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New York Mosque Initiative Sheds Light on Post 9-11 Islamophobia
A highly contentious plan to build a 13-story mosque in New York City has garnered its fare share of attention in recent days. Politicians, political pundits, and community members are ardently vocalizing their opinion about whether the mosque should be allowed to exist just a few blocks away from ground zero.
Organizers and supporting local Islamic institutions say the mosque, coined the Cordoba House, would aim to achieve a tipping point between Muslim-West relations and would work to promote a peaceful image of Muslim Americans around the county who stand in solidarity against the attacks of 9-11.
However, those opposing the mosque claim that granting its construction so close to the World Trade Center site would be insensitive to 9-11 families who may still have open wounds in the aftermath of the day’s tragedies.
Many others are concerned that the Cordoba House would serve as recruiting grounds for anti-American, terrorist organizations abroad—building upon the already existing fear for homegrown terrorism.
It is because of these fears that opposition toward the proposed center has progressively become more antagonistic; however, in the last week, such anti-mosque rhetoric took a turn for the worst.
In a provocative ad sponsored by the National Republican Trust PAC, the narrator calls upon viewers to “join the fight to kill the Ground Zero Mosque.” The ad proceeds as follows:
“On Sept 11, they declared war against us
And to celebrate that murder of three thousand Americans
They want to build a monstrous thirteen story mosque at Ground Zero
This ground is sacred.
Where we weep, they rejoice.
That mosque is a monument to their victory
and an invitation to more.
A mosque at Ground Zero must not stand.
The political class says nothing..
The politicians are doing nothing to stop it.
But we Americans will be heard.
Join the fight to kill the Ground Zero Mosque”
While both NBC and CBS have refused to run the ad, the clip has been well circulated online, with over 250,000 views on YouTube alone. The National Republican Trust PAC, and others who support the video, simply say they represent the voice of people who refuse to cater to the politically correct.
However, others see the ad’s divisive power— perhaps a bad omen that will serve to separate more people rather than unify them in the end.
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, believes just that. He worries about a resurgence of underlying racism and anti-Muslim backlash taking root not only in New York but nationwide.
Groups of people in states such as Tennessee, Oklahoma, and California have also vocalized anti-Muslim sentiments and launched anti-mosque campaigns in recent months.
“What we’re seeing is that some people are trying to exploit and promote islamophobia in our country by opposing these ordinary expansions of mosques…And they’ve actually put out step by step guides on how to oppose a mosque when it comes to your area, so it’s very disturbing,” Hooper told CNN last week.
John Esposito, professor of Religion and International Affairs and director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal center for Muslim-Christian understanding at Georgetown University, calls such anti-Muslim speech intolerable.
In his CNN editorial, he denounces all “islam bashing charges,” in particular the accusation that the mosque— a 100 million dollar project— is being funded exclusively by foreign terrorist interests.
“The call by some New York politicians for a delay in the construction of the Cordoba Center to examine its funding is simply grandstanding that reinforces the notion that somehow all Muslims, mosques and Islamic centers are guilty until proved innocent,” said Esposito.
Imad Hamad, Michigan Regional Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), says it is this extreme, odious discourse that reminds him of how deep seated islamophobia really is.
“This kind of misinformed discussion attests to the fact that despite the long years of pain and suffering that we endured post 9-11, and our condemning this horrific crime in unity, it’s so easy to shift all that aside and bring back the negativity that we started with at square one,” he said.
President of the Michigan Palestine Office, Hassan Newash, is also frustrated that such anti-Muslim sentiments exist today, almost ten years after 9-11. He questions why Muslims must fight to build a mosque near ground zero when Christians who sought to build a church near the Oklahoma city bombing site never met resistance.
“The fact that this question is even raised–whether building the mosque is offensive or insensitive–is completely disturbing,” said Newash.
“Muslims are not evil by definition. Yet, it shows that such damaging stereotypes of Muslims still prevail.”
Ameera David
Arab Detroit