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9/11 Families Divided Over Mosque, Community Center
SAMANTHA GROSS
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Talat Hamdani traveled to Mecca to pray that her missing son, an EMT, was safe in the days after 9/11. She held out hope that his Muslim background had led to his detention as a suspect, considering it better than the alternative.
(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Related
New York City Commission Opens WTC Site for Mosque Construction
When part of his body was returned to her - his lower half shattered into 34 pieces - it was final proof he had indeed been killed when Islamic extremists brought down the World Trade Center. As Americans take sides over plans to build an Islamic cultural center and mosque blocks away, Hamdani says it feels personal.
"Why are we paying the price? Why are we being ostracized? Our loved ones died," she said at her Lake Grove, N.Y., home. "America was founded on the grounds of religious freedom," and opposition to the cultural center "is un-American. It's unethical. And it is wrong."
The thousands of relatives of the 2,976 victims have no single representative and no unified voice, even as another 9/11 anniversary approaches. The conflict is dividing a group that in many ways has never been united, with some saying the cultural center would reopen old wounds too close to hallowed ground and others say that opposing it is tantamount to bigotry.
And some, like Vandna Jain, walk a middle ground.
"It is unfair to persecute the group, however, in turn, there should be some respect for the feelings of the people that are forever attached to this site due to their losses," the New City, N.Y., resident, whose father, Yudh, died in the north tower, wrote in an e-mail. "I think people have a right to be upset about it, just as much as people have a right to build a mosque."
Jim Riches, a former New York Fire Department deputy chief whose son, Jimmy, was killed at the trade center, believes the dispute has nothing to do with religious freedom.
"We're not telling them not to practice their religion. ... It's about location, location, location," he said, asking why the mosque couldn't be built farther away from the land that he still considers a cemetery. "It's disrespectful. You wouldn't put a Japanese cultural center at Pearl Harbor."
Liza Murphy feels differently. Her brother, Charlie, died at ground zero, but she says she doesn't lay claim to the sprawling, 16-acre site.
"It's a place where a terrible tragedy took place, but I don't see what makes it sacred," said the Brooklyn resident. "Nine years later, that now belongs to the public. And my brother and his death are private and belong to me."
Murphy says she has no objection to the planned mosque and wouldn't want to judge one group of Muslims based on the actions of another.
But Peter Gadiel says he owes no apologies for singling one group out. Since his son, James, was killed at the trade center, Gadiel has argued publicly that all Muslims should share some collective guilt for what happened on 9/11.
"The fact is that Islam does not coexist well with other religions, and you can't separate that from Islam," the Kent, Conn., resident said, explaining his stand against the mosque. "If that sounds intolerant on my part, that's too bad."
The families' impassioned responses to the prospect of the mosque have influenced the public debate.
Gov. David Paterson has suggested moving the project further away from the trade center site out of respect for opponents' feelings, while Mayor Michael Bloomberg came out in support of the mosque, calling it a test of the separation of church and state.
President Barack Obama has said he believes Muslims have the right to build the Islamic center as a matter of religious freedom, though he's also said he won't take a position on whether they should actually build it.
The imam leading plans for the center on Friday called extremism a security threat in both the West and the Muslim world. Feisal Abdul Rauf made his comments to Associated Press Television News in Bahrain during a Mideast tour funded by the U.S. State Department, but he wouldn't discuss the uproar over the Islamic center.
Relatives of those slain on Sept. 11 have made their diverging voices heard on a number of issues over the years _ from whether to try the suspects in a civilian court to the location of a proposed freedom museum at ground zero that is no longer planned for the site.
Charles Wolf, who lost his wife, Katherine, at the trade center, says emotions among family members are especially raw right now.
"This is anniversary season. It's really, really hard," the Manhattanite said. "Passions are up and this is bringing up a lot of hurt in people."
He says he worries that any decision to respond to public pressure and move the mosque would be used by extremists to paint Americans as intolerant.
"The powers of evil were piloting those airplanes," he said of the Sept. 11 attackers.
Now, with the mosque dispute, "here is where we're falling into the terrorists' trap ... trying to tear each other apart. Good people fighting other good people - does that sound like evil at work?"
___
Associated Press writers David B. Caruso and Karen Matthews in New York and Martha Raffaele in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Talat Hamdani traveled to Mecca to pray that her missing son, an EMT, was safe in the days after 9/11. She held out hope that his Muslim background had led to his detention as a suspect, considering it better than the alternative.
(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
Related
New York City Commission Opens WTC Site for Mosque Construction
When part of his body was returned to her - his lower half shattered into 34 pieces - it was final proof he had indeed been killed when Islamic extremists brought down the World Trade Center. As Americans take sides over plans to build an Islamic cultural center and mosque blocks away, Hamdani says it feels personal.
"Why are we paying the price? Why are we being ostracized? Our loved ones died," she said at her Lake Grove, N.Y., home. "America was founded on the grounds of religious freedom," and opposition to the cultural center "is un-American. It's unethical. And it is wrong."
The thousands of relatives of the 2,976 victims have no single representative and no unified voice, even as another 9/11 anniversary approaches. The conflict is dividing a group that in many ways has never been united, with some saying the cultural center would reopen old wounds too close to hallowed ground and others say that opposing it is tantamount to bigotry.
And some, like Vandna Jain, walk a middle ground.
"It is unfair to persecute the group, however, in turn, there should be some respect for the feelings of the people that are forever attached to this site due to their losses," the New City, N.Y., resident, whose father, Yudh, died in the north tower, wrote in an e-mail. "I think people have a right to be upset about it, just as much as people have a right to build a mosque."
Jim Riches, a former New York Fire Department deputy chief whose son, Jimmy, was killed at the trade center, believes the dispute has nothing to do with religious freedom.
"We're not telling them not to practice their religion. ... It's about location, location, location," he said, asking why the mosque couldn't be built farther away from the land that he still considers a cemetery. "It's disrespectful. You wouldn't put a Japanese cultural center at Pearl Harbor."
Liza Murphy feels differently. Her brother, Charlie, died at ground zero, but she says she doesn't lay claim to the sprawling, 16-acre site.
"It's a place where a terrible tragedy took place, but I don't see what makes it sacred," said the Brooklyn resident. "Nine years later, that now belongs to the public. And my brother and his death are private and belong to me."
Murphy says she has no objection to the planned mosque and wouldn't want to judge one group of Muslims based on the actions of another.
But Peter Gadiel says he owes no apologies for singling one group out. Since his son, James, was killed at the trade center, Gadiel has argued publicly that all Muslims should share some collective guilt for what happened on 9/11.
"The fact is that Islam does not coexist well with other religions, and you can't separate that from Islam," the Kent, Conn., resident said, explaining his stand against the mosque. "If that sounds intolerant on my part, that's too bad."
The families' impassioned responses to the prospect of the mosque have influenced the public debate.
Gov. David Paterson has suggested moving the project further away from the trade center site out of respect for opponents' feelings, while Mayor Michael Bloomberg came out in support of the mosque, calling it a test of the separation of church and state.
President Barack Obama has said he believes Muslims have the right to build the Islamic center as a matter of religious freedom, though he's also said he won't take a position on whether they should actually build it.
The imam leading plans for the center on Friday called extremism a security threat in both the West and the Muslim world. Feisal Abdul Rauf made his comments to Associated Press Television News in Bahrain during a Mideast tour funded by the U.S. State Department, but he wouldn't discuss the uproar over the Islamic center.
Relatives of those slain on Sept. 11 have made their diverging voices heard on a number of issues over the years _ from whether to try the suspects in a civilian court to the location of a proposed freedom museum at ground zero that is no longer planned for the site.
Charles Wolf, who lost his wife, Katherine, at the trade center, says emotions among family members are especially raw right now.
"This is anniversary season. It's really, really hard," the Manhattanite said. "Passions are up and this is bringing up a lot of hurt in people."
He says he worries that any decision to respond to public pressure and move the mosque would be used by extremists to paint Americans as intolerant.
"The powers of evil were piloting those airplanes," he said of the Sept. 11 attackers.
Now, with the mosque dispute, "here is where we're falling into the terrorists' trap ... trying to tear each other apart. Good people fighting other good people - does that sound like evil at work?"
___
Associated Press writers David B. Caruso and Karen Matthews in New York and Martha Raffaele in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Walt,
You're casting a pretty wide net when you compare an the entire "Holy Land" or an entire continent to a few blocks in New York City.
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Permalink Reply by Brad on
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FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO BUILD YOUR MOSQUE, You are in America plenty of land to choose from just not Ground Zero or near Ground Zero. I understand we are the land of the free, and we respect the right to freedom of religion. I also understand that those that were responsible for these horrible attacks were Islamic, but they were believers in EXTREME ISLAMIC belief. But it doesn't matter, we lost 343 of our fellow brothers and sisters, also 100's from other emergency service agencies, and 3,000 innocent civilians. Lets build the memorial, that all those hero's and civilians deserve, NOT A MOSQUE.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Actually it's a building which will have a shopping mall, a community center, pool and a mosque, kind of like a muslim ymca, or maybe a mini-mall of america.
They already OWN the land, how would you feel (assuming you own and not rent) were someone to tell you what you could or couldn't do on it (barring of course, zoning regulations)?
There were 343 FF killed, but EMS and other personnel accounted for less than 50, and all told and excluding the terrorists themselves, the death toll (which varies from source to source) is agreed to be just under 3000 total. By your count it would be 3000+343+ (assuming hundreds means at least 200) =3500 dead (although by your 'estimates' it could be as high as 3600 or 3700). That's a significant math error anyway you look at it.
So even though you have your right to your opinion, you really should at least have the facts right.
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Plus I don't know about you, but in my area we actually have to get approval from the cities, villages, towns, or even in some cases the county to build something it doesn't matter if I own the land or not. If those municipalities don't agree well they can block it or be a thorn in your side. My apologies I do not have the exact number off the top of my head, other then that the facts are the facts!! Since I used the word 100's when I should have said 50, I guess that makes a huge difference to what they did. I don't need the math written down, I have a college education. But thanks!!!
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Permalink Reply by SFB on
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First off, If your going to reply to this discussion, make sure you know half of the facts, at least! THE 9/11 ATTACKERS WERE NOT MUSLIM!!! THEY WERE ISLAM!!! Also they were Islam extremists. That means they do not follow the traditional ways of PEACEFUL Islam. They kind of went and made their own version.
I do not trample on the views and beliefs of others, I do however, let people know when they are wrong. Freedom of Religion allows people to believe in who and what they want. A lot of you are discriminating based on facts you don't have. Just because people are Muslim means nothing. It doesn't make them bad, or mean they hate America. Same can be said about people of Islamic faith. Not everyone is a threat.
One more thing. These "people" who are "un-USA", are not, anti USA. Why else would they have immigrated from where ever? They took an oath to become an American citizen. To me, that makes them American. If you don't like how the conty is turning out, with all theses immigrant killers all over.....maybe you should GET OUT OF THE COUNTRY. Go live somewhere else. Stop being so damn RACIST!!! And get your facts straight.
Extreme Islams, not Muslims committed the attacks!!!!
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Hey, how about, you....think.....and.....read.....before you type.
The attackers were not Muslim......
The attackers were not Islamic......
The attackers "were" Extremists of the Islamic faith....
Not not traditional peaceful Islam
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Not that I would have made an education pivotal to this argument but since you brought it up, how can you be so fast and loose with facts? I know when I was in college facts were actually considered to be important. Important enough that they were called...facts.
So how come then you corrected someone by saying it was "a mosque with a community center" when the opposite is true? To make it sound more sensational?
I didn't have the exact number of non-fire EMS personnel so I rounded it up to 50, turns out it was 77 (NYPD, PA and EMS personnel). I underestimated it by about 35%, you overestimated it by about 300%.
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It's not a question of what happened on 9/11, I think we're both in agreement on that. I just pointed out that you inflated numbers to suit your own purpose. One frequent contributor to these discussions would label that demonstrably false.
[I bet you'd be really pissed if a professor gave you a grade that was 300% less than you had earned. But hey, 50, 100's, it's all the same. Can I borrow a couple of hundred dollars from you. I'd be happy to pay you back 50 of it?]
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SFB,
Not to be a dick here, but islam is to christianity as mulsim is to christian. Islam is the religion, muslims are the followers, in the same way that christianity is the religion and christians are the followers.
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So much for that college education. In my reply to you I pointed out that you'd be pissed if someone told you what you could or couldn't do on your own property, barring zoning regulations.
So your statement "...in my area we actually have to get approval from the cities, villages, towns, or even in some cases the county to build something it doesn't matter if I own the land or not...." reinforces what I had already said. I pointed it out above to show that the owners of the proposed Cordoba Building have complied with ALL zoning regulations and ordinances. So not really sure why you felt you had to mention it. Just wondering.
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Permalink Reply by J.R. Fitzgerald on
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So just out of curiosity, can you explain the difference between the two without using the attack on 9/11?
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