Op-ed: President Obama owes every American apology over handling of mosque affair
Moshe Dann
Published: 08.25.10, 00:01 / Israel Opinion
President Obama's defense of the right of Muslims to build a mosque and Islamic center in New York City turned the issue into one of religious freedom. That was wrong.
Obama's first priority - like that of every national leader - is to speak for his country and on its behalf. Obama's refusal to do so, his insinuation that questions raised about a proposed Islamic mega-center near the site of the 9/11 attacks are un-American, unconstitutional, and prejudiced have shamed every American, and the good name of America.
Obama could have defended America; instead, he apologized for it.
He could have said that 4,400 Americans have died in Iraq, 1,200 have died in Afghanistan, and hundreds of thousands of Americans have been wounded - to help those Muslim countries attain freedom. And of course, hundreds of billions of dollars were spent towards that effort. But he didn't.
Obama might have said that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the US; hundreds of thousands of Muslims have found a home in America since and despite 9/11. He could have said: America has and continues to stand for freedom and democracy. He did not.
He is probably the first American president to malign his own country.
Obama could have explained that American law and values do not support discrimination, certainly not against Muslims; our history proves that. There are about 2,000 mosques in the United States, serving about 8 million Muslims; NYC alone has a dozen mosques. And Muslims are doing well in America: 67% have higher degrees; their average income is over $42,000; 26% earn over $100,000; 67% buy a new car every 3 years.
President Obama could have also noted that most American Muslims don't attend prayer services; mosques are often political and social centers, some of which are problematic.
'Grave threat to non-Muslims’
According to FBI estimates, 10 % of the mosques in the United States are associated with radical Jihadist ideology. Others estimate that 80% of mosques are dominated by the extremist Wahhabi ideology promoted by Saudi Arabia. And they are allowed to practice, under American principles of freedom of religion.
Unlike houses of worship in America which are built and supported by the local population, most mosques receive funding from foreign countries, especially Saudi Arabia.
President Obama might have noted that the Muslim Brotherhood, a Nazi organization that is banned in Egypt, is associated with some American mosques.
A study by Freedom House concluded that American mosques offer a wide selection of Saudi publications that promote hateful ideology, with all materials found to have some connection to Saudi Arabia.
According to the study, these publications advanced a "dualistic worldview in which there exist two antagonistic realms or abodes that can never be reconciled. The study also concluded that these publications "pose a grave threat to non-Muslims and to the Muslim community itself."
President Obama could have explained that this is obviously not an issue of religious freedom. He could have championed America, its reputation, institutions and values. Instead, he reinforced the view that America is bigoted.
For that, President Obama owes every American an apology.
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3943359,00.html
Showing posts with label Ground Zero mosque. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ground Zero mosque. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Nancy Pelosi Supports Mega Mosque and Wants Those Opposed Investigated
by Staff
August 23, 2010
MEDIA ADVISORY, (christiansunite.com) -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now demanding to know how the Religious Freedom Coalition and other organizations fund their opposition to the Ground Zero mega mosque, but she does not seem to care that the UK Company planning the construction refuses to say where their funding comes from. Pelosi said, "I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded."
Sharif El-Gamal of SoHo Properties, which owns the property where the mega mosque is to be built, has refused to disclose funding and has said that the "non-profit" that will operate the mosque has not yet been formed. But, Speaker Pelosi is more concerned about an alleged conspiracy by those opposing the mosque and appeared to ask for an investigation saying, " ... we should also ask who is funding the attacks against the construction of the center."
The Religious Freedom Coalition operates the www.no911mosque.org site opposed to the mega mosque and is producing a 60 second commercial exposing the double standard of Islam; Muslims demand the mosque be built at Ground Zero, and at the same time nearly 1,000 Christian churches and other buildings have been attacked or destroyed by Muslims since 9-11.
Religious Freedom Coalition chairman, William J. Murray said, "Apparently Nancy Pelosi is so invested in the Islamic concept of, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,' that she will blindly support a mega mosque at Ground Zero simply because it is opposed by social conservatives."
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09607.shtml
August 23, 2010
MEDIA ADVISORY, (christiansunite.com) -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now demanding to know how the Religious Freedom Coalition and other organizations fund their opposition to the Ground Zero mega mosque, but she does not seem to care that the UK Company planning the construction refuses to say where their funding comes from. Pelosi said, "I join those who have called for looking into how is this opposition to the mosque being funded."
Sharif El-Gamal of SoHo Properties, which owns the property where the mega mosque is to be built, has refused to disclose funding and has said that the "non-profit" that will operate the mosque has not yet been formed. But, Speaker Pelosi is more concerned about an alleged conspiracy by those opposing the mosque and appeared to ask for an investigation saying, " ... we should also ask who is funding the attacks against the construction of the center."
The Religious Freedom Coalition operates the www.no911mosque.org site opposed to the mega mosque and is producing a 60 second commercial exposing the double standard of Islam; Muslims demand the mosque be built at Ground Zero, and at the same time nearly 1,000 Christian churches and other buildings have been attacked or destroyed by Muslims since 9-11.
Religious Freedom Coalition chairman, William J. Murray said, "Apparently Nancy Pelosi is so invested in the Islamic concept of, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,' that she will blindly support a mega mosque at Ground Zero simply because it is opposed by social conservatives."
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09607.shtml
Monday, August 23, 2010
Qur’an says no to “9/11 mosque”!
From blog of Son of Hamas
====================================
The controversy over the “9/11 mosque” has dangerously missed the point.
Yes, it is an offense to the families of nearly 3,000 victims who were killed in the deadliest terrorist attack ever on American soil. Yes, it will reopen and infect deep wounds. And yes, it is perfectly legal and protected by the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.
But it is also an affront to Allah.
Open your Qur’an and read sura 9, verse 107. I will reproduce it here in English for our Western readers:
“And there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity – to disunite the Believers – and in preparation for one who warred against Allah and His Messenger aforetime. They will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; But Allah doth declare that they are certainly liars.” (The Qur’an, sura 9, verse 107, Yusufali translation)
You can see that the language is much stronger in Arabic.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf may not intend “to disunite the Believers,” but his irresponsibility will accomplish the same end, even while he and his supporters, both Muslim and America’s progressive elite, “indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good.”
Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah and the Taliban are counting on the inevitable outcome of such irresponsibility.
Do not be deceived, my brothers and sisters, this issue will not die. It will not go away. It is already dividing Believers and will fester and putrify like an open wound.
In addition to killing thousands of innocent Americans, Osama bin Laden’s stupid attack destroyed the reputation of Muslims everywhere. The result was Arab profiling, false arrests and, yes, an Islamophobia that has not been entirely unjustified. It also resulted in the creation of hundreds of organizations worldwide working tirelessly to encourage constructive dialogue and repair the shattered image of Islam, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars that could have been better used for education, healthcare and other noble causes.
If you allow Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and the Cordoba Initiative to build this shrine to terrorism, you will only generate more hatred, suspicion and violence, destroy nearly a decade of image-rebuilding and set in motion a backlash against all Muslims.
Think for a moment. Do you really believe that Americans will just say “Oh, well” and move on while the 9/11 mosque is being built? Day after day, they will drive by, walk by on the way to work, and their anger and outrage will be renewed. The media will broadcast updates on the mosque’s progress, inflaming millions of viewers with every report.
How will Muslims react, then, when an angry citizen smears garbage on a wall of the mosque or covers it with blasphemous graffiti? How will they respond to protests and pickets? What if some hothead sets off a bomb?
Hatred and violence are not confined to Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and the Taliban. They lie just below the surface of us all and only require sufficient heat to erupt.
And the violence will not be contained in Manhattan. You have seen how our brothers and sisters have reacted to books and cartoons. You can expect outraged mobs to burn homes and churches, attack embassies, kidnap and behead hostages not only in the Middle East but also in Africa and Asia, in obedience to the Qur’an’s mandate to defend the honor of Allah and his Prophet.
The blood—Muslim and non-Muslim—will be on the hands of the foolish Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. But he and Islamists like him will blame everybody else, just as he blames America instead of bin Laden for 9/11. Just as he will not admit that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Instead, he provokes and blames the provoked.
And you will share the blame because you did nothing stop it when it was in your power.
Even your Qur’an warns that the 9/11 mosque is not the will of Allah. It is the work of “mischief and infidelity.”
The 9/11 mosque will do nothing but push people over the edge. Americans and Muslims. Not for days or weeks, but for years, for as long as the building stands. And the violence will only escalate. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. On every continent.
The Cordoba project will never be a community center where people will gather to seek and find common ground.
You can, and must, stop it. Through petitions and boycotts. By demanding accountability from your leaders. By withholding funds. By refusing to take any part in the sins of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and the Cordoba Initiative.
In short, you must stop it by being a responsible Muslim.
source:http://sonofhamas.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/qur%E2%80%99an-says-no-to-%E2%80%9C911-mosque%E2%80%9D/
====================================
The controversy over the “9/11 mosque” has dangerously missed the point.
 |
| What persuades you that this will end well? |
Yes, it is an offense to the families of nearly 3,000 victims who were killed in the deadliest terrorist attack ever on American soil. Yes, it will reopen and infect deep wounds. And yes, it is perfectly legal and protected by the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.
But it is also an affront to Allah.
Open your Qur’an and read sura 9, verse 107. I will reproduce it here in English for our Western readers:
“And there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity – to disunite the Believers – and in preparation for one who warred against Allah and His Messenger aforetime. They will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; But Allah doth declare that they are certainly liars.” (The Qur’an, sura 9, verse 107, Yusufali translation)
You can see that the language is much stronger in Arabic.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf may not intend “to disunite the Believers,” but his irresponsibility will accomplish the same end, even while he and his supporters, both Muslim and America’s progressive elite, “indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good.”
Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah and the Taliban are counting on the inevitable outcome of such irresponsibility.
Do not be deceived, my brothers and sisters, this issue will not die. It will not go away. It is already dividing Believers and will fester and putrify like an open wound.
In addition to killing thousands of innocent Americans, Osama bin Laden’s stupid attack destroyed the reputation of Muslims everywhere. The result was Arab profiling, false arrests and, yes, an Islamophobia that has not been entirely unjustified. It also resulted in the creation of hundreds of organizations worldwide working tirelessly to encourage constructive dialogue and repair the shattered image of Islam, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars that could have been better used for education, healthcare and other noble causes.
If you allow Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and the Cordoba Initiative to build this shrine to terrorism, you will only generate more hatred, suspicion and violence, destroy nearly a decade of image-rebuilding and set in motion a backlash against all Muslims.
Think for a moment. Do you really believe that Americans will just say “Oh, well” and move on while the 9/11 mosque is being built? Day after day, they will drive by, walk by on the way to work, and their anger and outrage will be renewed. The media will broadcast updates on the mosque’s progress, inflaming millions of viewers with every report.
How will Muslims react, then, when an angry citizen smears garbage on a wall of the mosque or covers it with blasphemous graffiti? How will they respond to protests and pickets? What if some hothead sets off a bomb?
 |
| Hatred and violence are not confined to Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and the Taliban. They lie just below the surface of us all and only require sufficient heat to erupt. |
Hatred and violence are not confined to Hamas, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and the Taliban. They lie just below the surface of us all and only require sufficient heat to erupt.
And the violence will not be contained in Manhattan. You have seen how our brothers and sisters have reacted to books and cartoons. You can expect outraged mobs to burn homes and churches, attack embassies, kidnap and behead hostages not only in the Middle East but also in Africa and Asia, in obedience to the Qur’an’s mandate to defend the honor of Allah and his Prophet.
The blood—Muslim and non-Muslim—will be on the hands of the foolish Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. But he and Islamists like him will blame everybody else, just as he blames America instead of bin Laden for 9/11. Just as he will not admit that Hamas is a terrorist organization. Instead, he provokes and blames the provoked.
And you will share the blame because you did nothing stop it when it was in your power.
Even your Qur’an warns that the 9/11 mosque is not the will of Allah. It is the work of “mischief and infidelity.”
The 9/11 mosque will do nothing but push people over the edge. Americans and Muslims. Not for days or weeks, but for years, for as long as the building stands. And the violence will only escalate. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. On every continent.
The Cordoba project will never be a community center where people will gather to seek and find common ground.
You can, and must, stop it. Through petitions and boycotts. By demanding accountability from your leaders. By withholding funds. By refusing to take any part in the sins of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and the Cordoba Initiative.
In short, you must stop it by being a responsible Muslim.
source:http://sonofhamas.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/qur%E2%80%99an-says-no-to-%E2%80%9C911-mosque%E2%80%9D/
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Senator Reid says mosque shouldn't be built near ground zero
Breaking from President Obama, top Democrat says despite First Amendment, mosque should not be built near site of 9/11 attacks
WASHINGTON - The Senate's top Democrat says a mosque should not be built near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada on Monday became the highest-profile Democrat to break with President Barack Obama, who on Friday backed the right for the developers to build a mosque near ground zero.
In a statement, Reid said the First Amendment protects freedom of religion and he respects that, but the mosque should be built somewhere else.
Critics have said the location of the mosque is insensitive because the terrorists who struck were Islamic extremists.
The plan to build a mosque and Muslim cultural center not far from ground zero in Manhattan has irked the Right. Many Republicans, including former Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin, are working hard, and with significant success, to place the issue on the public agenda ahead of the mid-term elections on November 2.
Reid is in a tight campaign for re-election in Nevada. His opponent, Republican Sharron Angle, earlier in the day called for Reid to say whether he agreed with Obama.
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3937824,00.html
WASHINGTON - The Senate's top Democrat says a mosque should not be built near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada on Monday became the highest-profile Democrat to break with President Barack Obama, who on Friday backed the right for the developers to build a mosque near ground zero.
In a statement, Reid said the First Amendment protects freedom of religion and he respects that, but the mosque should be built somewhere else.
Critics have said the location of the mosque is insensitive because the terrorists who struck were Islamic extremists.
The plan to build a mosque and Muslim cultural center not far from ground zero in Manhattan has irked the Right. Many Republicans, including former Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin, are working hard, and with significant success, to place the issue on the public agenda ahead of the mid-term elections on November 2.
Reid is in a tight campaign for re-election in Nevada. His opponent, Republican Sharron Angle, earlier in the day called for Reid to say whether he agreed with Obama.
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3937824,00.html
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Israeli general opposes Ground Zero mosque
Brig.-Gen. Dov Shefi (ret.), a former chief IDF prosecutor who today serves as attorney-general of Israel's Defense Ministry, lost his son, Haggai, nine years ago when Muslim terrorists flew two passenger jets into the World Trade Center towers in New York City.
He is appalled that today the city of New York seems ready to approve the construction of a mosque at the site of history's most bloody Islamic terrorist attack.
"I think that the establishment of a mosque in this place, a place that serves as a memorial site for [thousands of] families, is like bringing a pig into the Holy Temple," Shefi told Israel's Arutz 7 radio station. "It is inconceivable that in all the city of New York, this site was specifically chosen to establish an institution that represents the culture that led the terrorists of Al-Qaeda to carry out the greatest crime ever."
Shefi said that people around the world admire America for its openness and commitment to personal freedom, but lamented that "this belief often makes [Americans] lose sight of reality."
Shefi has joined with several conservative groups in the US that are fighting to make sure a mosque is not erected at Ground Zero, as it would be seen throughout the Muslim world as a testament to the domination of the world's greatest economic and military power by Islam.
Unreported was the fact that the death of Haggai Shefi in the southern World Trade Center tower on September 11, 2001 stands in sharp contrast to the conspiracy theorists who claim the terrorist attack was orchestrated by Israel, and that all Jews were secretly evacuated.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21641
He is appalled that today the city of New York seems ready to approve the construction of a mosque at the site of history's most bloody Islamic terrorist attack.
"I think that the establishment of a mosque in this place, a place that serves as a memorial site for [thousands of] families, is like bringing a pig into the Holy Temple," Shefi told Israel's Arutz 7 radio station. "It is inconceivable that in all the city of New York, this site was specifically chosen to establish an institution that represents the culture that led the terrorists of Al-Qaeda to carry out the greatest crime ever."
Shefi said that people around the world admire America for its openness and commitment to personal freedom, but lamented that "this belief often makes [Americans] lose sight of reality."
Shefi has joined with several conservative groups in the US that are fighting to make sure a mosque is not erected at Ground Zero, as it would be seen throughout the Muslim world as a testament to the domination of the world's greatest economic and military power by Islam.
Unreported was the fact that the death of Haggai Shefi in the southern World Trade Center tower on September 11, 2001 stands in sharp contrast to the conspiracy theorists who claim the terrorist attack was orchestrated by Israel, and that all Jews were secretly evacuated.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21641
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)