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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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Shareef, as always, I appreciate your input and I don't think you were ranting.
However, when you state "It is not the fact, that we are not allowed to build an Islamic Center, but the fact that we are still all considered to be terrorists and that the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness fall by the wayside when someone or some group does not fit the cookie cutter image of acceptance.", that is not 100% accurate.
There is no "...not allowed to build an Islamic Center..." involved here. The Muslims who own the property clearly have the right to build on the property, and no one is preventing that Islamic Center from being built.
The other thing involves the "misguided extremists" and the similar misguided extremists who wish to follow in their footsteps. Those extremists have made it extremely difficult to tell the difference between themselves, the Muslims who suppport them, and the Muslims who repudiate them.
If the New Yorkers who don't want the Islamic Center built near Ground Zero can't tell the difference between the few Muslims who practice terroristic violence and the majority that does not, then who is responsible for educating them to be able to tell the difference?
I'm asking for specifics on how you think that education can be carried out and who is responsible for it, and I'm genuinely interested in your ideas.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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"...and no one is preventing that Islamic Center from being built.
Chief, that's as disingenuous a comment as ever there was. In fact, I'll use your phrase, it's 'horse feces'.
Prevent
1. to keep from occurring; avert; hinder
2. to hinder or stop from doing something
Is there a movement underway to prevent an islamic center from being built? As an absolute statement, no. Is there a movement underway to prevent an islamic center from being built at a proposed site 2 blocks from GZ? As an absolute statement, yes. Regardless of the reason(s), anyway you cut it the goal is to NOT have the islamic center at park place. So people ARE trying to prevent it.
"If the New Yorkers who don't want the Islamic Center built near Ground Zero can't tell the difference between the few Muslims who practice terroristic violence and the majority that does not, then who is responsible for educating them to be able to tell the difference?"
Sounds an awful lot like "Prove to us you're NOT terrorists."
I thought guilt had to be proven, and you're suggesting innocence need be?
And while we're at it, let's blame the rape victim because of what she wore.
P.s. So"...terroristic violence..." is worse than 'regular' violence. I guess one is more dead with "terroristic violence."
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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I sent a link to these discussions to a friend so she coudl have a read and see the emotions this has stirred up. I got an interesting response that I thought I'd share....
" A mosque is not a symbol of terrorism any more than a Catholic church. How great would it be if they had an education center there, so people could visit the WTC then go and see the mosque and understand that a select few pricks does not make a religion. Then people would really understand who was responsible for what happened and everyone could work together to make a better world :) Far fetched, yes, but education and acceptance is the key. People are confused about their enemy and that is a very, very scary thing. "
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Permalink Reply by Gregory Borg on
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Thought provoking, education instead of ignorance. America will never stand for it :>)
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Yeah, good point.... :-)
The person who wrote this is only 21, and like you, I thought it was quite though provoking.
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There's rumor right now about plans to build a library right next door to Sarah Palin! There would be books, ideas and free thinking, all right next door to her. Talk about insensitive!
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You are funny at times!
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You make a point, just so she did not talk.
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Jackie-boy, when you fight for Christian rights as hard as you fight for the rights of every other national group, race, and religion, then you can talk to me about "disengenous".
Until then, I'll file any claim you make using the "D" word under "I'll take Jack Has No Credibility When He Uses The D Word for $1,000, Alex."
" Is there a movement underway to prevent an islamic center from being built at a proposed site 2 blocks from GZ? As an absolute statement, yes." Hmm, first you tell me that my comments are disengenuous, then you make a statement that literally admits the truth of what I said. Talk about...well...disengenuous. Is there no end to your double stadards???
"So people ARE trying to prevent it." No, Jack, they're just asking for some consideration of an alternate location - in other words, moving it.
"Move" - "transitive and intransitive verb - change position: to change position or location, or change the position or location of something"
"prevent" - "transitive verb" - to keep from happening; make impossible by prior action; hinder"
It is literally impossible to move a project somewhere else and prevent it at the same time. If you argue that one, you're arguing in favor of an oxymoron. You just can't do both.
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Shareef,
Despite Jack's interruption, I'm still very interested in what you have to say in response to my request.
Thank you.
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"Jack, when you fight for Christian rights as hard as you fight for the rights of every other national group, race, and religion, then you can talk to me about "disengenous".
" Why would I have to fight for christian rights? Clearly there are enough of you that that shouldn't be a problem. To presume that I HAVE to, utter nonsense. Chief I really do think you're slipping a bit.
The Muslims who own the property clearly have the right to build on the property, and no one is preventing that Islamic Center from being built. Sure they are, they are trying to PREVENT it from being built at park place.
lol you are fn incorrigible, "So people ARE trying to prevent it." No, Jack, they're just asking for some consideration of an alternate location - in other words, moving it.
What part of 'youthey don't want it built at park place do you NOT get? They are trying to prevent it from being built there.
Your last paragraph is just straight up bullshit.
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