Volume 23 Issue 25
Inside: Did You Win A FREE Carnival Cruise?
December 5, 2015
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Named The 2014 ‘Small Business Of The Year’ By The Wesley Chapel Chamber Of Commerce! The Direct-Mail News Magazines Serving New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Since 1993! For the complete list of the neighborhoods that receive this publication by direct mail in New Tampa (zip code 33647), see page 58!
Syrian Restaurant Owner Speaks Out About Fear & Misconceptions By John C. Cotey
Bilal Saleh, wearing black dress slacks and a blue pinstriped dress shirt, sits in a booth at the Zaytoun Mediterranean Grill, the restaurant he owns with his brother Mohammad. Saleh’s voice is soft and his words are thoughtfully chosen. He is troubled. Originally from Damascus, Syria, Bilal (now a U.S. citizen) says he watches television these days, and the sights from his homeland horrify him, as much as the sounds, from talking heads, politicians, presidential candidates and so-called experts, mostly calling for the United States and other countries to turn away refugees fleeing a war that has dragged on for almost five years now and has left more than 200,000 of his people dead. Plans to let refugees into the U.S. have been facing stiff resistance. The terrorist killings in Paris on Nov. 13, and unofficial reports of a discovery of a Syrian passport — later deemed a fake — next to one of the terrorists, quickly turned much of the country against the refugees, conflating the Syrian people themselves with the terrorist group commonly known as ISIS. “It’s just amazing how within the span of a week, the Syrian people have turned from victims to a threat (in people’s eyes),’’ Bilal says. “The Syrian people have been bombarded, killed, raped and tortured for four years. That really hurts, when you see how suddenly (it happens)….yesterday you
Bilal Saleh, the owner of Zaytoun Mediterranean Grill on Cross Creek Blvd. at Morris Bridge Rd. is a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in Syria. Bilal wants the people of New Tampa to know that the vast majority of Syrians living here are productive members of U.S. society.
were a victim; today, you are now a threat.” Bilal is quick to condemn ISIS and the terrorist attacks in Paris and other places. “We vehemently disagree with all that is going on. It is definitely against Islam and against the teaching of the Prophet (Mohammed),” he says. It angers him, because as a result, antiMuslim fears and threats are at an all-time high in this country, according to the Council of American-Islamic Relations. Mosques are on high alert, Islam is being protested,
violence has been threatened. Bilal says he himself hasn’t been threatened specifically, but the Masjid Daarus Salaam (which translates to “house of peace”) mosque on Morris Bridge Rd. a couple of miles south of his restaurant, where he and his family worship, has received threatening phone calls and hate emails. Facebook comments have been harsh. The vitriol in the public square has definitely been heating up. “If I compared the reaction after the Paris attacks to the reaction after 9-11, I see
By John C. Cotey hands. The decision comes down to either siding with commissioners Kevin Beckner Republican Victor Crist (photo) is facing (D), Ken Hagan (R) and Les Miller (D), who one of the biggest decisions of his political ca- all back a tax referendum (as does Tampa reer in the coming months, as an interesting Mayor Bob Buckhorn) to finance Go Hillsnew year awaits the District 2 Hillsborough borough’s plans for road, bridge and transit County Commissioner. improvements, or going the route Crist’s Comm. Crist is in the middle of a con- fellow Republican commissioners Al Higgintentious debate over a possible referendum botham, Sandy Murman and Stacy White fathat would put a half-cent sales tax to a vote vor, which is finding other ways to pay for the and raise $117-million for Go Hillsborough’s project that won’t involve voters. list of transportation projects. Crist says he therefore may end up being He appears to hold the fate of the Go the commissioner breaking what is believed Hillsborough transportation initiative in his to be a 3-3 stalemate to push the referendum
to a public vote sometime early next year. “I’m going to make a decision not from emotion or politics,’’ says Crist, who also serves as the chairman of the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission (PTC). “This is going to be a tough one either way I go. No matter what, half the world is going to be angry at me. It’s one of those things, you’re darned if you do and darned if you don’t.’’
this reaction as much more, I don’t know how to describe it...enormous,” Bilal says. To a degree, Bilal says he can understand the fears and concerns. It didn’t feel great, he says, when he traveled internationally on business in his years working for MCI Telecommunications and was held for a search every time, or how he was suspiciously viewed after 9-11. “We lost over 3,000 people (on 9-11),’’ he says. “I understand.” Those fires burned out. But now, even larger, hotter flames are being stoked. “I am a little worried,’’ Bilal says. “I’m worried about a crazy person coming to the mosque on a Friday where we have 500 people. It’s highly unlikely but it is possible…. we’ve gotten some (safety) recommendations from the (U.S.) Dept. of Homeland Security. We haven’t done anything. Maybe we should, I don’t know.” Most disappointing, perhaps, is what Bilal says is a pattern of troubling disinformation espoused by some of the Republican presidential candidates. Ben Carson, for example, compared Syrian refugees to “rabid dogs.” Others have called the refugees terrorists and accused Muslims of celebrating after 9-11. “For the average person watching CNN and FOX News, I really sympathize with them,’’ he says. “I see where they are coming from. If I were them, I would have the same feelings. There is a very credible See “Syria’ on page 17.
Comm. Crist Caught In A Crossfire On ‘Go Hillsborough’ Referendum
Also Inside This Issue!
Local News, Business & Education Updates
Neighborhood Magazine
Montelione To Challenge Shawn Harrison, Traffic Relief For S.R. 56 Not Coming Soon Enough, Local Chess Kids Off To Nationals & Lots Of Local Business Features!
‘Symphony’ Returns To The Wiregrass Mall, New Barbershop Mixes Old & New, Little Italy’s Real Italian Cuisine & More Neighborhood Nibbles & Business Bytes!
Pages 3-38
Pages 39-60
The New Tampa Effect?
How does this situation affect New Tampa? Crist says the Go Hillsborough initiative calls for “significant” improvements to Skipper Rd. in the USF area just south of Tampa Palms, from Skipper’s intersection with 42nd and 46th Sts. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. south to 46th St. at Fletcher Ave. (a $5.7-million project), as well as $4.4 million in intersection improvements on BBD from just south of Bearss Ave. southbound to in front of USF. In addition, among the $10 million in intersection improvements the City of Tampa could fund in the first ten years if the referen-
dum passes are the intersections of BBD with Cross Creek Blvd. and Tampa Palms Blvd. at Compton Dr. He said bottlenecks on BBD between Bearss and Fowler could be alleviated, and extensive resurfacing throughout See ‘Crist’ on page 16.