The "Ground-Zero Mosque"

by Jackson Dave

Our latest cultural flap may be one of our most puzzling: the “Ground-Zero Mosque.” Curiously, even among my circle of associates, polling produces shocking antipathy toward this project.

First, we must note that most of the principals involved in stirring up this pot were avid supporters of the Bush Administration while then President Bush made numerous overt gestures toward the moderate Moslem community.

Next, the proposed “Mosque” is not a Mosque; it’s a “cultural center”, complete with basketball court, auditorium, swimming pool, restaurants and a multitude of facilities. It would be located in a currently vacant building, in a distressed part of the city that desperately needs an influx of capital and life.

Then, it’s not “in the shadow of ground zero”, it’s two and a half blocks away---two densely-constructed blocks, completely out of sight-lines as well as shadow lines. As usual, the right-wing has inflated an issue with potential to offend whites, then distorted it with inflammatory rhetoric into a wedge issue for political distraction. This is only the latest in a string of such issues.

Before we look at this closely, let’s consider the bigger picture. The international community, generally more astute in consideration of our [own] politics than we are, still regards the United States of America as a “bastion of freedom” and source of stability in the world. But this heated debate is reverberation across the globe, with the potential of creating a worldwide black eye for the United States. Many Muslims abroad are miffed by the controversy, largely conducted by non-Muslims, that has grown so loud as to become a world-wide topic of discussion on talk shows and newspapers. “Rejecting this has become like rejecting Islam itself,” said Ahmad Moussalli, a professor of Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut. “The United States has historically been distinguished by its tolerance, whereas Europe, France, Belgium and Holland have been among those who have rejected the symbolism of Islam. Embracing it will be positively viewed in the Islamic world.”

Since the Sept. 11 attacks and the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, America has spent millions trying to improve its image among Muslims, especially in the Arab world. Now political shakers and movers are banding to undo this colossal effort with what is essentially fear-mongering silliness.

Denying permission for an Islamic center in New York City is not only an open manifestation of hostility towards Moslems world-wide, but it’s a direct assault upon our own constitution. The irony is that the agitators come short of advocating scrapping the 1^st amendment, while currently they do advocate scrapping the 14^th. It’s not clear just how “patriotic” a citizen can sound while calling for dismantlement of our most basic freedoms. But in reality, of course, no one is calling for any action on this matter. This issue is strictly one of “stirring the political pot” in an election year.

Political opportunity runs rampant with this issue. Newt Gingrich, in his unannounced and on-going presidential campaign, has said, “Building this structure on the edge of the battlefield created by radical Islamists… is a political statement of shocking arrogance and hypocrisy.” He went on to say the leader of the proposed Muslim community center, the Kuwaiti-born scholar Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, (currently touring the Persian Gulf states on a U.S. State Department-funded trip to promote goodwill for America), is connected to terrorists and radical Islamic groups. When pressed for reference, Gingrich sited National Review. Arrogance and hypocrisy? These are characters that Newt knows well.

Rauf, who worked with the Bush Administration in a project with the mission of spreading religious understanding and tolerance, is known as a moderate Moslem, and already has an Islamic center, open for 30 years, and 10 blocks to the north of the proposed site. But the present location is cramped, and the proposed site offers a better location on considerably less expensive real estate.

From the Muslim perspective, houses of worship are humdrum affairs, and Muslims in that neighborhood now have nowhere else to pray. Some appear baffled that anyone in their right mind would scoff at a $100-million private-sector investment at a time of global economic crisis.

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, in the face of community opposition, has come out on behalf of the center: "The ability to practice your religion was one of the real reasons America was founded." Mayor Bloomberg, who grew up surrounded by anti-Semitism and knows what it feels like to be a target of religious discrimination, reports that all the families of 9/11 victims he has spoken with have been supportive of the building. Referring to the victims, Bloomberg says, "We do not honor their lives by denying the very Constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights - and the freedoms that the terrorists attacked."

Inexplicably, the Anti-Defamation League has come out against the center, saying, “…anguish (of the 9/11 families) entitles them to positions that others would categorize as irrational or bigoted.” Does Abraham Foxman (head of the ADL) believe that bigotry is OK for people who feel victimized? OK, then, does the victimization of Palestinians entitle them to anti-Semitism? Hypocrisy, of course, runs straight through this entire controversy. The ADL, committed to “fighting bigotry and extremism”, fights bigotry and extremism with bigotry and extremism.

Five years ago, The ADL honored NEWSWEEK journalist, Fareed Zakaria, with their “First Amendment Freedoms” prize, including a plaque and $10,000. In the wake of the ADL stance on this issue, Zakaria returned both.

In recent weeks in New York City, Islamic centers and mosques have been subjected to protests and harassment by right-wing groups across the country. Protesters have shouted: "Jesus hates Muslims" and called Muslim children entering day care centers "murderers." The Christian Dove World Outreach Center has renamed 9/11 “International Burn a Koran Day," and Bryan Fischer of the right-wing American Family Association says that we should not allow "even one more mosque in the United States of America." These people call themselves Christians?

Is it possible that a single issue could galvanize the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, The Taliban and U. S. right-wing Republicans? This is the issue. “By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor,” Taliban operative Zabihullah told NEWSWEEK magazine last month. “It’s providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support.” United States’ enemies all over the world are delighted by public mobilization over this matter. The issue is a propaganda windfall; and it’s supported by public opinion. How can we be so stupid?

From one side of their mouths, Republicans accuse the president of being “soft on terror”; out of the other side of their mouths they routinely promote policies that enflame Islamic passion and provoke terrorists. In the end, of course we know that when the inevitable attacks occur, these same hypocrites will place all the blame on the president.

In the 1959 film, The Mouse that Roared, a comedy-spoof lampooning our “gun-boat diplomacy,” a small country “attacks” the United States hoping for foreign aid. Through a series of chance circumstances, the attacking force “wins” the war, holding us hostage to nuclear terror. The movie was a classic, but raised few eyebrows.

In 1996 Osama bin Laden declared war on The United States. Bin Laden prophesied that we would never be the same. The declaration made no headlines and raised about as many eyebrows as the attack by Grand Fenwick. The notion of defeating the United States of America militarily, on the sands of Iraq or the streets of New York, is silliness. Defeating the United States of America through terror? Are you kidding….”the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

But would we recognize a cultural attack if it were launched? We are so accustomed to bullying the world culturally, as well as militarily, that we can’t recognize a cultural attack while tripping over it. Is it conceivable that one [rag–head] could be more intelligent than the combined force of our mighty, political establishment?

The attack comes not from Moslems, or even bin Laden. True to his promise, our own politicians have led the attack since 9/11, surrogates in the bin Laden army. These politicians, with their throngs of brown-shirt, cultural street thugs, have championed the fear and discord that this “silly Rag-head” promised. They have undermined the strength upon which our country was founded.

We face a defining moment. This small controversy offers us the opportunity to turn back the tide of hatred and fear. We need to welcome all faiths into the very heart of our society, Islam in particular! By welcoming this Islamic center we stand true to our beliefs, our constitution, our heritage and to those who have died for our freedoms.

Jackson Dave is a Robbinsense staff writer