HARMONY, NJ – A neighborhood at war...
“We don’t need people running around that area with weapons or knives, slitting throats of animals on property anywhere. I mean come on, there’s an elementary school within a quarter of a mile around the corner,” says Katie Tolkacz, “We can't live like this.”
“We had kids from her event trying to crawl underneath our fences where we have a 26-hundred-pound bull in our pasture,” says Robert Bernini.
“And I’m thinking to myself, okay how do I jump out of this car and prevent that kid from getting gored by that bull,” explains Julia Sudylo, “who he has every right to have, because he’s a neighbor and that’s his livestock.”
In the quiet town of Harmony, New Jersey, a religious festival that involves the slaughter of animals and attracts hundreds over the course of a few days, has neighbors agitated and angry…
“I have no problem with the people that go to the Cronce’s festival. Don’t trespass on my farm,” explains neighbor Patricia Carnil-Wilkens, “It should be held in a venue that can handle hundreds of people with bathrooms, big parking areas. It’s a festival! If you want to make more money wouldn’t it make sense to have it in a bigger place?”
Meanwhile, Dennis Kardos says, “There is an odor that you would not believe coming from that property after an event. They can testify to what they want to, you can ask my children who can’t walk down the road after one of those events because the odor coming off is bad and god forbid the wind blows from their property towards mine, I gotta close my windows because it’s bad.”
And homeowners fighting for their right to host a religious festival; “We do not do any of the killing, slaughtering, butchering,” says festival host, Theodore Cronce, “That is strictly their part. We sell the animal to them and provide them with the opportunity and a place to do that without fear of retribution.”
Caught in the middle are worshipers of the Islamic faith. Every year for the past six years or so, Muslim families flock to the Cronce’s Harmony property about six miles north of Easton and 25 miles or so from Bethlehem. Monique and Theodore Cronce say they expect between 100 to 120 cars to come by, neighbors say those cars can carry 4 or 5 people each, and buses carry upwards of fifty people inside; bringing hundreds to Esposito road every year. And so neighbors say what was once a few out-of-towners attending a local celebration has erupted into a festival with hundreds of people flooding the family farm and blocking the single-lane road where horses, goats and a bull are all kept legally by neighbors. Locals like Julia Sudylo say, it’s not about race or religion, but safety. “I have no racism problem. I was raised in Williamsburg, I’m Puerto Rican, I have Muslim friends,” she explains, “it’s not that kind of issue. It’s safety.”
The Cronce’s attorney however, compared the festival to a temporary event equivalent to a family gathering or large barbeque: no admission fee, no butcher to pay, just the cost of the animal and a place to sacrifice. “Is this any different than a large family having an annual large family gathering, once a year where people come in and they picnic and celebrate and play music?” says attorney Anthony Sposaro, “It really is no different.” Sposaro even called the neighbors backlash a “visceral reaction” to the religious slaughter of animals embedded in fear of a foreign religion. Cronce says, “because of the prejudice that they see in this nation presently, we--they are more than willing to work with us to the definition that we give...because they recognize that there are people out there that do not care for them and do not want them and thus forth they’re very pleased that we offer them an opportunity and a place to do this.”
The Cronce family’s event centers around the Eid Al-Adha holiday. During this time, Muslims honor the willingness of Ibrahim to follow Allah’s command to sacrifice his son. It’s also known as the feast of sacrifice. So PBS39 went to the Easton Phillipsburg Muslim Association, to find out more about the holiday that’s causing such a stir on Esposito Road.
“A goat, a ram, sheep, lambs, all of those animals, cows would be the ultimate. In some countries they even do camels because that is a very prized meat and a delicacy, and a very expensive animal as well,” explains Rizwan Butt. The President of the Easton-Phillipsburg Muslim Association says, “it's all relative to what the person can afford. And again, part of life is to sacrifice and give up things that we love as well and we do it for the sake of our lord and our creator.”
Butt tells PBS39, the role of sacrifice in the Eid al-Adha holiday is symbolic but crucial. And while countless Muslims take part in this aspect of the holiday, they more often than not, do so within their rights of the law; “Others for example, donate to organizations that do it on their behalf. Others give money overseas where there are countries that need food and it can be more useful over there so they do sacrifices in those places and give food to the people who need it. So there’s different ways of doing it. There are people in our area who like to go and take their families to be part of that experience because it is part of our religious tradition and heritage. We do not want anyone to go out of their way and bend the rules just for the sake of what we are trying to do as part of our faith. At the same time, if this is something that people are allowed to do in other places then we should have similar rights as well.”
Now, neighbors insist, they are not bothered by Muslim visitors, or animal sacrifice (if done so properly). Instead, it’s the high volume traffic, trespassing onto their property, overflow parking and security they’re most concerned about every time Eid al-Adha rolls around. Kardos says, “My wife was bringing my children to the bus stop and got ran off the road by a school bus going to their festival,” while Sudylo explains, “I spent a good twenty minutes behind three charter buses and several cars. One had a Florida license plate, another one had a Connecticut license plate.”
PBS39 News Tonight reporter, K.C. Lopez asked Rizwan Butt, “Do you feel that it could be racially motivated or maybe people just don’t understand what the practice is and that’s where all of this hostility is coming from?” To which the Easton-Phillipsburg Muslim Association President explained, “In this situation, I do not know the answer to that because I haven’t spoken to the people that have raised their concerns. So if there are valid concerns from a legal perspective or a road perspective, we are 100 percent behind those. But if it’s just about Muslims doing it, versus others, then that’s where we have concerns.But if there are people, even from our community, that are being rowdy and causing trouble, leaving trash, that is something we would not stand for either. And if that is happening, that is a rightful concern, and the proper authorities need to be notified of that. Even come to us and we can educate our communities better because that is part of the process. We don’t tell people where to go to offer these sacrifices, they reach out and build those relationships on their own and then they do back year after year. And this is one example of one farm, and there are many other farms that do the same thing as well.
Ultimately, the Cronz family’s application to host the festival this year was denied; in a vote 5-1. The reason? Animal husbandry. The majority of the Warren County Agricultural Development Board are concerned with the care of the animals and the meat being USDA approved and safe to eat. Tim Bodine, who sits on the ag board explained, “What I do have an issue with, and I will not support this motion that is on the floor, is I cannot advocate that the farm operator is-has the husbandry techniques that I can live with. And I can’t make that any more clear.”
But the saga on Esposito road is far from over. With Eid al-Adha not until August 10th, the Cronces have plenty of time to address the board’s concerns and get approval in the summer before the holiday.
Lopez asked Butt, “What does it say about the people who are traveling so many miles to come and do this in New Jersey? Some people are coming as far as Connecticut, we’ve had neighbors who said they saw license plates from Florida. So these people are traveling a really long way to be able to observe their holiday. What does it say about the people who are coming?”
“It shows the level of religiosity and the commitment they have to their faith,” Butt explained, “And part of that I see as that this country gives us the right to practice however we want to.”
Farm Strife
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A Harmony Township neighborhood at war over the feast of sacrifice.
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