go train back after flooding subsides flooding on the tracks stopped the go train from making its way from markham to stouffville earlier this week for two days go transit provided bus serviceto about 200 passengers who normally take the six trains to and from stouffville hpi service to stouffville was to resume last night after the tracks were cleared in the afternoon our first concern was safety go transit spokesperson ed shea said flooding between stouffville and markham tuesday caused the dis ruption of go train service at the new mount joy stop in northern markham water on the tracks was so seyere that the train was forced to stop oper ating about 6 prh tuesday go sent buses to rescue the passengers thepassengers were loaded on to the buses for the return trip to stouffville while arrangements were made for bus service to continue j throughout wednesday at both the stouffville and the mount joy sta tions the bus service will continue as long as it is neededrmr shea added library to your home like to read but cant make it to thelibrary people 55 years and older who are unable to come to the library can have books delivered to their homes through thexhats books to go program staff and volun teers of chats and the whitchurchstouffville public library work together to bring library materials to your home call chats at 18774524287 for more information v 1 i drily get to ski on saturdays arid sundays brian lock nationallyranked nordic skier on living in trailless stouffville see story on page 28 contacting us have a news tip please phone us at 9056402612 email us at jmasonyrngcom visit us at 34 civic ave stouffville go to wwwstoujfvillesiincom to let us know whatyouthink ft s v i i i r s 9