Introduction

On September 11^th, 2001 the World Trade Center was blindly attacked by members of a radical sect of Islam. The terrorists hijacked two American airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center. Americans all over the nation watched helplessly and anxiously waited for the next attack.

Although that next attack didn’t come, Americans began to live in fear that it might. This fear began to include not only members of the Islamic faith but all persons of the Middle Eastern ethnicty. This fear still lives on in some American hearts.

The Park51 project began in July 2009 when Soho properties, a real estate company, purchased the property for $4.83 million dollars. Soho properties originally intended to build a condominium complex, but after hearing a proposal from Imam Abdul Feisal Rauf, CEO of the Cordoba Initiative, Soho properties decided to build a community center with a prayer space.

Reasons for outraged Americans widely vary but include the proximity of the community center to Ground Zero and political parties using this issue for political gain. Not everyone is opposed to building a Muslim community center some reasons include not allowing them to build the mosque violates the Constitution and American-Muslims were victims of the 9/11 attacks.

In this blog we will analyze these reasons, both for and against, as well as the media and their effects on this controversial issue. Our purpose is not to take sides on this political topic but offer analysis about the following cartoons and let those who read them make the decisions for themselves.

Ground Zero Mosque Opponents, Supporters Turn Out to Demonstrate

Daisy Khan, Organizer, Says Opposition Is 'Like Metastasized Antisemitism'

By LINSEY DAVIS and ELICIA DOVER

Aug. 22, 2010

Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

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Protesters went head to head today at the site of the proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York City.

Protesters with the NYC Coalition to Stop Islamophobia, rally near the proposed Islamic Center August 22, 2010 in New York. The rally was held to oppose the construction of an Islamic Center and mosque near Ground Zero.

Chants both for and against the center resounded in the streets of lower Manhattan.
"Hallowed ground, that's a lie, you don't care if muslims die!" blended with "USA, USA!"
The project, which is called Park51, has created a national debate over religious tolerance and sensitivity to the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
The proposed center is two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center. It has often been referred to as the "Ground Zero Mosque," although its supporters say it would mainly be a community center, not principally a mosque.
Critics charge that having what they call a mosque so close to what they consider hallowed ground is an insult to the 9/11 victims' families, especially because the attack was perpetrated in the name of Islam.
At the demonstrations today, the New York Police Department estimated 250 people showed up in support of the center.
"I am surprised that in America in 2010 racism and bigotry has found another face. Now it is against the Muslims," said Ali Akram, a supporter of the proposed center.
Almost 1,000 people showed up to make it clear they do not support the proposed community center and mosque, according to the NYPD.
"I am here to protest this nonreligious mosque, which is a symbol of Muslim victory," protester Carl Blum said.
The opposition included union construction workers who have created the "9/11 Hard Hat Pledge." The construction workers involved are refusing to work on the site.
"I would definitely refuse to work on it," one construction worker said. "I think it's just too close to home here."
Just days after the attacks on the World Trade Centers, President George W. Bush went to a mosque in an attempt to make a distinction between Islam and terrorism.

"That's not what Islam is about. It's about peace," Bush said in a speech at the Islamic Center in Washington on Sept. 17, 2001.
While Bush has remained silent over the proposed center, other conservatives have been speaking out in opposition.
Newt Gingrich recently compared the center's proximity to Ground Zero with the Nazis putting up a site next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
On ABC News' "This Week with Christiane Amanpour," one of the Islamic center's organizers, Daisy Kahn, said the backlash can be linked to racism.
"This is like a metastasized anti-Semitism," Kahn said. "It's not even Islamophobia, it's beyond Islamophobia -- it's hate of Muslims."
Some at the protest today said they believed the mosque should be built, but not in the proposed location.
"There are hundreds of mosques in New York, just not in the shadow of Ground Zero," Nahma Sandrow told ABC News.
There are currently no plans to change locations, and Kahn said that right now that is not an option.
Opponents of the project stood in the rain, holding signs saying, "You Can Build Your Mosque at Ground Zero When We Can Build Our Synagogue at Mecca," and "Building a Mosque at Ground Zero Is Like Building a Memorial to Hitler at Auschwitz."
"We don't care what bigots say, religious freedom's here to stay," the community center's supporters responded.
One of the supporters carried a sign that said, "Defend Muslims, stop the hate."
Rabbi Joy Levitt, executive director of the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, said on "This Week" that she hopes the dispute can be settled.
"What this whole controversy has unleashed is a tremendous amount of misinformation, a lack of knowledge about Islam that we need to address," she said.
Khan's husband, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, is on a 15-day Mideast tour funded by the U.S. State Department, where he said today he hopes to draw attention to the common challenges to battle radical religious beliefs.
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Save Ground Zero

By Jackson Cozzens
*This article has been written in the mindset of those opposed to building a Mosque neat Ground Zero. My words in no way reflect my actual sentiments towards the cultural center.

Many Americans have voiced their opinions about the proposed Park 51 Mosque. The general census among conservatives is that a Mosque does not belong so close to Ground Zero. A building so large would be hard to avoid given the location. It may instill negative thoughts and emotions in people when coming to pay their respects to the victims of 9-11 and have to be constantly reminded who did it. Not saying that all Muslims are bad, nor that it was their religion that made the savage attack. But those responsible for the lives taken on 9-11, did profess to do so in the name on the same God and the same Religion that will be worshiped in the proposed Mosque.

Attempts have been made by those affected by 9-11 to stop the construction of the Mosque. The proposed building is over 150 years old and “should have been declared an official landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.” It wasn’t the Muslim Religion that made the attack against the U.S., but the terrorists that did, did so in the name of that same religion. People are concerned that the Muslim Religion is one of hate and fear that allowing them to build a mosque would be a “slap in the face.”

These cartoons show the ideas of many people regarding the mosque. Many believe that by allowing Muslims to walk all over us, we are opening up the door to being taken advantage of. Americans believe in our morals and in our duty to uphold the Constitution. We believe that all religions have the right to practice freely. However, are we allowing all people freedom if at times those who want to be free from religion, can’t be? Ground Zero is sacred ground devoted to the God that this country was founded on. Ask yourself if it seems right to build one church right on top of another?

See for yourself in this group of cartoons. Go through our research and decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong.

We The People

By: Samuel Warburton

As Americans, we the people, through our birthright, have taken upon us the responsibility to follow and uphold the US Constitution.  The First Amendment is part of the Constitution, and it affects us greatly.  It goes as follows, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

            In other words, government has no authority over religion, the excersice of religion, the assembling and speech of religion.  Well, during the big debate over Park 51 NYC Mosque, congress has gone against the first amendment.  The media were very anxious to cover this issue especially because there was such a big dispute between the Republican and Democrat parties over this issue of Park 51.  The media were looking for the most saleable headline.  As such, it is easy to see why the mosque debate is being portrayed by most reporting as a partisan battle.  Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Barack Obama, Bush Administration, and many more politicians all took part of debating this issue.

            Palin twitted that the mosque represents an “Unnecessary provocation” that “stabs hearts”.  Another ridiculous exhortation from a high-profile Republican was said by Newt Gingrich, “Nazis don’t have the right to put up a sign next to the holocaust museum in Washington” and that the US “would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor”. 

            In my research, I noticed that most of the people against the mosque were Republican, and that most of the people for the mosque were Democrat.  A quote I found in an article by Tom Rogan said, “These Republicans are not only concerned with protecting freedom of worship and unity in American society; they are also keenly aware of the forming electoral landscape that Republicans will face beyond this election cycle and into the future.  While these Republicans do not fear perception of weakness on national security as many Democrats do, underlining their attitudes toward the mosque debate is their realization that the Republican party is running on risky ground.”  Much of the debates were due to the elections, and the different parties were wanting votes.  But, the should have remembered the oath they took to uphold the Constitution.

            In the end, it does not matter that “the Park 51 project will involve a community multi-faith worship centre, or a swimming pool, or a music and art centre (hardly the priorites of an extremist Muslim). In an election-year environment, emotion can – and in this case, has – often overwhelmed logic.”

 -Tom Rogan, Park 51 dividing lines, Aug 2010

            American politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, should remember the first part of the first amendment to the constitution that they have sworn to uphold: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  It really is simple; respect for personal freedom, including freedom to worship, as central to our political process is a vital part of our national identity, and we need to make sure it is upheld no matter the situation.   

           

           

Mosque vs. Cultural Center

By: Brittany Breinholt

            The Park 51 Mosque has created a large controversy, not only in New York, but across the nation. The first news coverage that I heard concerning the project said that there was a Mosque proposed to be built on Ground Zero. The obvious sentiment that comes from such a statement is outrage. Many people still maintain the notion that that a Mosque is going to be built ON Ground Zero. However, as more information has been made available, it is clear that it will be much more than a Mosque. 

            I prefer to call it a Culture center, since the Muslim prayer area is set to occupy only 2 floors of the 13 story building. The other 11 floors are going to be filled with a 500-seat auditorium, theater, performing arts center, fitness center, swimming pool, basketball court, childcare services, art exhibitions, bookstore, culinary school, and a food court. An anticipated 1,000 to 2,000 Muslims are going to be praying in the praying center every Friday once the building is completed. The Cultural Center is going to be available to all of New York and not just Muslims.

            As for the other argument, which is the "mosque" being built "ON ground zero." The controversy behind all of this is because Americans would be taking offense since the hijackers in the September 11th attacks were Islamic terrorists. This is an exaggeration. In fact the mosque will be built 2 blocks away from ground zero and will not be at all visible from the world trade center site at all.

            Polls have shown that the majority of Americans, New York residents, and New York City residents opposed building the center near Ground Zero; more New Yorkers from Manhattan support building the center.

            My personal opinion is that people just need to be better educated on the situation. They specifically need to understand the difference between the Cultural Center and the "Mosque".

Obama

By: Katie Carter

There are people all over this country who believe that President Obama shares the same views as them.  People are on both sides of the debate of putting a Mosque in lower Manhattan.  On one hand, President Obama said in a dinner at the white house celebrating the beginning of Ramadan “ Over the course of our history, religion has flourished within our borders precisely because Americans have had the right to worship as they choose, including the right to believe in no religion at all. And it is a testament to the wisdom of our founders that America remains deeply religious. A nation where the ability of peoples of different faiths to coexist peacefully and with mutual respect for one another stands in stark contrast to the religious conflict that persists elsewhere around the globe.”  Various people that attended the dinner said that the feel in the room was that president Obama had expressed his personal opinion on the matter and he was throwing his support to the building of the mosque.  The very next day though, President Obama made a point to say that he was not expressing an opinion on the situation just pointing out the fact that our country thrives on a freedom of religion.
    Senator John McCain took an entirely different approach than President Obama.  He said “I oppose the planned location of a mosque in close proximity to Ground Zero, the concerns of the 9/11 victims’ families and the citizens of New York City should be respected.” In my research I came across a different situation that could describe another opinion of Americans all over the country.  Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer compared construction of an Islamic center near ground zero to when Pope John Paul II prevented a group of nuns from opening a convent near the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp. “He was in no way devaluing their heartfelt mission to pray for the souls of the dead. He was teaching them a lesson in respect: This is not your place; it belongs to others however pure your voice, better to let silence reign.”  The United Stated is such a diverse nation that it would be impossible to cover every angle of what people are feeling towards the NY mosque.
    In reading up on this issue I couldn’t help but notice the similarities in this situation to other situations that have happened in the past as well as are happening right now.  The first one that comes to mind is the Supreme Court ruling on the Westboro Baptist Church.  Every person in America who follows the news despises these people for what they are doing and saying about soldiers as well as the other hateful things they say towards different groups of people across the country.  But that doesn’t change the fact that they are a religion and the constitution does explicitly protect them under the first amendment, just like the building of a mosque.  Other times in history that this has happened are like at Pearl Harbor with a Shinto Shrine only 1,000 feet from a Pearl Harbor site.  This situation shows the same time frame as the situation our country is in now.  The Shrine being built took place only ten years from when the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor devastated the entire nation and led to the U.S. involvement in WWII.  Only ten years has passed since the attacks on 9/11.  The proposed mosque is definitely causing the same amount of upset as before. This next one isn’t an actual situation that took place just an analogy that was said on the FOX network TV show “Fox and Friends.”  Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, said “Building the mosque near Ground Zero is like putting a Nazi sign near the Holocaust Museum.” This analogy is very extreme and so far off it’s ridiculous.  He has compared innocent Americans of the Muslim religion to being the equivalent of Nazis who heartlessly murdered thousands of people.  
    Throughout the course of events President Obama has tried to stay non opinionated on the issue of the mosque because it is not a federal issue it is an issue that pertains only to the state of New York.
   
   

Doing The Right Thing

By: Matt Skabelund

Americans hold many things in high regard; apple pie, baseball and freedom of religion? Okay, maybe apple pie and freedom of religion weren’t held in the same respect in 1787, when the Constitution was adopted. It’s true that the way that Americans thought in 1787 and the way they think now are extremely different, nevertheless a document held and revered by most Americans is under attack by people opposed to fellow citizens, neighbors and friends practicing their religion.

                The cultural center proposed near Ground Zero has been a topic of debate for politicians and common citizens alike. Many reasons have been provided on both sides some reasonable and some rational. This article proposes the idea that the Ground Zero Cultural Center is constitutional, good for the community and good for the nation.

                Anyone who looks through the Constitution doesn’t have to look very hard to find the reason why the Ground Zero Cultural Center is constitutional because free exercise of religion is in the 1^st amendment. There were no stipulations or hidden clauses in this amendment. Free exercise of religion was granted to any and all United States citizens. Interesting how a country founded on the principles of freedom, emphasis on religious freedom, now wish to revoke that same privilege by not allowing a religious group to build a place of worship.

                The cultural center would benefit many more than just members of the Islamic faith, it would benefit the entire community of Lower Manhattan. Some of the activities that members would be able to participate in cooking classes, recreational activities and community events to name just a few. In the end this is much more than a mosque, it’s a community center or better yet, a cultural center.

                Nothing will ever repair the hurt that Americans felt on September 11, 2001, when a radical sect of Islamic terrorists hijacked and crashed American airplanes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Since that date a disease entered into the hearts of Americans, a disease of hate, fear and prejudice. As facts were released about the attacks and time went on, some Americans didn’t allow this disease to take control of their thoughts others did. This country needs to be healed not only from the Twin Towers attack but also from their racist thoughts. This cultural center won’t be the only thing to cure them but it would be a good start.

                In conclusion, the cultural center proposed near Ground Zero is a good thing for many reasons but everyone has to live with the decisions that they make both good and bad. Americans shouldn’t need reasons to do the right thing, at the end of the day before making any decisions, one should remember the Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have others do to you. Nobody likes their freedoms taken from them so why take do it to someone else?

AP Article Concerning Terms to be used in writing about NYC Mosque

08/19/2010


AP Advisory


AP Standards Center issues staff advisory on covering New York City mosque


Associated Press Deputy Managing Editor for Standards and Production Tom Kent sent the following note to the staff about covering the New York City mosque story and then discussed the guidance and reaction in a Facebook entry headlined "Behind the News: Describing the proposed NYC mosque."
Aug. 19, 2010

Colleagues,
Here is some guidance on covering the NYC mosque story, with assists from Chad Roedemeier in the NYC bureau and Terry Hunt in Washington:
1. We should continue to avoid the phrase "ground zero mosque" or "mosque at ground zero" on all platforms. (We’ve very rarely used this wording, except in slugs, though we sometimes see other news sources using the term.) The site of the proposed Islamic center and mosque is not at ground zero, but two blocks away in a busy commercial area. We should continue to say it’s “near” ground zero, or two blocks away.
WE WILL CHANGE OUR SLUG ON THIS STORY LATER TODAY from “BC-Ground Zero Mosque” to “BC-NYC Mosque.”

In short headlines, some ways to refer to the project include:
_ mosque 2 blocks from WTC site
_ Muslim (or Islamic) center near WTC site
_ mosque near ground zero
_ mosque near WTC site

We can refer to the project as a mosque, or as a proposed Islamic center that includes a mosque.

It may be useful in some stories to note that Muslim prayer services have been held since 2009 in the building that the new project will replace. The proposal is to create a new, larger Islamic community center that would include a mosque, a swimming pool, gym, auditorium and other facilities.
2. Here is a succinct summary of President Obama’s position:
Obama has said he believes Muslims have the right to build an Islamic center in New York as a matter of religious freedom, though he's also said he won't take a position on whether they should actually build it.
For additional background, you’ll find below a Fact Check on the project that moved yesterday.
Tom

---
Slug: BC-US--Mosque-Fact Check
Byline: CALVIN WOODWARD
Bytitle: Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — A New York imam and his proposed mosque near ground zero are being demonized by political candidates — mostly Republicans — despite the fact that Islam is already very much a part of the World Trade Center neighborhood. And that Muslims pray inside the Pentagon, too, less than 80 feet from where terrorists attacked.

And that the imam who's being branded an extremist has been valued by both Republican and Democratic administrations as a moderate face of the faith.

Even so, the project stirs complicated emotions, and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a complex figure who defies easy categorization in the American Muslim world.

He's devoted much of his career to working closely with Christians, Jews and secular leaders to advance interfaith understanding. He's scolded his own religion for being in some ways in the "Dark Ages." Yet he's also accused the U.S. of spilling more innocent blood than al-Qaida, the terrorist network that turned the World Trade Center, part of the Pentagon and four hijacked airplanes to apocalyptic rubble.

Many Republicans and some Democrats say the proposed $100 million Islamic cultural center and mosque should be built elsewhere, where there is no possible association with New York's ground zero. Far more than a local zoning issue, the matter has seized congressional campaigns, put President Barack Obama and his party on the spot — he says Muslims have the right to build the mosque — divided families of the Sept. 11, 2001, victims, caught the attention of Muslims abroad and threatened to blur distinctions between mainstream Islam in the U.S. and its radical elements.

A look at some of the claims and how they compare with the known facts:
___

—"The folks who want to build this mosque — who are really radical Islamists who want to triumphally prove that they can build a mosque right next to a place where 3,000 Americans were killed by radical Islamists — those folks don't have any interest in reaching out to the community. They're trying to make a case about supremacy." — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a potential 2012 presidential candidate.

—Some of the Muslim leaders associated with the mosque "are clearly terrorist sympathizers." — Kevin Calvey, a Republican running for Congress in Oklahoma.
—"This radical is a terrible choice to be one of the faces of our country overseas." — Statement by GOP Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Peter King of New York.

THE FACTS:
No one has established a link between the cleric and radicals. New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said, "We've identified no law enforcement issues related to the proposed mosque."

Ros-Lehtinen and King were referring to the State Department's plan, predating the mosque debate, to send Rauf on another religious outreach trip to the Middle East as part of his "long-term relationship" with U.S. officials in the Bush and Obama administrations. The State Department said Wednesday it will pay him $3,000 for a trip costing the government $16,000.

Rauf counts former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright from the Clinton administration as a friend and appeared at events overseas or meetings in Washington with former President George W. Bush's secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and Bush adviser Karen Hughes.
He has denounced the terrorist attacks and suicide bombing as anti-Islamic and has criticized Muslim nationalism. But he's made provocative statements about America, too, calling it an "accessory" to the 9/11 attacks and attributing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children to the U.S.-led sanctions in the years before the invasion.

In a July 2005 speech at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Center in Adelaide, Australia, Rauf said, according to the center's transcript:

"We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al-Qaida has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims."

While calling terrorism unjustified, he said the U.S. has supported authoritarian regimes with heinous human rights records and, faced with that, "how else do people get attention?"
In the same address, he spoke of prospects for peace between Palestinians and the Israelis — who he said "have moved beyond Zionism" — and of a love-your-neighbor ethic uniting all religions.
___

—"Mr. President, ground zero is the wrong place for a mosque." — Rick Scott, Republican candidate for Florida governor.

—"Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There's no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center." — Gingrich.
—"Just a block or two away from 9/11." — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, another 2012 GOP presidential prospect.
THE FACTS:
No mosque is going up at ground zero. The center would be established at 45-51 Park Place, just over two blocks from the northern edge of the sprawling, 16-acre World Trade Center site. Its location is roughly half a dozen normal lower Manhattan blocks from the site of the North Tower, the nearer of the two destroyed in the attacks.

The center's location, in a former Burlington Coat Factory store, is already used by the cleric for worship, drawing a spillover from the imam's former main place for prayers, the al-Farah mosque. That mosque, at 245 West Broadway, is about a dozen blocks north of the World Trade Center grounds.

Another, the Manhattan Mosque, stands five blocks from the northeast corner of the World Trade Center site.

To be sure, the center's association with 9/11 is intentional and its location is no geographic coincidence. The building was damaged in the Sept. 11 attacks and the center's planners say they want the center to stand as a statement against terrorism.
___

—"There should be no mosque near ground zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. ... America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization." — Gingrich.

—"This religion's plan is to destroy our way of life. ... If we have to let them build it, make them build it nine stories underground, so we can walk above it as citizens and Christians."

— Ron McNeil, a House GOP candidate in the Florida Panhandle, in an exchange reported by The News Herald in Panama City.

THE FACTS:
Such opinions are shared by some Americans, while others are more reluctant to paint the religion with a broad brush and more welcoming of the faith in this country. Bush, himself, while criticized at the time for stirring suspicions about American Muslims, traveled to a Washington mosque less than a week after the attacks to declare that terrorism is "not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace."

In any event, the U.S. armed forces field Muslim troops and make accommodations for them. The Pentagon opened an interfaith chapel in November 2002 close to the area where hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building, killing 184 people.

Muslims gather there for a daily prayer service Monday through Thursday and hold a weekly worship service on Fridays, drawing no complaints. Similar but separate services are provided for other faiths.
___
Associated Press writers Tom Hays in New York and Anne Flaherty in Washington contributed to this report.

Obama Says Mosque Upholds Principle of Equal Treatment

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

PANAMA CITY, Fla. — President Obama said on Saturday that in defending the right of Muslims to build a community center and mosque near Ground Zero he “was not commenting” on “the wisdom” of that particular project, but rather trying to uphold the broader principle that government should “treat everybody equally” regardless of religion.

Mr. Obama, who is visiting the Gulf Coast with his wife and younger daughter for a brief overnight stay, made his comments at the Coast Guard district station here. On Friday night, he used the White House iftar, a sunset dinner celebrating the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, to weigh in on the mosque controversy. In clarifying his remarks, Mr. Obama was apparently seeking to address criticism that he is using his presidential platform to promote a particular project that has aroused the ire of many New Yorkers. And on Saturday at least three prominent Republicans spoke out against Mr. Obama’s stance.
White House officials said earlier in the day that Mr. Obama was not trying to promote the project, but rather sought more broadly to make a statement about freedom of religion and American values. “In this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion,” Mr. Obama said at the Coast Guard station. “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about.
“And I think it’s very important as difficult as some of these issues are that we stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about.”
At the dinner on Friday night, Mr. Obama had proclaimed that “as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.”
But the day after the dinner, John Boehner, the Ohio Republican who is the House minority leader, was among those who criticized the president.
“The decision to build this mosque so close to the site of ground zero is deeply troubling, as is the president’s decision to endorse it,” Mr. Boehner said. “The American people certainly don’t support it.”
Representative Peter King, a New York Republican, said that while the Muslim community has the right to build the mosque, doing so needlessly offends too many people.
“President Obama is wrong,” Mr. King said. “It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero. While the Muslim community has the right to build the mosque they are abusing that right by needlessly offending so many people who have suffered so much. The right and moral thing for President Obama to have done was to urge Muslim leaders to respect the families of those who died and move their mosque away from Ground Zero. Unfortunately the president caved into political correctness."
Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, also condemned the proposed mosque and the President’s comments.
“There is nothing surprising in the president’s continued pandering to radical Islam,” he said. “What he said last night is untrue and in accurate. The fact is this is not about religious liberty.”
Mr. Gingrich said the proposed mosque would be a symbol of Muslim “triumphalism” and that building the mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks “would be like putting a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust Museum.”
“It’s profoundly and terribly wrong,” he said.
Mr. Obama had spent weeks of avoiding the high-profile battle over the center — his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said last week that the president did not want to “get involved in local decision-making.” But on Friday night, he stepped squarely into the thorny debate.
“I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground zero is, indeed, hallowed ground,” Mr. Obama said. But, he continued: “This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are.”
In hosting the iftar, Mr. Obama was following a White House tradition that, while sporadic, dates to Thomas Jefferson, who held a sunset dinner for the first Muslim ambassador to the United States. President George W. Bush hosted iftars annually.

Aides to Mr. Obama say privately that he has always felt strongly about the proposed community center and mosque, but the White House did not want to weigh in until local authorities made a decision on the proposal, planned for two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. 

Last week, New York City removed the final construction hurdle for the project, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg spoke forcefully in favor of it.

The community center proposal has led to a national uproar over Islam, 9/11 and freedom of religion during a hotly contested midterm election season.
In New York, Rick A. Lazio, a Republican candidate for governor and a former member of the House of Representatives, issued a statement responding to Mr. Obama’s remarks, saying that the president was still “not listening to New Yorkers.”
“With over 100 mosques in New York City, this is not an issue of religion, but one of safety and security,” he said.
Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and the Republican vice-presidential candidate in 2008, has called the project “an unnecessary provocation” and urged “peace-seeking Muslims” to reject it.
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization, has also opposed the center.
In his remarks, Mr. Obama distinguished between the terrorists who plotted the 9/11 attacks and Islam. “Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam — it is a gross distortion of Islam,” the president said, adding, “In fact, Al Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion, and that list includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.”
Noting that “Muslim Americans serve with honor in our military,” Mr. Obama said that at next week’s iftar at the Pentagon, “tribute will be paid to three soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq and now rest among the heroes of Arlington National Cemetery.”
Mr. Obama ran for office promising to improve relations with the Muslim world, by taking steps like closing the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and more generally reaching out. In a speech in Cairo last year, he vowed “a new beginning.”
But Ali Abunimah, an Arab-American journalist and author, said the president has since left many Muslims disappointed.
“There has been no follow-through; Guantánamo is still open and so forth, so all you have left for him to show is in the symbolic field,” Mr. Abunimah said, adding that it was imperative for Mr. Obama to “stand up to Islamophobia.”
Once Mr. Bloomberg spoke out, the president’s course seemed clear, said Steven Clemons of the New America Foundation, a public policy institution here.
“Bloomberg’s speech was, I think, the pivotal one, and set the standard for leadership on this issue,” Mr. Clemons said.
Mr. Bloomberg, in a statement, said: “This proposed mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan is as important a test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetime, and I applaud President Obama’s clarion defense of the freedom of religion tonight.”
Sharif el-Gamal, the developer on the project, said, “We are deeply moved and tremendously grateful for our president’s words.”
A building on the site of the proposed center is already used for prayers, and some worshipers there on Friday night discussed the president’s remarks.
Mohamed Haroun, an intern at a mechanical engineering firm, said, “What he should have said was: ‘This is a community decision. Constitutionally, they have the right to do it, but it’s a community decision and we should see what the local community wants to do.’ ”

Anne Barnard and M. Amedeo Tumolillo contributed reporting from New York.

NY Times: Original Article

The Mosque Rage Boils Over: Anti-Muslim Attacks Increasing Across U.S.

By: Miral Sattar

Lucas Jackson / Reuters

As protests in downtown Manhattan over the "Ground Zero" Mosque have escalated, violent incidents involving Muslims have increased. Forget simmering debate; this is closer to a full boil.
Last night, a drunk man barged into a Queens mosque and shouted anti-Muslim slurs at the congregation during the nightly Tarawee prayers. He then proceeded to urinate on the prayer rugs and gave congregants the finger. Two men managed to subdue him and call 911.
The incident, which occurred at the Iman Mosque on Steinway Street in Astoria, is the latest in anti-Muslim incidents that are being reported across the US.
Faiza N. Ali, community affairs director for CAIR-NY (Council of American Islamic Relations) told NewsFeed that "The constant vilification of Islam and its adherents over the air on talk radio and peddled by some politicians is contributing to the rise in anti-Muslim sentiment across the country."  The recent attacks, she says, are a "manifestation of hate and fear-mongering."
On Tuesday, the same night a NYC cabbie was stabbed, a mosque in Madera, CA was vandalized with a sign reading 'Wake up America, the enemy is here.'
During the month of Ramadan, which ends on September 10, Muslims gather daily to pray together for the nightly Tarawee prayers after breaking their fast.

Original Article

Islam has long history downtown: Why the 'Ground Zero mosque' belongs in lower Manhattan

By Edward E. Curtis

Friday, July 23rd 2010, 4:00 AM

Rick Lazio, the gubernatorial candidate from Suffolk County, doesn't like it. Sarah Palin, though not exactly a New Yorker, has resoundingly "refudiated" it. More importantly, plenty of ordinary citizens vocally oppose the establishment of a Muslim community center and mosque near the World Trade Center site.
But no matter how offensive their presence may be to some people, Muslims have always been a part of lower Manhattan's past. In fact, Islam in New York began near Ground Zero. From an historical perspective, there could hardly be a better place for a mosque.
One of the first Arab-American enclaves in New York City was located on Washington St. in lower Manhattan - the very area in which the World Trade Center was later built. Founded by Arabic-speaking Christians and Muslims from Ottoman Syria in the 1880s, it was called Little Syria.
The heart of Little Syria was full of outdoor cafes where non-Arab visitors sometimes gawked at men smoking hookahs and trading gossip about the Ottoman Empire. In a 1903 article, the New York Times called the neighborhood "quaint," noting the "uniform politeness" of its inhabitants.
Lower Manhattan is also the final resting place of Muslims and other Africans, often slaves, who were forcibly resettled in New York when it was still New Amsterdam. The African Burial Ground, discovered in 1991, is six blocks away from the proposed Muslim community center. Scholars continue to debate the religious identity of the hundreds buried there, but the fact that some of the dead wore shrouds and were interred with strings of blue beads, frequently used as Islamic talismans, suggests Muslim were among the enslaved people who helped build Manhattan into a bustling city.
Of course, this history of Islam in lower Manhattan means little to the families of 9/11 victims who are protesting the proposed center. Far more troubling than their protest is how readily some political groups have used this issue to advance their own anti-Muslim agendas. Comments by Lazio and Palin are mere drops in an ocean of right-wing vitriol. In one outright lie, the Web site of the National Republican Trust has declared that the organizers of the mosque "intend to erect a shrine to the 9/11 terrorists."
Rhetoric that treats Muslim-Americans like hostile foreigners fundamentally - and intentionally - skews the story of New York and its Muslim community.
For most of American history, Muslims have come to New York seeking freedom and opportunity - like every other group of immigrants. In 1847, for example, sailor and slave Mahommah Baquaqua escaped from the Brazilian ship Lembranca, docked in Manhattan. He went on to co-write one of most important African-American memoirs of the 1800s. "The Biography of Mahommah G. Baquaqua" poignantly describes the moment when, confined to a cell in the bow of his ship, Baquaqua broke down the door, bowed to his master's wife, and ran away. Once on the docks, he managed to utter the only English word he knew: "free." What could be more quintessentially American than that?
Muslims in New York have also embraced the city's belief in freedom of religion. In 1893, John Lant, a white convert to Islam, performed what was celebrated as the city's first public adhan, or call to prayer, from a third-floor window in Union Square. "The melodious call of the Muezzin," the Times deemed it.
Today, more than half a million Muslims live in New York City, including 10% of all public school children. According to one informed estimate, there are roughly 1,000 Muslim officers in the NYPD.
Their historical birthplace is near Ground Zero. Trying to prevent them from building a community center there denies their stake not only in New York's history but in its future, too.

NY Daily News: Original Article