In a stunning display at a protest over the Ground Zero mosque, a Holocaust survivor was berated by a mosque supporter. The mosque supporter spews vulgarities at the holocaust survivor and at one point even says he “didn’t learn his lesson”. Content warning, we did not bleep out the profanities. For more information on this disturbing tirade make sure you visit this post on the Eyeblast blog .
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Video: Holocaust Survivor Cursed Out By Ground Zero Mosque Supporter
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“Nowhere near Ground Zero, but no more welcome: Outcry over mosque proposals in Tennessee and elsewhere could be a sign of rising anti-Muslim sentiment across the country.” With those words, the front page headline* and subheader for an August 23 Washington Post story by Annie Gowen conflated the controversy over the Ground Zero mosque with opposition to other mosques across the fruited plain, namely one planned for Murfreesboro, Tennessee, from where Gowen filed her story. Gowen waited until 27th pragraph in the 41-paragraph story to introduce the man spearheading the opposition, “a stocky 44-year-old correctional officer named Kevin Fisher” who “spent his formative years in Buffalo, where a home-grown terrorist cell of Yemeni Americans was uncovered in 2002.” Yet long before she ever got around to quoting Fisher, Gowen set out to portray the opposition to the mosque as the work of intolerant, ignorant rednecks. “It shouldn’t be surprising that there’s a negative reaction to this mosque…. [Y]ou can connect it to this global media event in New York, it just reinforces this siege mentality local residents have,” Gowen quoted Richard Lloyd of Vanderbilt University in paragraph 16. In the preceding paragraph, Gowen cited a recent Pew poll that found one in five Americans believe Barack Obama is a Muslim as one reason for why “the change in tone” regarding Muslim Americans has been “striking” according to “religious scholars and other experts.” When Gowen finally got around to quoting Fisher, she left a lot to be desired in terms of capturing the subject’s opposition to the proposed mosque. For example, Gowen failed to note that Fisher also opposed a Bible theme park that had been planned for the city and that many of his objections to the mosque are grounded not in fear of radical Islam or sharia law but in zoning and traffic issues pertaining to the 52,900-square foot size of the planned facility. By contrast, Elisabeth Kauffman of Time noted these concerns in her August 19 story : But if some people in Murfreesboro want the county to reject construction of the new mosque, they also wanted — and won — rejection of a proposed Bible theme park in the city. “It isn’t about Islam or religion, it’s about where they want to build,” insists Kevin Fisher, an organizer of opposition to the mosque who says he also opposed the Bible park because developers wanted to build too close to a subdivision. Along with worries over increased traffic on a road he says is already too dangerous, Fisher says the Center’s plans to one day have a cemetery could generate soil and water contamination. Ayash says that while one member of the Center is already buried on the property, without a coffin, “in accord with Islamic custom,” it all took place with county and city approval and within health guidelines. Fisher says that’s not good enough. “Each of my concerns is based on legitimate issues. This has nothing to do with anti-Islam; it’s not racism. I’m African-American, I know what it’s like to be discriminated against. I wouldn’t do that to someone.” Still, Fisher concedes he didn’t object to the construction of the new Grace Baptist Church at the same corner. “That’s a much smaller building [than the 52,000 feet complex the Center might one day build] and they don’t plan a cemetery.” *The online headline for the story is considerably less weighted with the loaded language of the print headline: “Far from Ground Zero, other plans for mosques run into vehement opposition.”
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ABC News set out Monday night to rehabilitate the reputation of the iman behind the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, Feisal Abdul Rauf, trying to discredit criticism of him from the right as Sharyn Alfonsi portrayed him as a model of religious tolerance who condemns suicide bombers, terrorism and Hamas and who deserves admiration because he “eulogized Daniel Pearl.” The night before, in a Sunday World News story on protests over the mosque, ABC expressed sudden respect for former President Bush as reporter Linsey Davis used him to undermine opponents: “In an attempt to make a clear distinction between Islam and terrorism, within days of 9/11 President Bush went to a mosque.” Alfonsi generously began with how “he candidly discussed his beliefs with Barbara Walters for her 2006 special on Heaven” where he promised her “the Jews, the Christians, whoever believes in God and does good will be saved.” As for whether “one man’s suicide bomber is another man’s martyr?”, Alfonsi assured viewers: In his book, the imam wrote: “The truth is that killing innocent people is always wrong and no argument or excuse, no matter how deeply believed, can ever make it right.” Playing a clip of Rauf saying “United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened” on 9/11, Alfonsi noted that’s why “critics called him a terror sympathizer,” but, she countered, “a spokesman for the imam tells us the comments were, quote, ‘taken out of context.’” She concluded with another endorsement for Feisal Abdul Rauf’s character: And while all of the imam’s writings and interviews are now being thoroughly examined, many critics have overlooked one of his more memorable speeches. The imam actually eulogized Daniel Pearl, the journalist murdered by Islamist terrorists in Pakistan, and, Diane, he asked forgiveness for what’s been done in the name of Islam. Sawyer chirped in: “That’s right, he was there at that memorial.” A couple of columns with facts and concerns ignored or dismissed by Alfonsi: From the August 23 New York Post, “ Rauf: a moderate? Beware imams’ doubletalk ,” by Hoover Institution media fellow Paul Sperry. And from National Review online over the weekend, a piece by Andrew C. McCarthy: “ Which Islam Will Prevail in America? That is the real question at hand in the Ground Zero mosque debate .” Sunday night, anchor David Muir announced: “Tonight, we take you to the protest, and we take you back to the days right after 9/11 when then-President Bush offered his own words about Islam.” From that story: LINSEY DAVIS: In an attempt to make a clear distinction between Islam and terrorism, within days of 9/11 President Bush went to a mosque. FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, SEPT 17, 2001: That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. DAVIS: But in recent weeks, many prominent Republicans have suggested otherwise… Earlier on Sunday: “ Amanpour on One-Sided This Week: ‘Profound Questions About Religious Tolerance and Prejudice in the U.S .’” The story on ABC’s World News from Monday, August 23, transcript provided by the MRC’s Brad Wilmouth: DIANE SAWYER: Back here in New York, several hundred people spent Sunday in loud and dueling protests about the mosque near Ground Zero – for and against. The head of the mosque is on his third stop in the Middle East sent by the U.S. to spread a positive word about being Muslim in America. And Sharyn Alfonsi asked some more questions today about who he is. SHARYN ALFONSI: He candidly discussed his beliefs with Barbara Walters for her 2006 special on Heaven. BARBARA WALTERS: Do only Muslims go to Heaven? IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF: The fundamental thing is you must accept God. You have to believe that there is a creator. The Jews, the Christians, whoever believes in God and does good will be saved. ALFONSI: Rauf, who watched his father, a Muslim scholar, pioneer interfaith dialogue in the 60s in New York, went on to do the same thing after the September 11 attacks. Rauf was the imam – or head priest – of a New York mosque just 12 blocks from Ground Zero. WALTERS: Do you believe that a suicide bomber goes to Heaven? RAUF: One of the things that we are taught is never to say somebody will go to Hell or somebody will go to Heaven. It is up to God to decide. WALTERS: So one man’s suicide bomber is another man’s martyr? RAUF: Well, the expression that I’ve heard is, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s hero.” ALFONSI: But, in his book, the imam wrote, “The truth is that killing innocent people is always wrong and no argument or excuse, no matter how deeply believed, can ever make it right.” He’s been praised for being moderate. But it was this interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes after the September 11 attacks that has drawn scrutiny. RAUF: I wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened, but United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened. ALFONSI: Critics called him a terror sympathizer. But a spokesman for the imam tells us the comments were, quote, “taken out of context.” He went on to describe the mistakes the CIA made in the 1980s by financing Osama bin Laden and strengthening the Taliban. And what about claims that the imam sympathizes with Hamas? Asked if the State Department was correct to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization: RAUF CLIP #1: I do not want to be placed, neither will I accept to be placed, in a position where I am the target of one side or another. RAUF CLIP #2: The targeting of civilians is wrong. ALFONSI: And while all of the imam’s writings and interviews are now being thoroughly examined, many critics have overlooked one of his more memorable speeches. The imam actually eulogized Daniel Pearl, the journalist murdered by Islamist terrorists in Pakistan, and, Diane, he asked forgiveness for what’s been done in the name of Islam. SAWYER: That’s right, he was there at that memorial. Good to see you tonight, Sharyn. Thank you.
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ABC Works to Rehabilitate Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s Reputation After Pining for George W. Bush
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Tagged america, barbara-walters, christians, deeply-believed, diane sawyer, ground zero mosque, imam, interview, islam, mosque, News, pakistan, world-news
The New York Times offered still more moral support for the controversial Ground Zero mosque on Sunday’s front-page profile by Anne Barnard of the man behind the building project, imam Feisal Abdul Rauf — ” For Imam in Muslim Center Furor, a Hard Balancing Act .” Among the contributors to the report: Thanassis Cambanis and Mona El-Naggar in Cairo, and Kareem Fahim, Sharaf Mowjood and Jack Begg in New York. Mowjood? As Alana Goodman of the Business and Media Institute reported earlier this month , Sharaf Mowjood is a former lobbyist for the Council on American Islamic Relations, an interest group that strongly supports the mosque. Mowjood coauthored a glowing Dec. 9, 2009 article on the mosque with reporter Ralph Blumenthal and also contributed to a sympathetic story by Barnard August 11 about public relations missteps by the mosque sponsors. Barnard began with an anecdote about a Rauf lecture in Cairo where the imam (with a voice the Times describes as “soft, almost New Agey”) was accused by radical Islamists of being an American agent (a story which of course bolsters Rauf’s moderate credentials). Barnard seemingly took it as her mission to rebut charges of extremism against Rauf. In his absence — he is now on another Middle East speaking tour sponsored by the State Department — a host of allegations have been floated: that he supports terrorism; that his father, who worked at the behest of the Egyptian government, was a militant; that his publicly expressed views mask stealth extremism. Some charges, the available record suggests, are unsupported. Some are simplifications of his ideas. In any case, calling him a jihadist appears even less credible than calling him a United States agent . Barnard insisted that Rauf’s views, in context, placed him “as pro-American within the Muslim world.” He consistently denounces violence . Some of his views on the interplay between terrorism and American foreign policy — or his search for commonalities between Islamic law and this country’s Constitution — have proved jarring to some American ears, but still place him as pro-American within the Muslim world. He devotes himself to befriending Christians and Jews — so much, some Muslim Americans say, that he has lost touch with their own concerns. Barnard set up more criticisms for the sole purpose of rebuttal, and waited until paragraph 34 out of 35 to bring up, defensively, Rauf’s failure to describe Hamas as a terrorist organization. Mr. Abdul Rauf also founded the Shariah Index Project — an effort to formally rate which governments best follow Islamic law. Critics see in it support for Taliban-style Shariah or imposing Islamic law in America. Shariah, though, like Halakha, or Jewish law, has a spectrum of interpretations. The ratings, Ms. Kahn said, measure how well states uphold Shariah’s core principles like rights to life, dignity and education, not Taliban strong points. The imam has written that some Western states unwittingly apply Shariah better than self-styled Islamic states that kill wantonly, stone women and deny education — to him, violations of Shariah. After 9/11, Mr. Abdul Rauf was all over the airwaves denouncing terrorism , urging Muslims to confront its presence among them, and saying that killing civilians violated Islam. He wrote a book, “What’s Right With Islam Is What’s Right With America,” asserting the congruence of American democracy and Islam. That ample public record — interviews, writings, sermons — is now being examined by opponents of the downtown center. Those opponents repeat often that Mr. Abdul Rauf, in one radio interview , refused to describe the Palestinian group that pioneered suicide bombings against Israel, Hamas, as a terrorist organization. In the lengthy interview , Mr. Abdul Rauf clumsily tries to say that people around the globe define terrorism differently and labeling any group would sap his ability to build bridges. He also says: “Targeting civilians is wrong. It is a sin in our religion,” and, “I am a supporter of the state of Israel.”
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The New York Times Rushes to Defend Ground Zero Imam
The mainstream media are telling us that “it’s the fringe that’s upset” about the Ground Zero mosque, but polling data show “it’s 70 percent of the American people,” NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell noted on Friday’s “Hannity” program. “That means every conservative, every moderate, and some liberals too” think the Ground Zero mosque is in extremely poor taste, leaving only “the far left and people still dropping acid,” who fail to see why it’s controversial, the Media Research Center founder quipped. “If Barack Obama runs on this in 2012, he will make Jimmy Carter look good by comparison…. This is how bad this position is, and everybody understands it except for the press,” Bozell argued later in the “Media Mash” segment. For the segment’s audio, click here to download the MP3. Click the play button on the embed above for video, or click here to download the WMV video file.
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Hannity, Bozell Tackle Media Bias Surrounding Ground Zero Mosque Issue
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Not even feigning the pretense of balance, a week after her roundtable hailed President Obama’s initial endorsement of the Ground Zero mosque (GZM), on this Sunday’s This Week host Christiane Amanpour featured an “exclusive” with two GZM proponents as she declared “the controversy has raised profound questions about religious tolerance and prejudice in the United States. And the backlash against Islam has been seen across the country…” Holding up the current Time magazine with its “Is America Islamophobic?” cover, she forwarded the contention: “Is America Islamophobic? Are you concerned about the long-term relationship between American Muslims and the rest of society here?” Amanpour’s guests, to “cut through the heated rhetoric” on the only Sunday interview show with a guest segment on the GZM (Fox News Sunday took it up in its panel time): Daisy Khan, wife of imam behind the project, and Rabbi Joy Levitt, from the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, “who’s an adviser on the project.” Amanpour began by undermining the idea the community center with a prayer room inside is all that close to Ground Zero: “Opponents say that it’s just too close to the site of the 9/11 attacks, though it cannot be seen from there. It took an ABC News producer two minutes and 45 seconds to walk from Ground Zero to the site of the proposed center.” Amanpour posed a series of fairly friendly questions about their reaction to the backlash, what services would be provided by the center, if they had made any “missteps” and if they would take up Governor Paterson on his offer to find another location, before she cued them up to denounce Newt Gingrich: There’s been a lot of heated rhetoric as we’ve been saying. I want to play you something that the former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, said about the plans to build this center near Ground Zero….Let me ask you directly because he did bring up Nazi imagery there. What do you make of that? She raised the funding , but only to portray Khan as an innocent: “Are you prepared to discuss the issue of foreign funding? Let’s say there was foreign funding, how would you be able to know exactly where that money was coming from?” Amanpour did play a soundbite of Khan’s husband claiming in 2001 that “the United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.” But after Khan answered he just meant it was “blowback” for “CIA support specifically to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban,” Amanpor dropped the subject so she could move to American prejudice and hate, cuing up Khan: This Time magazine cover is being talked about a lot right now. Basically, “Is America Islamophobic?” Is America Islamophobic? Are you concerned about the long-term relationship between American Muslims and the rest of society here? Khan’s reply likely echoed Amanpour’s unsaid view: “Yes, I think we are deeply concerned because this is like a metastasized anti-Semitism. That’s what we feel right now. It’s not even Islamophobia, it’s beyond Islamophobia. It’s hate of Muslims.” During the subsequent roundtable, Robert Reich made clear his disgust with the “intolerance” of Americans on this and immigration and Gingrich’s “outrageous” criticism, PBS’s Judy Woodruff, ex of CNN and NBC, lamented (“it was just six days after 9/11 that President George W. Bush went to an Islamic Center…and said we need to remember that the acts that were done to this country do not represent all of Islam”) and her husband, Bloomberg’s Al Hunt, offered his own sophomoric response to the argument the site should be moved: Is it three blocks instead of two blocks? Is it eight blocks? Is it another state, another country? That strikes me as a very sophomoric argument. This whole thing has been demagoged. My ongoing Amanpour Watch: Last week: “ Amanpour’s Panel Hails Obama’s ‘Courage,’ ‘Leadership’ and ‘Great Global Message’ on Mosque ” August 8: “ Amanpour Elevates British Journalist Who Sees ‘Culture of Hate’ in U.S., Time to Divide Up Our ‘Pie ’” August 1, reviewing Amanpour’s debut: “ Amanpour Slums to Take on U.S. Politics, Flummoxed Pelosi’s Victories Aren’t Better Appreciated ” All of Amanpour’s questions and prompts during the segment with Khan and Levitt, on the August 22 This Week: CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: We turn now over the debate of the proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero. Opponents say that it’s just too close to the site of the 9/11 attacks, though it cannot be seen from there. It took an ABC News producer two minutes and 45 seconds to walk from Ground Zero to the site of the proposed center. But the controversy has raised profound questions about religious tolerance and prejudice in the United States. And the backlash against Islam has been seen across the country with mosques facing protests in California, Wisconsin and Tennessee. And some intelligence experts now say that the backlash could also bolster extremists abroad who wish to portray the United States as anti-Islam. And so this morning, we cut through the heated rhetoric and hear directly from one of the leading organizers behind the center, Daisy Khan, wife of imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, and also Rabbi Joy Levitt, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, who’s an adviser on the project. Thank you both very much for joining me on This Week. > Can I ask you first, Daisy, what has been your reaction – you haven’t spoken publicly – what has been your reaction – to the last several weeks of this? > Well you say you started to meet them, did you not meet with families as you began to propose this Islamic center? > Rabbi Joy Levitt, how did it come about that the two of you were working together on this? > [To Khan] What was is mean to be, the Islamic center? Is it a mosque with a dome and minaret, some loud calls to prayer five times a day? Or what is it? > And what about it will be the community center? > Let me ask you both now, because obviously it has taken off on a whole different dimension over the last several weeks. And there’s a huge amount of anxiety amongst many in the United States about the sensitivity of putting it where it is, particularly amongst some of the 9/11 families. So I want to play for you something that the Governor of New York said, in fact on CNN a week ago about the potential of a compromise. Let’s listen to what he says. [DAVID PATERSON: If people put their heads together, maybe we can find a site that’s away from the site now, but still serves the area that would be a noble gesture to those who live in the area who suffered after the attack on this country and at the same time, it would probably in many ways, change a lot of people’s minds about Islam.] So, Daisy, are you prepared — do you have any plans to meet with him? Does imam Feisal? Do you plan to try to seek a compromise and move it? > Do you have a plan to specifically meet with the Governor who’s offered state land for this? And do you think you’ll decide to move it? > So is moving on the table still? [KHAN: We, right now, it’s not, until we consult with all our stake holders.] > Can I ask you, Rabbi Levitt, were there missteps at the beginning, in terms of, let’s some people have suggested there should have been a town hall meeting-style, more outreach, more sophisticated public relations. Not talking just to the people who agreed with you but the people that might have the kind of issues that are being shown right how to. Should there have been a different way of approaching this? > Reaching out to people, should there have been a more organized debate in the community, in the wider area to talk about how this was going to be seen? [LEVITT: …this whole controversy has unleashed is a tremendous amount of misinformation, lack of knowledge about Islam that we need to address.] > Let me take a few of those, sort of, in order. There’s been a lot of heated rhetoric as we’ve been saying. I want to play you something that the former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich, said about the plans to build this center near Ground Zero. [GINGRICH, ON FNC, AUGUST 16: 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.] [To Levitt] Let me ask you directly because he did bring up Nazi imagery there. What do you make of that? > Do you have the plans for it, do you have the architect, do you have the funding? Is it something that could happen anytime? Or is it still a long time off? > How much money has been raised? And, are you prepared to discuss the issue of foreign funding? Let’s say there was foreign funding, how would you be able to know exactly where that money was coming from? What other projects elsewhere they may have given money to? > Let me ask you, because there have been also a lot of questions raised about your husband’s political ideas and political views, specifically because of something that he said on 60 Minutes shortly after 9/11. Let me play that. [FEISAL, ON 60 MINUTES, SEPTEMBER 30, 2001: I wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened. But the United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.] What do you think he meant by that? [KHAN: It was a longer interview. And in the longer interview, he talked about CIA support specifically to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban.] > You mean back, against the Soviet Union? [KHAN: And how this was, in CIA terms, a blowback of that. That’s what he meant.] > You’ve talked about the state of Islam in the United States. I mean, look, this Time magazine cover is being talked about a lot right now. Basically, “Is America Islamophobic?” Is America Islamophobic? Are you concerned about the long-term relationship between American Muslims and the rest of society here? [KHAN: Yes, I think we are deeply concerned because this is like a metastasized anti-Semitism. That’s what we feel right now. It’s not even Islamophobia, it’s beyond Islamophobia. It’s hate of Muslims…] > [To Levitt] Do you agree with what she just said and how she described it? > The last word. Do you think it will go ahead?
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Amanpour on One-Sided This Week: ‘Profound Questions About Religious Tolerance and Prejudice in the U.S.’
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Tagged al hunt, architect, bennyhollywood, Breaking News, governor, ground zero mosque, huge, mma, plans, time, TMZ, United
CNN’s T. J. Holmes brought back Time’s Bobby Ghosh on Friday’s Newsroom for more promotion of his “Islamophobia” cover story , and added two Muslim guests who largely agreed with his thesis that anti-Islamic sentiment was “coming into the mainstream,” and how this was apparently a “reason for alarm.” Holmes asked softball questions, and no one with an opposing viewpoint appeared during the segment. The anchor had the three on for a panel discussion at the bottom of the 10 am Eastern hour about Ghosh’s “Is America Islamophobic?” article, as well the controversy over the planned mosque near Ground Zero in New York City. Before introducing his guests, Holmes held up two examples of apparent “Islamophobia” in the country and seemed to sympathize with the apparent plight of Muslims in the U.S.: HOLMES: Two-and-a-half million Muslims live, work and pray in America- not always easy. Case in point: protests in California – check that out- marching against a proposed mosque in their area, holding signs with slogans such as, ‘Muslims danced for joy on 9/11’ – or how about the planned Islamic center and mosque near New York’s Ground Zero? More than 60 percent of Americans are opposed to that center being built. But the scope is bigger than that, according to a Time magazine poll. More than 3 in 10 Americans would say no to a mosque in their neighborhood. Then there are statements like this one from evangelical leader Franklin Graham. REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM (from August 18, 2010 CNN’s “John King USA”): To hate the Jew, to hate the Christian, to kill them- their goal is world domination. And for the Muslim, peace means when all of the other nations are subject to Islam- then we are at peace. The world will be at peace when the entire world is under Islam. Well, I don’t agree with the teachings of Islam – The CNN anchor then introduced Ghosh, as well as Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddi of Teaneck, New Jersey, “a New York suburb just 20 miles from Ground Zero,” and Reza Aslan of The Daily Beast. Holmes first let the Time deputy international editor explain his “Islamophobia” accusation: ” There are far too many people…like Franklin Graham- who have made it their business to project Islam in the most negative possible light …. there is a lot of Islamophobia about in this country, and it’s growing and becoming more vicious , and, with this latest mosque controversies- not one, but several controversies around the country- it’s coming into the mainstream, and that is reason for alarm .” Moments later, Aslan, who once denied that there was “no such thing as sharia” law , endorsed and expanded upon Ghosh’s point: ASLAN: Look, t here have always been pockets in this country that have had a real problem with Islam, that have seen Islam as violent, as bigoted, and that have brushed all Muslims with the exact same brush as they use to describe al Qaeda . The difference now is how mainstream it’s become. I mean, when the leading GOP candidate for president, Newt Gingrich, openly and repeatedly compares al Qaeda to American Muslims , repeating- just referring to both of them as simply ‘they,’ as in ‘they attacked us and now they wanted build a mosque,’ you’re starting to realize how just- sort of, part of the regular political discussion overtly anti-Islamic sentiment has become. That’s what is different now. It’s always been there, but its now part of the mainstream dialogue. Gingrich is the “leading GOP candidate for president”? That’s news to a lot of people, conservatives and liberals alike. According to CNN’s own poll on August 13 , Mitt Romney had the most support, followed by Sarah Palin. Gingrich was in third. Mayor Hameeduddi, a Democrat, actually partially blamed the media for the apparent “Islamophobia:” HAMEEDUDDI: I hate to use – you know, make the media the scapegoat on this, but we consistently see things- Muslims portrayed in very negative lights on TV , and you don’t necessarily see- like, if you look at Times Square in December, where they did an ad campaign about- you know, ‘I’m Muslim, I’m an American.’ It was doctors, lawyers, fireman, policemen, people of all sorts- people of all- of American society being put on the billboard. And I think that the discussion- we need to raise the content in the form of our discourse. Are there problems and are there protests? Yes. But in my town- you know, when we went before the zoning board to get the expansion for our mosque- our masjid, it was done in one night and it was a 9-0 unanimous vote. Towards the end of the segment, Holmes deferred to his guests by asking what could be labeled as leading/softball questions that helped advance their viewpoint. Aslan actually laid much of the blame for the spread of “Islamophobia” at the feet of- you guessed it- Fox News (maybe he’ll appear on Rick Sanchez’s show soon): HOLMES: …The dialogue- the discourse has not necessarily been civil in a lot of ways. Are we missing an opportunity here now with this controversy going on in New York about this proposed Islamic center and mosque- are we missing an opportunity to have a discussion, to educate people a little bit more about Muslims? GHOSH: I worry that we are missing the opportunity. I think the window is still open. It hasn’t closed yet, but there is so much anger and there is so much noise- there’s screaming that is taking place from one side of this discussion- that I worry that there will be no calm, composed, rational debate. Now, to the mayor’s point, I’m delighted that in Teaneck, when they expanded the mosque, this was done without any real rancor. H owever, in California, in Tehmecula- California, a blue state- people who are protesting the mosque, turned up to Friday prayers with dogs- now, knowing full well that that would be considered deeply offensive to the people . We have gone to a point where people opposing each other are now looking specifically for ways to offend the other, and that suggests to me that a calm, rational discussion at this very moment seems impossible. HOLMES: Well, you all help me wrap this up . Reza, and to you- and we can do this quickly. Reza, who can help in this conversation? You heard the mayor mention kind of the media doesn’t help sometimes, but who can help? Who can step out there and lead the conversation- somebody that people will listen to, a Muslim leader, whether that’s a great communicator, whether that’s a politician- who can step out there and help bridge this divide that clearly is there, according- certainly, of the polls and some of these pictures we see at some of these protests? ASLAN: Well, it’s supposed to be our political and religious leaders, but they’re doing the opposite. They’re either running away from this or openly espousing religious bigotry as a political platform. And then, of course, we have an entire cable news broadcast- Fox News, I have to say- that is essentially turning this into a way of economic gain . So, I really don’t have a lot of faith that the people who we should rely on to bring everybody down and make sure that the values of American pluralism are ascendant- that they’ll actually do that. HOLMES: And quickly if you can, same question, Mr. Mayor- and also, I know you were in the room last Friday when the President made his statement that kind of sparked the controversy over the weekend about the mosque- the proposed mosque and Islamic center in New York. Has the President helped in the statement he made? Can he be the one? Who can help us in this conversation? HAMEEDUDDI: Well- I mean, the statement that he made was one of a constitutional argument, which- you know, I swore to uphold the Constitution, and I think the President did also. So that’s where he was coming from. But, as a Muslim, when we talk about- you know, the Islamophobia, we have the power within ourselves to either be bitter or be better. And if we’re bitter, we don’t help our society around us. But if we become better, we can uplift the society, and that’s where our challenge faces us in the next years to come. And, as Reza was saying- yeah, it is up to politicians like me. On September 4th, I’m having a conversation at a synagogue- you know, ‘from Rosh Hashana to Ramadan.’ And these are the things that need to happen on a local level- on an interfaith level- that you’ll see these things blossom all over the country. I think that- right now, it’s a very trying time, and I think that this issue with the mosque doesn’t help anything in New York, but it is an opportunity to build on- understanding of what Muslim Americans really believe in America. HOLMES: Well, that is the point right there, Mr. Mayor. We appreciate you being here. Reza, we appreciate you as well. And again, Bobby Ghosh- again, the article is coming out- going to be hitting newsstands I believe soon- I don’t think it’s out yet- but Bobby Ghosh- coming out Monday, I’m just told now. But Bobby, a lot of people need to check out- GHOSH: Should be on newsstands over the weekend. HOLMES: Over the weekend! All right. Make sure we get that in and know exactly when it’s going to be. But Bobby, I thank you as well. Wow, it seems that political correctness has seeped into controversies surrounding Islam to the point that bringing your dog to a protest against a mosque is some kind of act of bigotry.
Here is the original post:
CNN Continues to Promote ‘Islamophobia’ Accusation From Time
Yesterday Eyeblast.tv went up to New York City to interview people about the proposed Ground Zero mosque. While there, we were able to interview a security guard outside of the mosque location who said he was a long-time friend and follower of the Ground Zero imam. For more information about the ground zero mosque and the Ground Zero imam visit this post at the Eyeblast blog.
See the article here:
Video: 20-Year Friend/Follower of Ground Zero Imam: ‘Funding Will Come From Muslims Around The World’
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