Ground Zero Mosque!
Obama backs controversial New York mosque project
WASHINGTON, Aug 14 — US President Barack Obama yesterday backed construction of a proposed mosque and Muslim cultural centre near the site of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York — a project opposed by US conservatives and many New Yorkers.
“As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practise their religion as anyone else in this country,” Obama said at an event attended by diplomats from Islamic countries and members of the US Muslim community.
“That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances,” he said.
Earlier this month a New York city agency cleared the way for construction of the centre, which will include a prayer room, two blocks from the site of the September 11 attacks, popularly known as “Ground Zero.”
“This is America and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable,” said Obama, who has made improving ties between the United States and the Muslim world a cornerstone of his foreign policy.
About 2,750 people were killed on September 11 when hijackers from the Muslim militant group al Qaeda crashed two passenger planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, an event that traumatised Americans and sparked the US invasion of Afghanistan and the Bush Administration’s “war on terror.”
Families of those killed in the attacks have mounted an emotional campaign to block the mosque, saying it would be a betrayal of the memory of the victims.
Conservative politicians such as former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, a Republican former Speaker of the House of Representatives, have also called for the project to be scrapped.
Mark Williams, a spokesman for the conservative Tea Party political movement, said the centre would be used for “terrorists to worship their monkey god.”
With the rhetoric growing more heated, Obama decided yesterday to make his voice heard.
Obama was speaking during an iftar dinner he hosted at the White House. Iftar is the evening meal when Muslims break their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
He said the First Amendment of the US Constitution had established the freedom of religion “and that right has been upheld ever since.”
Al Qaeda also was not synonymous with Islam, Obama said.
“Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam — it is a gross distortion of Islam,” he said. “These are not religious leaders — these are terrorists who murder innocent men, women and children.”
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has firmly supported the community centre project as have many religious organisations in the city. However, 53 per cent of New Yorkers oppose it, according to a Marist Poll this week.
At least one additional legal challenge looms but the city agency’s August 3 ruling will clear the way for construction of Cordoba House, which will include a 500-seat auditorium as part of a 13-storey Muslim cultural complex.
Since coming into office, Obama, a Democrat, has worked to reach out to Muslims, many of whom felt targeted by the “war on terror” and by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In a speech in Cairo in June 2009, Obama called for a “new beginning” in ties between the United States and Muslims, saying that extremists had exploited tensions between Muslims and the West and that Islam was not part of the problem. — Reuters - The Malaysian Insider
Does it matter what religion we belong to? — David D. Mathew
AUG 12 — Last Tuesday, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9 to 0 in favour of allowing the demolition of a building near the World Trade Centre site to make way for a 13-storey Islamic cultural centre and mosque.
Plans for the construction of the proposed mosque drew strong criticism from American politicians such as Sarah Palin who last month Tweeted to say:”Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing”.
She tweeted again later, saying to New Yorkers:”Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real.”
Palin was not the only one opposed to the building of the mosque.
The National Republican Trust paid for a provocative advertisement called “Kill the Ground Zero Mosque” which replayed scenes from September 11 with a background voice saying”On September 11, they declared war against us. They want to build a thirteen-story mosque at Ground Zero. This ground is sacred. That mosque is a monument to their victory. The mosque at Ground Zero must not stand.”
Despite such opposition, the path is now finally open for the project to proceed.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a stirring speech given following the Landmarks Preservation Commission vote, stated that the government had no right whatsoever to deny Muslims the right to build a mosque.
“Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11 and that our Muslim neighbours grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values — and play into our enemies’ hands — if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists – and we should not stand for that,” Bloomberg said.
“On 11 September 2001, thousands of first responders heroically rushed to the scene and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than 400 of those first responders did not make it out alive. In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked ‘What God do you pray to?’ ‘What beliefs do you hold?” the mayor said, before finishing by noting that political controversies may come and go but there is no neighborhood in New York that is off limits to God’s love and mercy.
It is difficult to be a Muslim in many Western countries.
Religious bigots are quick to play up fears and remind everyone of not only September 11 but also the dangers of creeping Islamisation.
Last year, a Muslim convert named Carole was barred from swimming in a public pool in France because she wore the burkini — a three-piece swimsuit she bought in Dubai consisting of a headscarf, tunic and trousers.
Early last month, France’s Lower House of Parliament overwhelmingly approved a ban on wearing burqa-style Islamic veils. This is part of a concerted endeavour by the French government to “protect French values”.
Let us strive not to make it difficult for people to be Christians or Hindus or Buddhists or any other religion in Malaysia.
Let us not allow a situation where people say that it is difficult to be a Sikh in Malaysia.
Let us stop asking the question “What God do you pray to?” when approving permits for religious places of worship.
Let us stop asking the question “What God do you pray to?” in all aspects of our lives.
It is a personal matter and one that should be respected as such.
In December 2005, while some members of the congregation were preparing for Christmas, the state authorities demolished a church of the Orang Asli in the Kampung Orang Asli Kuala Masai, Johor settlement.
This was done on grounds that the church was built illegally on state land despite the fact that the state had already promised the land to the Orang Asli as reserve land in exchange for the Orang Asli moving out of their original land located in the Stulang Laut area.
Let us strive to keep places of worship intact and bend over backwards to prevent destruction of the same. Destruction of places of worship must be a thing of the past.
If there is one country that could be a model for interfaith co-operation, it would be Malaysia.
But we have to start trusting each other. We’ve got to stop haggling over words used during worship, the number of places of worship each other has and the distance required between each place of worship.
Let us not forget that those who fought for this country’s freedom belonged to all faiths. Those who suffered at the hands of the Japanese belonged to all faiths.
Let us not forget that our multi-culturalism and multi-religionism are what makes us who were are.
Let us not forget that the Rukun Negara urges the belief in God. So who are we to curtail or halt the people’s wish to worship and believe in a God that they so choose.
Malaysia is a godly country. We are made up of so many religions. Perhaps it is the sum of all our prayers that has prevented Malaysia from descending into the dark realm of killings in the name of God, perpetual burnings of places of worship and violent religious mobs.
We put a toe into such waters shortly after the High Court ruling in the “Allah” case but matters calmed down without too much damage.
Let us take a lesson from New York and try to avoid similar situations from happening.
Let us defend the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion and learn to trust again.
Religious terms, mosques, churches and temples are not symbols of power or a matter of one-upmanship. They are our fellow man’s way of worship and nothing else.
Any act which infringes on the freedom of religion is not a lawful exercise of power but an exercise of tyranny and bigotry.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or the publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified. – TheMalaysian Insider
alhaj
