Ground Zero Imam: Ground Zero Victory Mosque Is Causing Islamophobia
Sep 12, 2010 7 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Haaretz:
The raging debate on whether a New York Islamic center planned to be built near the site of the September 11 attack should be moved is stoking anti-Muslim feelings, a Muslim cleric told U.S. television on Sunday.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, speaking to ABC’s “This Week,” said Sunday that the controversy over the mosque site has heightened concerns among Muslims of rising anti-Muslim sentiment, saying he felt there was “growing Islamophobia in this country.”
“How else would you describe the fact that mosques around the country are now being attacked? We are Americans, too,” Rauf said, adding that Muslim Americans were treated and talked about today as if they weren’t true Americans.
“We are Americans. We are doctors. We are investment bankers. We are taxi drivers. We are store keepers. We are lawyers. We are part of the fabric of America. And the way that America today treats its Muslims is being watched by over a billion Muslims worldwide,” the N.Y. cleric told ABC.
Speaking on the possibility that the planned Islamic center would be relocated to quell the controversy, Rauf said that his “major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be ‘Islam is under attack in America.’”
“This will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment, this will put our people — our soldiers, our troops, our embassies, our citizens — under attack in the Muslim world and we [would] have expanded and fueled terrorism,” the N.Y. cleric said.
When asked about the planned Koran burning, which was eventually cancelled by Florida pastor Terry Jones, Rauf said that such an event would have “created a disaster in the Muslim world. It would have strengthened the radical.”
“It would have enhanced the possibility of terrorist acts against America and American interests,” he said.
On Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, hundreds of supporters of the Islamic center in lower Manhattan called for religious tolerance and brandished placards saying “Your bigotry and hatred is a national security risk” or “the attack on Islam is racism.”
A block away, other groups were gathering to rally against the proposed Islamic center, which they say is insensitive to the families of the victims of the 2001 attacks.
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday he recognized “the extraordinary sensitivities” surrounding the September 11 attacks. But he said it should be possible to erect a mosque near the attack site, or a building representing any other kind of religion.
