By LINDA HEARD | ARAB NEWS
Hypocrisy over Manhattan mosque
President Barack Obama is wise to support the placement of the Cordoba initiative's new community center housing a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero.
"Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country" and "that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan in accordance with laws and ordinances," he told dinner guests celebrating the holy month of Ramadan.
His views are seconded by New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg but they are most definitely in the minority. According to a recent CNN/Opinion Research poll, almost 70 percent of Americans oppose the plan. Such bigoted attitudes are a sad indictment of America's so-called values. The US is a secular country built on the separation of religion and state, while the First Amendment to its Constitution and the first section of the Bill of Rights guarantee religious freedoms. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment also prohibits the preference of one religion over another. In this case, Obama could not have condemned the mosque's placement but he was at liberty to remain silent on the issue. The fact that he has chosen to speak out so forcefully is to his credit especially when his approval ratings are low and midterm elections are on the horizon.
Unfortunately, his courageous stance has won him few friends at a time when he needs support more than ever. On Saturday, a group calling itself "9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America" issued a statement saying Obama "has abandoned America at a place where America's heart was broken nine years ago...Now this president declares that the victims of 9/11 and their families must bear another burden. We must stand silent at the last place in America where 9/11 is still remembered with reverence or risk being called religious bigots."
Naturally, the rabidly right-wing, such as Sarah Palin, Pamela Geller, Bill Kristol, Dennis Miller and Charles Krauthammer are lining up to air their venom on their favorite mouthpiece, Fox News. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich used Fox as a platform to say, "The idea of a 13-story building set up by a group many of whom, frankly, are very hostile to our civilization..." Obviously, he hasn't visited the Cordoba initiative's website. Its mission is to strengthen the bridge between Islam and the West with programs designed to cultivate multicultural and multifaith understanding across minds and borders.
Fox's anti-mosque tirades are unrelenting. One of the hosts of "Fox and Friends" Brian Kilmeade supports a website's "Hard Hat Pledge" whereby construction workers potentially involved in the community center's construction agree to down tools or withdraw services. "Fox and Friends" has also hosted Republican George Demos who was given a free hand to disseminate the lie that the mosque is funded by "terrorist groups."
Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is milking the controversy for all its worth on Twitter in hopes of accruing political capital. She has appealed to peace-loving Muslims to reject the mosque in "the interests of healing", saying it "stabs hearts". Yet others are obfuscating the issue with false comparisons.
A Republican TV ad that has been rejected by most local networks conflates the 9/11 attackers with the Cordoba initiative. "On Sept.11 they declared war against us," it reads. "And to celebrate that murder of 3,000 Americans, they want to build a monstrous 13-story mosque at Ground Zero." Besides being highly inflammatory it's packed with errors. Not all the 3,000 were American; hundreds held other nationalities; some 50 were Muslims. Secondly, the center is projected to be 13-storys, not the mosque. And, lastly, the people building the mosque did not declare war on Americans; they are dedicated to bridging the gap between Muslims and the West.
Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer says the placement of the center is akin to the construction of a German heritage center in Auschwitz ignoring the fact that the death camp was built by a state while the perpetrators of 9-11 were 22 fanatics harboring a skewed interpretation of Islam. Almost every Muslim leader condemned their crimes and the fact that Muslims would like a place of worship near to where the World Trade Center twin towers once stood should be considered as a mark of respect. Furthermore, the Cordoba Initiative says it plans to include a memorial to 9/11 victims as part of the proposed project.
Palin and Krauthammer have dismissed the deaths of over 50 Muslims on that terrible day in their calculations as though their loved ones count for nothing. If anything, Muslims have been the greatest victims of 9-11, for without it the US would not have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq — wars that have robbed up to a million Muslims of their lives.
If Ground Zero is hallowed ground, their hallowed ground is being trampled by tanks and armored personnel carriers or stained red with the blood of innocent civilians that are dying as a result of those ongoing occupations almost daily.
However, the award for the nastiest critic has to go to Terry Jones, the deranged senior pastor of a church at the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida, who is probably the most hate-filled "Man of God" on the planet. In retaliation for the mosque project, he is planning to incinerate Qur'ans on the anniversary of the attacks and is calling for affiliated religious groups to join his "International Burn a Qur'an Day".
Clearly this bigoted person has no idea that the "Peoples of the Book" — Christians, Muslims and Jews — worship the same one God and revere His prophets Adam, Abraham and Moses. He may also be interested to know that Islam considers Jesus as a respected prophet. Perhaps he should read Surah Mariam (Mary) before he ignites his matches and illuminates his ignorance.
Nevertheless, it might be sensible for the Cordoba Initiative to rethink the location of the center, which risks becoming a target for lunatics and haters — the sort of people who in earlier days would have had a Klu Klux Klan hood in their closet along with a hangman's rope. Let them stew in their own loathsome juices rather than incite Islamophobia to be unleashed on Muslim Americans, who have already suffered enough.
Hypocrisy over Manhattan mosque
President Barack Obama is wise to support the placement of the Cordoba initiative's new community center housing a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero.
"Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country" and "that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan in accordance with laws and ordinances," he told dinner guests celebrating the holy month of Ramadan.
His views are seconded by New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg but they are most definitely in the minority. According to a recent CNN/Opinion Research poll, almost 70 percent of Americans oppose the plan. Such bigoted attitudes are a sad indictment of America's so-called values. The US is a secular country built on the separation of religion and state, while the First Amendment to its Constitution and the first section of the Bill of Rights guarantee religious freedoms. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment also prohibits the preference of one religion over another. In this case, Obama could not have condemned the mosque's placement but he was at liberty to remain silent on the issue. The fact that he has chosen to speak out so forcefully is to his credit especially when his approval ratings are low and midterm elections are on the horizon.
Unfortunately, his courageous stance has won him few friends at a time when he needs support more than ever. On Saturday, a group calling itself "9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America" issued a statement saying Obama "has abandoned America at a place where America's heart was broken nine years ago...Now this president declares that the victims of 9/11 and their families must bear another burden. We must stand silent at the last place in America where 9/11 is still remembered with reverence or risk being called religious bigots."
Naturally, the rabidly right-wing, such as Sarah Palin, Pamela Geller, Bill Kristol, Dennis Miller and Charles Krauthammer are lining up to air their venom on their favorite mouthpiece, Fox News. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich used Fox as a platform to say, "The idea of a 13-story building set up by a group many of whom, frankly, are very hostile to our civilization..." Obviously, he hasn't visited the Cordoba initiative's website. Its mission is to strengthen the bridge between Islam and the West with programs designed to cultivate multicultural and multifaith understanding across minds and borders.
Fox's anti-mosque tirades are unrelenting. One of the hosts of "Fox and Friends" Brian Kilmeade supports a website's "Hard Hat Pledge" whereby construction workers potentially involved in the community center's construction agree to down tools or withdraw services. "Fox and Friends" has also hosted Republican George Demos who was given a free hand to disseminate the lie that the mosque is funded by "terrorist groups."
Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is milking the controversy for all its worth on Twitter in hopes of accruing political capital. She has appealed to peace-loving Muslims to reject the mosque in "the interests of healing", saying it "stabs hearts". Yet others are obfuscating the issue with false comparisons.
A Republican TV ad that has been rejected by most local networks conflates the 9/11 attackers with the Cordoba initiative. "On Sept.11 they declared war against us," it reads. "And to celebrate that murder of 3,000 Americans, they want to build a monstrous 13-story mosque at Ground Zero." Besides being highly inflammatory it's packed with errors. Not all the 3,000 were American; hundreds held other nationalities; some 50 were Muslims. Secondly, the center is projected to be 13-storys, not the mosque. And, lastly, the people building the mosque did not declare war on Americans; they are dedicated to bridging the gap between Muslims and the West.
Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer says the placement of the center is akin to the construction of a German heritage center in Auschwitz ignoring the fact that the death camp was built by a state while the perpetrators of 9-11 were 22 fanatics harboring a skewed interpretation of Islam. Almost every Muslim leader condemned their crimes and the fact that Muslims would like a place of worship near to where the World Trade Center twin towers once stood should be considered as a mark of respect. Furthermore, the Cordoba Initiative says it plans to include a memorial to 9/11 victims as part of the proposed project.
Palin and Krauthammer have dismissed the deaths of over 50 Muslims on that terrible day in their calculations as though their loved ones count for nothing. If anything, Muslims have been the greatest victims of 9-11, for without it the US would not have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq — wars that have robbed up to a million Muslims of their lives.
If Ground Zero is hallowed ground, their hallowed ground is being trampled by tanks and armored personnel carriers or stained red with the blood of innocent civilians that are dying as a result of those ongoing occupations almost daily.
However, the award for the nastiest critic has to go to Terry Jones, the deranged senior pastor of a church at the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida, who is probably the most hate-filled "Man of God" on the planet. In retaliation for the mosque project, he is planning to incinerate Qur'ans on the anniversary of the attacks and is calling for affiliated religious groups to join his "International Burn a Qur'an Day".
Clearly this bigoted person has no idea that the "Peoples of the Book" — Christians, Muslims and Jews — worship the same one God and revere His prophets Adam, Abraham and Moses. He may also be interested to know that Islam considers Jesus as a respected prophet. Perhaps he should read Surah Mariam (Mary) before he ignites his matches and illuminates his ignorance.
Nevertheless, it might be sensible for the Cordoba Initiative to rethink the location of the center, which risks becoming a target for lunatics and haters — the sort of people who in earlier days would have had a Klu Klux Klan hood in their closet along with a hangman's rope. Let them stew in their own loathsome juices rather than incite Islamophobia to be unleashed on Muslim Americans, who have already suffered enough.
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