Posted on 08/29/2010 12:34:53 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
I have been trying hard to find an explanation for the intense controversy surrounding the Cordoba Initiative, whereby 71 percent of Americans object to the proposed project of building a mosque next to Ground Zero.
I cannot agree with the theory that such broad resistance represents Islamophobic sentiments, nor that it is a product of a “rightwing” smear campaign against one imam or another.
Americans are neither bigots nor gullible.
Deep sensitivity to the families of 9/11 victims was cited as yet another explanation, but this too does not answer the core question.
If one accepts that the 19 fanatics who flew planes into the Twin Towers were merely self-proclaimed Muslims who, by their very act, proved themselves incapable of acting in the name of “true Islam,” then building a mosque at Ground Zero should evoke no emotion whatsoever; it should not be viewed differently than, say, building a church, a community center or a druid shrine.
A more realistic explanation is that most Americans do not buy the 19 fanatics story, but view the the 9/11 assault as a product of an anti- American ideology that, for good and bad reasons, has found a fertile breeding ground in the hearts and minds of many Muslim youngsters who see their Muslim identity inextricably tied with this anti-American ideology.
THE GROUND Zero mosque is being equated with that ideology. Public objection to the mosque thus represents a vote of no confidence in mainstream American Muslim leadership which, on the one hand, refuses to acknowledge the alarming dimension that anti-Americanism has taken in their community and, paradoxically, blames America for its creation.
The American Muslim leadership has had nine years to build up trust by taking proactive steps against the spread of anti-American terror-breeding ideologies, here and abroad.
Evidently, however, a sizable segment of the American public is not convinced that this leadership is doing an effective job of confidence building.
In public, Muslim spokespersons praise America as the best country for Muslims to live and practice their faith. But in sermons, speeches, rallies, classrooms, conferences and books sold at those conferences, the narrative is often different. There, Noam Chomsky’s conspiracy theory is the dominant paradigm, and America’s foreign policy is one long chain of “crimes” against humanity, especially against Muslims.
Affirmation of these conspiratorial theories sends mixed messages to young Muslims, engendering anger and helplessness: America and Israel are the first to be blamed for Muslim failings, sufferings and violence.
Terrorist acts, whenever condemned, are immediately “contextually explicated” (to quote Tariq Ramadan); spiritual legitimizers of suicide bombings (e.g. Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi of Qatar) are revered beyond criticism; Hamas and Hizbullah are permanently shielded from the label of “terrorist.”
Overall, the message that emerges from this discourse is implicit, but can hardly be missed: When Muslim grievance is at question, America is the culprit and violence is justified, if not obligatory.
True, we have not helped Muslims in the confidence-building process. Treating homegrown terror acts as isolated incidents of psychological disturbances while denying their ideological roots has given American Muslim leaders the illusion that they can achieve public acceptance without engaging in serious introspection and responsibility sharing for allowing victimhood, anger and entitlement to spawn such acts.
The construction of the Ground Zero mosque would further prolong this illusion.
If I were New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, I would reassert Muslims’ right to build the Islamic center and the mosque, but I would expend the same energy, not one iota less, in trying to convince them to put it somewhere else, or replace it with a community-managed all-faiths center in honor of the 9/11 victims.
Fellow Muslim Americans will benefit more from co-ownership of consensual projects than sole ownership of confrontational ones.
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The writer is a professor at UCLA and president of the Daniel Pearl Foundation, named after his son. He is a coeditor of I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl (Jewish Light, 2004), winner of the National Jewish Book Award.
I’m guessing the Maureen Dowds of the world, who claim the families of those murdered by terrorists have the moral high ground, won’t have much to say about this.
GOOD post!
BTTT!
>> I’m guessing the Maureen Dowds of the world, who claim the families of those murdered by terrorists have the moral high ground, won’t have much to say about this.
Selling out their memory for Sharia compliant business investments that involve the ME?
ROFLMAO - when was the last time that Maureen Dowd had anything cogent or relevant to say about anything of consequence?
I didn’t know Daniel Pearl’s dad was a UCLA prof.
I'll be more sympathetic to supporters of the "Ground Zero Mosque" when they can convince me that middle east children's television shows that tell children to put down their toys and pick up rocks contributes to 'dialogue'.
True, the developers of the mosque have every right to build there. And the opponents have every right to protest it.
But there are too many things that don't make sense -- such as a main player in the development being a waiter only a few years ago, but now being involved in a multi-million dollar project?
Too much money coming from sources unknown.
Sometimes, even when you are paranoid, there is someone who really is against you.
bump
OK, OK—SLUR something about this, ya happy now? ;)
2004 : (NY IMAM FEISAL RAUF WRITES "WHAT'S RIGHT WITH ISLAM" / "CALL FROM THE WTC RUBBLE " BOOK ----see GROUNDZEROMOSQUE) Whenever Feisal first considered building a mosque across from Ground Zero, he had the idea firmly in mind by 2004, when he wrote What’s Right with Islam. The book was translated into many languages. In Indonesia’s Bahasa, its title translates as “The Call from the WTC Rubble.” Rauf promoted the book in December 2007 at a Kuala Lumpur gathering of Hizb ut Tahrir (20)[20 http://hizbut-tahrir.or.id/2007/12/27/imam-masjid-al-farah-new-york-city-konstitusi-as-sesuai-syari%E2%80%99ah/ ] — an organization banned in Germany since 2003, and also outlawed in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, among other places — and ideologically akin to the MB. Both seek to replace the U.S. Constitution with Islamic law (sharia), and eventually impose Islam and sharia law worldwide. Most North American MB organizations avoid widely publicizing that aim. The HT [Hizb ut Tahrir ] however, at a July 2009 Khalifah conference at a suburban Chicago Hilton, openly promised to replace capitalism with Islam and sharia law (21) [21 “Hizb Ut-Tahrir: Shariah Takes Precedence over U.S. Constitution,” IPT News, July 20, 2009, http://www.investigativeproject.org/1100/hizb-ut-tahrir-shariah-takes-precedence-over-us, (viewed May 13, 2010). ]. ------ "The Ground Zero Mosque Developer: Muslim Brotherhood Roots, Radical Dreams," Pajamas Media ^ | May 14, 2010 | Alyssa A. Lappen Posted on Saturday, May 15, 2010 4:52:13 PM by thouworm)
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Gaza flotilla supporters include these people - a number of whom are supporters of Obama:
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On behalf of the U.S. BOAT TO GAZA,
Nic Abramson, Middle East Crisis Response
Elliott Adams, Past President, Veterans For Peace
Ujju Aggarwal
Laurie Arbeiter, Activist Response Team
Anna Baltzer, Human Rights Activist and Author
Russell Banks, Writer
Kahlil Bendib, Political Cartoonist
Medea Benjamin, Co-founder CODEPINK
Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies
Elaine Brower
Naomi Brussel, Activist Response Team
Allan Buchman, Founder and Artistic Director, The Culture Project
Leslie Cagan, Co-Founder United for Peace and Justice
Henry Chalfant, Film Maker
Kathleen Chalfant, New York
Cindy Corrie
Craig Corrie
Ellen Davidson, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA
Angela Y. Davis, University of California, Santa Cruz
Noor Elashi, Writer
Basem Emara, Gaza Freedom March
Kathy Engel, Poet
Hedy Epstein, Palestine Solidarity Committee, St. Louis, Missouri
Mike Ferner, National President, Veterans For Peace
Lisa Fithian, Alliance for Community Trainers
Felice Gelman, Gaza Freedom March
Jenny Heinz, Activist Response Team/Granny Peace Brigade
Jane Hirschmann, Jews Say No!
Jennifer Hobbs, New York City Attorney/Gaza Freedom March
Nubar Hovsepian, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies, Chapman University
Mary Hughes – Thompson, Free Gaza Movement
Abdeen Jabara, Past President, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Civil Rights Attorney
Tarak Kauff, Veterans for Peace
Kathy Kelly, Co-Coordinator, Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Eleanore Kennedy
Michael Kennedy
Mona Khalidi
Rashid Khalidi, Columbia University
Ramzi Kysia, Free Gaza Movement
Iara Lee, Cultures of Resistance/Freedom Flotilla Survivor
Karen Malpede, Playwright
Helaine Meisler, Hudson Valley BDS
Gail Miller, Women of a Certain Age
Fatima Mohammadi, Attorney at Law/Freedom Flotilla Survivor
Donna Nevel, Jews Say No!
Michael Ratner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights [SEE REVISIONIST 9/11 MEMORIAL MUSEUM MONSTROCITY]
Mariam Said, New York
Najla Said, Actor/Writer
Hannah Schwarzschild, American Jews for a Just Peace
Bert Shaw
Moira Shaw
Kathy Sheetz, Free Gaza – USA/Freedom Flotilla Survivor
Ann Shirazi, Granny Peace Brigade/Women of a Certain Age
Starhawk, Alliance of Community Trainers
Eleanor Stein, Albany Law School
Michael Steven Smith, New York City Attorney/Author
Vivian Stromberg, MADRE, Executive Director
Yifat Susskind, MADRE Policy/Communications Director
Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, Syracuse University
Alice Walker, Author
Darlene Wallach, Free Gaza Movement, Justice for Palestinians
Donna Wallach, Free Gaza Movement, Justice for Palestinians
Sarah Wellington, Activist Response Team
Diane Wilson, Writer/Activist
Ret. Col. Ann Wright, Freedom Flotilla Survivor
Rebecca Vilkomerson, Jewish Voice for Peace
Dorothy M. Zellner, Veteran Civil Rights Activist
Organizations listed for identification purposes only
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE GROWING LIST OF INDIVIDUAL ENDORSEMENTS
——— “NYC BOAT EVENT NOT TO BE MISSED(Flotilla named “Audacity of Hope”-funds raised by Rashid Khalidi),”
US to Gaza ^ | 07-22-2010 Posted on July 22, 2010 11:07:42 PM PDT by autumnraine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2557530/posts
> True, the developers of the mosque have every right to
> build there.
I must disagree.
When war is declared, embassies are closed and their staffs are sent home.
That is a step we need to take.
Islam has declared war on us and intends to eradicate Israel, exterminate the Jews, and subject the rest of humanity to compliance with their draconian, totalitarian, authoritarian, dictatorial “sharia” law.
Anybody who reads their literature, or peruses their web sites, or listens to their speeches, or knows what is taught in their “mosques” and how their children are indoctrinated, knows this.
Mosques should be recognized as the ambassadorial arm of an actively hostile, foreign threat.
They should be closed and their staffs sent home.
Americans involved in the movement should be watched, as were those sympathetic to Mussolini, Hitler, and Hirohito were watched.
This is a war of world wide proportions, high stakes and dire consequences for Western Civilization.
Muslim leadership “Has had nine years” to build trust. They haven’t.
Major point.
Me, either. I think it represents both a growing understanding of islam and a natural distaste for someone giving you the finger.
“a natural distaste for someone giving you the finger.”
giving you the finger while demanding that you bend over and grab your ankles...
“I sure believe that this mosque, if it happens, will be a memorial to the grand martyrs that accomplished their mission beyond their wildest dreams ... That will be a monument to celebrate and to remember who? To remember for sure the fifteen who completed their mission.” — David Beamer (Tod’s dad)
I work with some Lebanese Shiites and ask them what mosque they attend? Suburban Chicago has many of them. The answer is none around here!
They are all Sunni paid for by Saudi Arabia. They said they would be beaten for attending the other guys mosque! Among other things they hold there hands differently and would be spotted right away!
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