When the Islamophobic furor against the proposed Muslim community center two-and-a-half blocks away from Ground Zero began to peak in mid-late July, some people wondered why it was occurring now, nine years after the 9/11 attacks. As the New York Times recently noted, an article published in the paper “last December about the project drew little negative comment.” Daisy Khan, the wife of the imam who is spearheading the Cordoba House, told the Times that the possibility of their project being controversial “never occurred” to them.
But there is no reason to be surprised at the anger over the community center. While others have pointed to the economy, or to the recent surge in thwarted homegrown “terror” plots, to explain the anger over the community center, one can read what’s being played out as simply a continuation–albeit a much more intense strain–of the virulent anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiment that began after the September 11 attacks. Specifically, the concocted controversy over the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA) in 2007 should have set off alarm bells about the power of Islamophobic activists whose aim is to shut Muslims and Arabs out of American public life. The Brooklyn academy, the nation’s first dual-language Arabic public school, barely survived an onslaught of racist right-wing attacks against the school. Unfortunately, the founding principal, Debbie Almontaser, was not spared, and fell victim to an orchestrated smear campaign not unlike the one now targeting Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
There are many parallels between the controversies around the Cordoba House and KGIA: both of the project’s leaders–Rauf and Almontaser–are well-known and respected interfaith leaders in New York City; both campaigns were begun by right-wing, Islamophobic blogs and leaders and were only later picked up by mainstream media; and both campaigns smeared Islam and demonstrated a profound ignorance about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Imam Rauf is currently being tarred as a “radical Muslim” who supports al-Qaeda and wants to build the Muslim community center to celebrate “Islamic triumphalism.” Almontaser, too, was painted as a Muslim radical and a “9/11 denier” whose school would secretly indoctrinate students to hate America and Israel and support sharia law. The hysteria about Rauf and Almontaser misses basic, sobering facts about the two leaders: both of them have demonstrated a profound commitment to interfaith understanding between Muslims and other groups in the U.S. after 9/11 and have sought to fight anti-Arab and anti-Muslim stereotypes. Rauf is a Sufi Muslim leader in New York who, as Fareed Zakaria in Newsweek put it, “speaks of the need for Muslims to live peacefully with all other religions…emphasizes the commonalities among all faiths…advocates equal rights for women, and argues against laws that in any way punish non-Muslims…His vision of Islam is bin Laden’s nightmare.” Almontaser was described as “the city’s most visible Arab-American woman” in an excellent profile of her written by the New York Times’ Andrea Elliott:
After 9/11, Education Department officials had enlisted Ms. Almontaser to hold workshops on cultural sensitivity for schoolchildren. She spread the message that Islam was a peaceful religion. She told of how her own son had served as a National Guardsman in the clearing effort at ground zero. She was soon attending interfaith seminars, befriending rabbis and priests. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg honored her publicly.
But none of these facts seem to matter to the bigots who are trying to take down Rauf and the proposed community center, or who successfully forced Almontaser to resign as head of KGIA.
The current drive against the Islamic community center in Lower Manhattan was started by, as Salon‘s Justin Elliott has shown, “third-tier right-wing blogs, including Pamela Geller’s Atlas Shrugs site,” and quickly moved to the New York Post, as well as other mainstream media outlets. Republican politicians have now taken up the cause, and it’s impossible to turn on cable news and not see a racist rant directed against Muslims in the U.S. The anti-Cordoba House movement has now reached a fever pitch, but it has not yet invented the “smoking gun” that would mean the downfall of the initiative, as they did in the case of Almontaser.
There was a similar trajectory in the case of Almontaser and KGIA. As soon as plans for the school were announced in February 2007, Pamela Geller and friends begun a campaign to shut what they called a “madrassa in New York’s public school system” down. Daniel Pipes, a neoconservative author who has made a career out of stoking fears of Muslims and Arabs in the Western world, and the so-called “Stop the Madrassa” coalition, were instrumental in the targeting of KGIA. Soon after the school was announced, assisted by columns by Pipes that mis-characterized and lied about the school, the story migrated to the New York Sun and eventually the New York Post. Almontaser’s downfall came after the Post labeled her the “‘intifada’” principal, as I reported for the Indypendent in September 2008:
The intense media focus on KGIA peaked when the New York Post picked up the story. The DOE pressured Almontaser to agree to an interview with the Post. In an Aug. 6, 2007, article, the Post declared that Almontaser “defended” the use of the word “intifada” on a t-shirt made by Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media (AWAAM), a group whose only connection to Almontaser was that she was on the board of a Yemeni-American organization that at times shared office space with AWAAM.
On Aug. 9, Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, following what Almontaser says was a directive from Mayor Bloomberg, forced Almontaser to resign as KGIA principal, saying that either she or the academy had to go.
“That was the most horrendous and devastating 24 hours of my life,” Almontaser says. “To experience working with people who admired me and respected me and who believed in me, and then just to see a complete shift, basically saying that ‘you’re the problem’ … was absolutely devastating.”
The quote used by the Post to claim that Almontaser “defended” the use of the word “intifada” on a shirt was found later to have been “inaccurately reported by The Post and then misconstrued by the press,” according to a federal appeals court. In March of this year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that New York City’s Department of Education “succumbed to the very bias that the creation of the school was intended to dispel, and asmall segment of the public succeeded in imposing its prejudices on the DOE as an employer.”
The conflating of Islam with terrorism and a demonstrated ignorance about the religion is another common feature of the furor over KGIA and the Cordoba House. The opposition to the Islamic community center can only be justified by asserting collective Muslim guilt for the attacks of September 11, despite the fact that many Muslims died during the attack and the fact that al-Qaeda has killed more Muslims that any other religious group in the world. Furthermore–and this is not to say that other sects of Islam aren’t also peaceful– Sufi Islam, which Imam Rauf is an adherent to, “couldn’t be farther from the violent Wahhabism of the jihadists. [Rauf's] videos and sermons preach love, the remembrance of God (or “zikr”) and reconciliation,” as William Dalrymple writes today in the Times.
In the case of KGIA, Pipes claimed that “Arabic instruction is heavy with Islamist and Arabist overtones and demands.” According to Pipes, any teaching of Arabic is bound to promote Islamism–which, in Pipes’ world, is all one and the same, an ideology that promotes terrorism and al-Qaeda.
Lastly, let’s turn to the Israel-Palestine angle. Imam Rauf has been pilloried for not condemning the Palestinian Hamas movement as a “terrorist organization,” as they are labeled by the U.S. State Department. When asked about Hamas and terrorism, Rauf said, “Look, I’m not a politician. The issue of terrorism is a very complex question.” And he’s exactly right. The State Dept. list of “terrorist groups” is a highly politicized grouping. “Terrorism,” in mainstream parlance, has no real meaning besides armed struggle against the West and Israel. If you support the U.S. or Israel, you’re not a terrorist.
To simply call Hamas a “terrorist” group is a disservice to understanding what Hamas, an Islamist movement, is. Hamas has committed terrorist acts; but by the same token, so has the U.S. and Israel, but on a far larger scale. Hamas is resisting a brutal occupation, whereas Israel is focused on continuing their colonization of Palestinian lands.
Almontaser attempted to explain the origin of the word “intifada,” which appeared on t-shirts made by Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media. The Post, in the article that led to Almontaser’s forced resignation, spun her explanation as “downplaying” the significance of the t-shirts and the word intifada. The Post reported that the “inflammatory tees boldly declare ‘Intifada NYC’ – apparently a call for a Gaza-style uprising in the Big Apple.” Further down in the story, they quote Pamela Hall, who fought against KGIA, as saying, “Intifada is a war. Isn’t that what Arafat had?” Intifada, as Almontaser tried to explain in that Post article, “basically means ‘shaking off.’ That is the root word if you look it up in Arabic.” As for what the Palestinian uprisings were: The first Palestinian intifada was largely nonviolent. And the second intifada, as Neve Gordon pointed out in his book Israel’s Occupation, began as a nonviolent popular uprising, but only turned violent after Israel brutally suppressed the uprising, firing 1.3 million bullets into the West Bank and Gaza Strip after Israeli security forces were directed to “fan the flames”, as Haaretz’s Akiva Eldar reported in 2004.
These misunderstandings and distortions about the situation in occupied Palestine have added fuel to the Islamophobic fire.
The lesson of the KGIA controversy should have been that Islamophobes hold a disturbing amount of power in the United States and that anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiment needs to be combated. So it’s no surprise that Islamophobia continues to be a potent political weapon. Perhaps we should take this opportunity to double-down on our efforts to combat Islamophobia, so when the next furor over Islam in the U.S. comes–and it will–education and activism can successfully tamp down these dangerous games being played. If we didn’t learn that lesson after KGIA, we better learn it now.
This article originally appeared on Alex Kane's blog.
Thanks Alex, the Islamophobia and for the discovery of for me rather surprising arsonist circles was what got me interested in our larger subject. The very, very best Alex.
The problem is politicians who cave in to these hate campaigns instead of denouncing them for what they are. Barack Hussein Obama being the primary example of caving in.
The mistake that people make is apologizing for Islam. When antisemites go on a tear accusing Jews, do people go on the defensive and start apologizing for Judaism? No, they call in Abe Foxman and go on the offensive against the haters. Islamophobia is the issue and it has to be made the issue in every reponse.
thanks for making that point, potsherd.
thanks to Alex Kane, also, but I found this sentiment troubling:
It’s troubling because it puts Islam in a defensive posture and suggests that all people should tolerate Islam to the extent that Islam represents what WE want it to represent.
Iran is frequently cast in this same frame: “We support, ie. Iran’s Green movement because or to the extent that Iranians express western values.
In both cases, the “other” remains “othered:” Islam is neither understood nor afforded respect on its own terms, and neither is Iran; both are deemed acceptable only to the extent that they take on characteristics acceptable to westerners.
write this large, potsherd: “The mistake that people make is apologizing for Islam,” and “Islamophobia [and Iranophobia] are the issue[s] and they have to be made the issue in every response.”
Hatred is not acceptable.
As long as the mainstream media is controlled by extreme Zionists, this hate campaign against all Muslims was inevitable. It was inevitable as far back as 1967: The New York Times not putting the Israeli sustained air and sea attack on the USS Liberty was extreme Zionism. It never lets up. It won’t end until some large segment of ordinary Americans visibly turns against the Zionists, speaks out clearly, and politicians are up against the wall to respond. That could happen to politicians in either party. Look for the presidential primaries where they have to face the voters directly.
should have said, “The New York Times not putting the attack on the Liberty on Page 1″ – still mindboggling that the Times buried that story inside the paper.
Incidentally , today , G.Smith in an article in http://www.antiwar.com
‘The Israel Lobby Swims The Atlantic.” about the steep corruption of US promoted by AZC/AIPAC/money laundering loop beteween US and Israel and false news stage managed by Israelis from 1960s shines enough light to understand the current media frenzy. The descendents have not changed but their future is going to.
Now this is what I’m talking about: link to voices.washingtonpost.com
I don’t normally have much to say for Pelosi, but she wins big points for this:
I find it curious that the problem is being blamed on ignorant, right-wing bigots. It seems to me that what is happening is a highly effective Zionist agitprop campaign promoting the “clash of civilizations” mythology. Geller and Pipes are both Zionist Jews, New York is the center of Zionist power, yet, Alex Kane seems to be tip toeing around the obvious reality.
Keith ~ you’re sounding a rather conspiratorial with “New York is the center of Zionist power”, but I do agree that Israel is what motivates Geller. I read enough Objectivism when I was younger to know Geller doesn’t give a flying fig for Rand or Objectivism. Naming her blog “Atlas Shrugs” is just pure marketing designed, I presume, to attract a certain sort of patriotic but gullible American. She mentions Israel regularly, is obsessed with Hamas, and used to write for Israel National News (Arutz Sheva), the religious zionist settler media organisation. Highlights (writing after Anapolis):
“And Israel took it like the ghetto Jew. They should have walked out like any self-respecting human would have done. But no, they lowered the bar yet again. Offering all and getting nothing. Sheba Farms, Golan, Jerusalem – all of it in play. The post-Oslo Jew has returned to the pre-Holocaust mentality of the “ghetto Jew.” The Jew who doesn’t want to be noticed, the Jew who will do anything to appease those who hate us, just to live in peace. Instead of asserting our rights, our will, that we have a right, that we are the rightful heirs of Israel and Jerusalem, we are acting as if we have no rights. Instead, we are begging – begging – our enemies to recognize us and accept us!” Behaving like beggars! And the silence of American Jews – well, it’s the ghetto mentality mixed with those who have assimilated into American culture: the “let’s not rock the boat” crowd.”
‘United States: State Sponsor of Judeophobia’
link to israelnationalnews.com
A bloodthirsty rant on first Hamas then muslims and Palestinians in general:
“These savages must be crushed. Any sign of weakness is their victory. The only thing savages understand is strength.”
“Abul Kasem, an ex-Muslim author, has said that “Islam needs blood to thrive. Human blood is the life-line of Islam, violence its hallmark, and hate its foundation.”"
“In the 1970s, Israeli leaders like the late great Golda Meir knew how to fight terrorists. After the Munich massacre she made sure to send agents out to assassinate those involved.” [She neglects to mention Meir also ordered the bombing of Palestinian refugee camps in Syria and Lebanon in the days after Munich, killing about 250 people completely unrelated to the Munich incident. Three Syrian fighter jets were downed in the process. This incident marks the time the US began using it's veto power regularly at the UN to protect Israel from global condemnation, under US/UN Ambassador George HW Bush. I presume Geller doesn't know about the camp bombings, else she would celebrate it]
“Appeasement never works, Churchill knew this when confronted with Hitler, as did many of Israel’s earlier Prime Ministers when fighting the PLO, as did Jonathan Netanyahu and the late Rabbi Meir Kahane , who was assassinated by an Arab terrorist in New York in the winter of 1990.” [Rabbi Meir Kahane - who called for all Palestinians to be expelled from the OPTs, Rabbi Meir Kahane - whose group JDL bombed the LA theatre Vanessa Redgrave's documentary "The Palestinians" was playing at during the 70s, prompting Redgrave's famous 'Zionist Hoodlums' speech at the Oscars, and Rabbi Meir Kahane - Baruch Goldstein's mentor. Only after Goldstein machine 180 muslims in a mosque (killing 29) was the JDL outlawed.]
” What’s missing is the “Never Again” slogan I grew up with as a child, the JDL buttons with Jewish fist raised in defiance, the message which conveyed, “Try and kill a Jew and you will pay; we will hunt you down wherever you are. We will not be like lambs going to the slaughter.”
Gold Meir is weeping.
We cannot worry about what the world thinks about us; we have to protect our own people. It’s time for new leadership, a new government and a new consciousness which says: “You kill or kidnap one Jew and we will retaliate by killing hundreds of you.” It’s time to start killing terrorists like Kuntar, instead of leaving them alive in prison as some kind of bargaining chips, in order to let the enemy know that Jewish life sacred”
‘Feeding the Crocodile’
link to israelnationalnews.com
Quoting Anne Bayefsky at UN HCR, on the Goldstone Report:
“The Goldstone mission will go down in history as the 21st century’s equivalent to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion – a notorious work of fiction which spun a conspiratorial web of deceit and distortion that has fueled hatred of Jews ever since. At its core, the Goldstone Report repeats the ancient blood libel against the Jewish people – the allegation of bloodthirsty Jews intent on butchering the innocent.”
On the UN and Oslo:
“Yet, the UN is now completely a tool of the Organization of Islamic Conference. What good has it done? Where is Gilad Shalit? What happened to the terms of Resolution 1701? Meaningless. Every condition, every promise made to Israel is flushed like so much toilet paper. Can someone point me to one condition met by the Muslims in Gaza, Samaria and Judea since Israel capitulated to Bill Clinton at Oslo?”
Fabulous Israel:
“..while Israel handed over piece after piece of Jewish land in an illogical and suicidal act of desperation and a desperate desire for peace. Islamic jihad exploits the goodness of the Jews and their love of life.”
‘Obama’s Policies Bear Fruit’ [worth a read to hear her fawn over John Bolton]
link to israelnationalnews.com
As I wrote a few days ago, Dutch islamaphobe/Israelophile Geert Wilders will be speaking at Gellers September 11 anti-Cordoba rally, as will Bolton.
For the masochist, the rest of Gellers Arutz Sheva articles:
link to israelnationalnews.com
As for me, ugh, I’m all Geller-ed out.
edit:
“Only after Goldstein machine-gunned 180 muslims in a mosque..”
The American masses are already so indoctrinated with Islamofacism buzz thoughts that Jerry Springer and the mayor of NY can take the high ground of the First Amendment, the insurance perch against any eventual slippery slope beyond the Muslim catch fence.
I spoke too soon.
The most hair-raising video I’ve seen in ages, Pamela Geller’s preferred Presidential candidate for 2016, endorsing the nuclear annihilation of Pakistan:
link to loonwatch.com
The media is responsible for fanning the flames of this embarrassing state/media bigotry that we are continuing to witness as we approach these mid-term elections.
I am not sure what is worse, the xenophobe politicians, or their supporters. It seems like bigotry is ok, if done by politicians, but when some low level thugs do it, it’s a crime.
When the country gets in this state of frenzy, it is never a good thing. They likely are stirring up bigoted hate and will redirect that anger toward Iran. Seems like a decent half-baked strategy for the second string neocons, with the help of the ADL and the political class politicians.
Maybe I’m being overly optimistic here, but despite all the hate-filled rants I also see people furiously defending the right of Muslim-Americans to build the cultural centre in the area (obviously Mr. Pres isn’t one of them).
There are two possible outcomes to this – either the organisers back away from the project and the US will have taken her first steps towards self-destruction.
Or the project will go ahead and the US will have passed probably its toughest test in a century.
–
Regarding the HAMAS terrorist question, I think it’s highly hypocritical of the US when the state department never listed the IRA as a terror organisation. Both Hamas and the IRA formed under similar circumstances and have(had) similar goals (minus the religious baggage). To describe one as a terror organisation and not the other, says it all.
No one objects to Presbyterian churches in OKC.
Somebody forgot to tell Ohio:
Terrorist Exclusion List
As of March 16, 2009
U.S. Department of State List of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations
11. Continuity Irish Republican Army (Northern Ireland)
link to publicsafety.ohio.gov
There have been several different IRAs over the years, the Provisional IRA (the main one, responsible for most of the attacks) disbanded recently as a result of the Good Friday Agreement. The continuity IRA (along with other groups) are Republicans who want little to do with the peace process.
In a country where one of the ultimate taboos is anti-Semitism, how are we to reconcile a United States where open hatred and bigotry against Muslims becomes a winning narrative for Republicans and spineless Democrats like Harry Reid?
Consider the following:
1. The outpouring of hatred when Rima Fakih, a Muslim-American, was crowned Miss America. (Check out Debbie Schlossel’s racist rant here: link to u.nu
2. When Muslim-American soldier Nadal Hasan went insane and shot 12 of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, the media depicted American Muslims as the “enemy within” our armed forces. link to u.nu
3. The freak out about the underwear bomber. (Sorry, this one’s about the jokes: link to politicalhumor.about.com
Now the “Ground Zero Mosque” “controversy.”
Seems there’s a lot of noise being made to dehumanize the Muslims, and to create a sense of collective punishment for 9/11. This is shockingly racist and bigoted, yet even Foxy Abe Foxman can say with a straight face that Park51 should move the facility and claim not to be on the side of bigots.
Why? Because it’s incredibly important for the MSM to demonize the world’s Muslim population to agitate the fly-over states of America to pound the table for a war in Iran, even if it will destroy the country’s economy, result in $10 a gallon gas prices, and cost tens of thousands of American lives.
As Netanyahu himself said, “America is an easy thing to move.” So there goes your proof.
I really hope the Republicans go for this issue. I’m hoping that Islamophobia becomes a losing issue for them, that Americans can see their hate campaign for what it is.
Said Americans do not see they are involved in a hate campaign. They piously say they are for the First Amendment and equal treatment of Muslims–except the stone age Islamofacist branches which hate us and our way of life. If you point out to them the moderate nature of some Arabs, including those involved in developing the mosque/community center at GZ, they see no inconsistency in saying if those people want to
exchange respect as between faiths then they should show it by putting their mosque far away from GZ. Hence they deny collective punishment
of Muslims while simultaneously advocating for it. Anyone taking the straight First Amendment position is felt to be unpatriotic, ungrateful for our martyred heroes and their families. They call this emotional illogic “common sense.” Unfortunately, it is just that.
Citizen, and notice how they must preface their comments with,
“I’m not a bigot, but…”
check out some of the coverage at Landmarks Preservation Commission:
link to politifi.com
Citizen – as you were saying – it’s like having your first amendment while putting a stake in it too.
Or, like the master aid to the slave: “of course I believe you are human; just don’t go out and flaunt it now”.
You touch on all the memorable points about how the media treats Muslims. Never once have they said, Islam is a religion of peace. It’s really tragic how Jews were persecuted this way, and now they in large part, they are responsible for this bigotry directed at Muslims.
But the America rubes that sit on the couch and form insights from television punditry, are left in the dark to rot. They are a sad lot in sum, as they only watch spineless politicians double deal while looking to Hollywood to produce another hero they can worship for a few months.
Netanyahu’s comments, sadly, does ring true. Society in general is uniformed about the Middle East. This country is seen as an uniformed population that can easily be taken advantage of.
Obama’s equivocation is a disgrace — typically. And although the furor by right-wing “grassroots” may be an expression of misguided ignorance, it is stoked by truly despicable, racist politicians like Gingrich, who are consciously lying about the issue. Ironically, the “Islamist” school from which Almontasar was forced to resign was named after the Christian Arab-American Khalil Gibran. Of course, the existence of Christian Arabs is an inconvenient fact that Zionist terror warriors would like to erase as it does not fit with the paradigm they are promoting on behalf of Israel.
and the Muslims behind the mosque “center” effort could be more savvy and sophisticated in selling their message … I heard one woman associated with it on Democracy Now (PBS television) who pointed out that the building sat vacant for 9 years prior to their efforts; that they started the process in 1999; and that every local public comment and agency up until 2001 supported it – and she is the only spokesperson for it that seemed to have a cogent and rational presentation of the arguments which negated the opposition stances … it has clearly become politicized and the Muslims behind it had better play at a higher level if they are going to pursue the 1st Amendment course all the way or just be more practical and put it somewhere else
radii,
I’m afraid of being a Muslim in America for the first time in my life, after hearing so much hatred and bigotry coming from such a broad base of American society. I look at my neighbors, and people that I see while grocery shopping, the lady at the checkout lane, the mailman that I wave at, and I wonder what they really think of Muslims. I didn’t even feel like this when 9/11 happened.
If the Muslims behind the Cordoba project decide to build elsewhere, then be sure that it’s not going to be a pretty ride for Muslims in American from there on. We have to stick fast to our rights, and no matter what happens, this mosque should be build if we Muslims are to survive in the post-Bush, post 9/11 era.
I would be afraid also. And I am afraid of where this issue is headed regarding the mosque. These people should be wearing white hoods when they proclaim their veiled hatred of Islam, masked beneath claims of ‘the insensitivity to the victims of 9-11′. what a bunch of sick jokers, indeed.
But the media corporations are the ones fueling this fire. This topic of the downtown mosque in Manhattan, also recently occurred Staten Island, and then Brooklyn [in the past 3 months]. The media gave an open microphone to bigots in these neighborhoods as well.
These bigots said some of the nastiest things and then went undisputed. (made me thing of the jim crow south) NBC, ABC, CBS were all to blame here. Although it was a small neighborhood issue, the media newscasters, should have said “these views are not supported by our station” or “all Muslims are not terrorists, but it is a religion of peace”. They never even disputed these bigots that were so quick to condemn a religion.
I think that these smaller case studies, paved the groundwork for the downtown mosque. Now that the media agitators have gotten this issue hot enough, it’s now spreading to the rest of the nation. This is ugly and it illustrates a political class, that will gamble with minorities rights, which are guaranteed under the constitution.
Keep up the fight. It’s all we can do.
Saleema,
It is certainly a pity that you and other Muslims in America are feeling the stink eye in the wake of this manufactured wedge-issue Karl Rove-style non-issue taking the lead on so many news and information outlets … the ugly results (intolerance and even violence) that wedge politics have debased to since 2000 are breathtaking … no outrageous lie or negative-association attempt to rally the right-wingers and jingoists and xenophobes seems out-of-bounds anymore … just proudly be yourself – that’s your best defense until this wave of idiocy and lowest-common-denominator politics cycles through … if the Cordoba project is going to fight it all the way they need a better front-and-center spokesperson who frames the issue clearly in terms of the 1st Amendment and stays on message
Saleema, I agree with you that the Cordova house planners need to stick with their project, even as so many – even radii above – point out that it would be more “practical’ to put it “somewhere else”. Many of the most significant first amendment battles are not about what’s “practical” or “convenient” but about what’ right. The issues are often about venturing out of the comfort zone into an area of principle, even when it’s the hard way. American history is full of examples that ultimately it’s those who stick to their guns in pursuit of principle that win the day, even if such “win” mean inconvenience for some.
As a current example, the ongoing battle over gay marriage comes to mind. Many feel the idea itself is peculiar, to say the least. Some believe that letting gays marry tramples upon the very concept of marriage, and go all apoplectic. Still others ask why aren’t civil unions enough – why does it have to be this particular institution? and some, of course, raise the question – what next? marriage between three people? incest? But a funny thing seems to be happening – even as all these points are made and considered, and everyone had a say and vented their discomfort with the very idea of it, the arguments seem to be losing both their bite and their bite, the opposition shrinking faster than anyone could have expected even 5 years ago. Why? because the gay people stuck to their guns instead of skulking away with a few peanuts – in the name of ‘getting along” and not violating most people’s ‘sensitivities”. It’s as if suddenly people realized that since “they” feel so passionately about it and since it is important enough for “them” to keep fighting this uphill battle, while it’s really not all that important to “us” (as in the “straights”), maybe the practical thing is for the rest of “us” find a way to live with it, so that we can all move on, even if wincing all the way. I use this a an example because clearly the issue of gay marriage challenges people’s comfort zone, whether religious, secular, liberal or conservative. Yet, something is clearly giving way – collectively. It’s like we can all see it coming, so why spend so much energy fighting the inevitable?
Fighting an uphill battle – which is what many first amendment battles are all about (almost by definition) – even – and especially -in the face of concerted opposition from high and low, is the only way to get respect in the end, at least in America. So I agree with you, that if the muslim community behind park 51 were to fold up, it’d spell trouble for all future battles, as it’d be taken as caving in, and shows they could be pushed. After all, what’s more American than to show that the first amendment is important enough to fight for – as a principle?
Great article on the underlying theme of what is going on. What I have the hardest time understanding is where are the religious leaders–Catholic bishops, Protestant ministers, and rabbis, in addition to imams? Where are the leaders of various minority/ethnic organizations? It is rather pathetic that we all cling on to the words of Michael Bloomberg, Jon Stuwart and Barak Obama. This is a classic case of the “squeaky wheel” getting the largest attention syndrome. Facts, common sense, and legality make no difference. Constitution and laws don’t mean anything unless they are enforced. Courage is becoming an increasingly rare commodity in America. Courage is becoming the “limiting” factor in making any progress.
“What I have the hardest time understanding is where are the religious leaders–Catholic bishops, Protestant ministers, and rabbis, in addition to imams? Where are the leaders of various minority/ethnic organizations?”
They are there lohdennis, they are just not invited to the market place. Ostensibly they are shut out, purposefully – and than people say “where are they?” The direction of the dominant media is never to ask them for anything, unless, of course, it supposedly puts them in a bad light.
While Americans for the most part, still avail themselves of these skewed “news reporters, journalists.” The people remain struggling in the day to day world trying to survive, exhausted, trying to make enough money to obtain what they are told that they need. They almost brainlessly slip into a comma with their TV remote controls clutched tightly in their hand…
and where are the left-leaning groups that support religious freedom? Shouldn’t they all wear the burkas and kufis and protest in front of the building?
It might help insular bigoted family, sitting on their couches, to see some light-skinned Americans standing up for the constitution and religious minorities.
Great article, Alex. Excellent job.
I just found out two days ago that Imam Rauf is a Sufi. A Sufi. As someone wrote on HuffPo, “that’s like indicting Bambi.”
great article alex
That last December there was little public reaction to the initial announcement about building this Islamic Center, yet now all this media commotion, what does this tell us? That the MSM/fascist alliance has the ability to sit on a story for as long as it takes said story to “ripen”, and then, presto, a contrived uproar that takes place mostly at the top (media, politicians), with the public barely noticing. Oh yes, a poll will be produced for the purpose of proving that, indeed, the public is concerned about the matter, but, hey, how reliable could such a poll be when Manhattanites support the presence of an Islamic Center in their borough. Which suggests that if supporters of the Islamic Center vigorously challenged those who instigated the uproar, the controversy would be over in almost no time. So come on, supporters of the Center, get mad, raise your voices, be righteous and shame these haters!
Why now?
Because those people in Congress, the White House and the mainstream media need artificial issues to distract their populace from what really matters in November, when elections are held: Ending the wars, ending Guantanamo and torture, prosecuting the war criminals in all parties, stopping the Zionist domination of Middle East policy, stop the deficit, prosecute BP not only for its disregard for the safety of the well, but also for the ensuing cover-up.
That doesn’t mean that most of the mosques opponents are artificial or that there are no bigots in American society, it may only explain the timing, which was one of Alex’ questions.
Thanks Alex for this article and (among other things) calling out the hater Pamela Geller.
Lauren Lyster did an AWESOME interview with Geller a few weeks ago on Russia Today:
‘Pamela Geller: ‘Hitler Inspired by Islam’
link to youtube.com
In addition to the grotesque content Lyster mentions on Geller’s blog, Geller has also called for the destruction of the Dome of the Rock mosque – because it is apparently sitting on top of a jewish temple:
“On Erev Yom Kippur, Muslims attack Jews in Jerusalem. The dome has got to go. It is sitting atop the great Jewish temple. The dome has got to go. It’s time to push back and stop indulging evil.”
link to atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com
Obama is Malcolm X’s love child (though she now denies it, still, she posted the article):
link to atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com
As well as demolishing the Dome of the Rock, according to Geller, Israel should (if Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran launch a nuke at Israel – like this is about to happen) unleash all her nukes, and direct them at Tehran, Mecca, Medina …and Europe. For laughs I’ll quote a paragraph from Loonwatch documenting Geller’s looniness:
“Lets take a trip over the rainbow into loonyland where we will meet the Queen loon blogger Pamela Geller. Once here we must suspend all reality and truth. Here Barack Obama is a Mooslim who is furthering Jihad and working to destroy Israel. Israel is light and goodness and vanilla ice cream fighting against the evil, dark smelly hordes of Izzzlaaaaaaaaaam. The Mooslims have taken over everything and must be destroyed before they destroy us.”
link to loonwatch.com
Now remind yourself that Newt Gingrich, John Bolton and various other politicians are speaking at Geller’s anti-Cordoba demonstration on Sept 11. Marvel at how low the GOP has sunk, and how much lower the MSM have sunk for not banishing Gingrich, Geller and co. to wacko-land obscurity.
Sumud :
Yeah, it’s getting pretty funny to see all these gaudy, self-appointed pundits foam at the mouth.
If you’re feeling a bit masochistic and want to “take a walk on the wild side”, you could also look at :
link to youtube.com
Courtesy of Frank Gaffney Jr. and company
You might want to take a Dramamine pill beforehand
link to thenation.com
Ugh, LB. I find Hannity so hard to watch – he’d have to be one of the rudest people in the history of television. I’d so like to peel back that rug and see what’s underneath.
But thanks, I’m not surprised Gaffney the hawk is now masquerading as a feminist and expert on sharia law. Really, can it get any more obvious how complicit MSM has been with the neocon/war profiteers agenda? It’s just grotesque. We must never speak of the military-industrial complex again – it’s the military-industrial-media complex:
link to en.wikipedia.org
And how’s the CSP tagline?
“Promoting Peace Through Strength”
AKA Promoting Peace Through War
Typical double-speak.
Have you heard the high profile pundits saying we will allow mosques here when Saudi Arabia allows churches there? Now there’s a high standard for the First Amendment. Since when is alleged bad taste a constitutionally legit reason to strip out the rights of American citizens that own land to do with that land as they see fit so long as they don’t violate the local zoning laws? Why don’t those who wish to honor the nearby place of martyrdom pool their money and buy that particular parcel from the people with bad taste and then decide what to do with it themselves?
Read more: link to time.com
Speaking of nauseating Newt, he’s quoted as saying that allowing a mosque to be built near the site of 9/11 would be tantamount to [this is a paraphrase] painting a swastika near a holocaust memorial.
I’ll see him and raise the pot with this analogy : flying an American flag outside of AIPAC headquarters.
“Beirut synagogue restored to glory, despite tensions with Israel”
www.haaretz.com 8/17/10
Was not Beirut destryoed a few times by Israel?
There are a number of muslim majority countries ( at least 30) from Indonesia through Kazakhistan to West coast of Africa including countries like Ethiopia and Lebanon and regions gripped in religious /territorail disputes like Kashmir, Chechynia, Dagestan , and Abhakazia who continue to exhibit and renovate and build churches.
If Saudia Arab is the normative for understanding US standard ,then religious minorities including Jewish people need to start thinking of their future.
I have to say that Rabbi Irwin Kula’s remarks on Democracy Now today really expressed perfectly everything about this faux-scandal, I was really blown away. It’s really worth watching, he says everything beautifully.
link to democracynow.org
Incidentally, Harry Reid, who has asked that the Mosque be built elsewhere, seems to be, according to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, the largest recipient of Pro Israel PAC contributions for 2010. I don’t know how reliable this info is, but :
link to wrmea.com
Is there a connection? I haven’t studied this.
I fell for it too. Shame…
Hilarious.
Pammy G is most unhappy on her latest blog post. After starting and running the campaign against Cordoba House, Geller is now complaining that CNN accuses her ..of starting and running the campaign against Cordoba House:
‘CNN ON GROUND ZERO MOSQUE: IT’S ALL GELLER’S FAULT!’
link to atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com
The Rachel Maddow also had a look in, though they ignored her toxic incitements and went instead for the absurd:
‘Who Is Pamela Geller?’
link to youtube.com
It’s really this simple – how many opponents of the Islamic Cultural Center/Mosque also happen to support an Israeli [or better still] an American attack against Iran for it’s nuclear energy research program?
I suspect that the overlap in the two categories is quite considerable.
Opponents of the ICC point to foreign funding and imply that the ICC’s leadership has a secret agenda. It’a amazing that the folks at the Cordoba Project do not do a little research of their own, and publicly ask if the opponents of the Cordoba Project themselves do not have a secret [or not-so-secret] agenda, one which coincidentally serves the interests of Israel.
I’m waiting for the Cordoba Project leadership to grow a pair and take off the gloves here.
On this evening’s KPFA Flashpoints, Ali Abunimah told Dennis Bernstein that, especially after Obama’s backtracking on the Cordoba Project, Abunimah fears that a political Kristallnacht may have been started. He noted that Kristallnach began after a German-born Polish Jew assassinated a German diplomat in Paris and instantly there were no longer Jews of different persuasions but all were declared to be dangerous extremists. Sound familiar? The latest Democrat to join in the opposition to the building of the Muslim center is Howard Dean. Remember when he was thought to be a liberal?