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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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Jack, if you can't recognize the straw men that you use then you certainly don't know enough about it to know what is or is not a straw man.
Non-sequiturs are things that are not germane to the point, and when I called you on your rude-ass butting in on a question that I asked Shareef, it is apparent that not only is your stance on this B.S. but that you have the manners of a spoiled child.
I don't try to control who responds - I just hoped (in vain) that you'd be mature enough, polite enough, and honest enough to let Shareef respond without interference.
"And all this because we disagree on the main issue in here." No, Jack, it's because you have conducted baseless personal attacks and like a spoiled child, you don't like it when someone uses your own tactics on you.
"Petulant whining" describes your entire set of bogus diatribes regarding this topic - perfectly. Your characterization of my calling your rude behavior exactly what it is is neither petulant nor whining.
"...you just want to try and discredit me by bringing up something that doesn't exist." If you think your rude-ass butting in doesn't exist, you're delusional.
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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when I called you on your rude-ass butting in on a question that I asked Shareef, it is apparent that not only is your stance on this B.S. but that you have the manners of a spoiled child. how exactly do you figure that? funny that all I did was respond to a comment, if it bothers you that much, ignore it and move on. you can't seem to do that. I suppose in your twisted reasoning you really think that the reason Shareef hasn't responded is because of my "rude-ass butting in..." I think it's because he just hasn't responded. You're just looking for more ways to insult me, discredit my arguments and show everyone how bad ass you is. have fun with it.
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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on
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You are partially correct. Islam is our religion and it is simply an Arabic word that translates into, "Submission to the will of God." Muslim is what we are and the word translates into, "One who submits to the will of God." So, by our standards and by our beliefs, anyone who submits his/her will to the One and Only True God is a Muslim by any religion. Some of the greatest Muslims in the history of our religion were Jesus(the son of Mary), Moses, Noah, the Disciples, John the Baptist, David, Solomon, Mary(the mother of Jesus) and the list goes on and on.
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"You're just looking for more ways to insult me, discredit my arguments and show everyone how bad ass you is. have fun with it."
Wrong again, Jack, as usual. I just called you out on your demonstrable rudeness. Just because you have the right to act like an ass doesn't mean that you should act like an ass.
Hmmmmm, I think that's an analogy that has been used elsewhere in this debate.
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Permalink Reply by CFD218 on
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I think this is great. One person calls for others opinions, you put yours up and people attack it.
It's a free country, that shouldn't change because of terrorists. Deal with it!
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Permalink Reply by Vic Silverfish on
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They have all of the permits and zoneing approval necessary. All of the admin for this project has been complete for some time.
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Gregory Borg, very well put and hope and prayer is all that we have in the Fire Service. The saddest thing about this post, is that I offered to answer any questions in an attempt to clear up any misinformation and I haven't received one question. this tells me that many people want to remain misinformed and that is the true sickness.
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Permalink Reply by Caroline on
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Look, I know we all have the right to free speech, but before you speak can you at least make sure you're not offending anyone's religion? You know what disgusts me about this discussion? The fact that we can't discuss it without ganging up on someone or berating another country's religion/beliefs...It's politics and everyone's politics are different...but politics is different than ignorance, xenophobia, and racism. I know it's a passionate subject, but we need to understand the facts, then form an opinion; top the spread of misinformation and promote acceptance.
Facts:
-It is not "next to" or "on" ground zero
-It is an Islamic community center with a prayer room, not a mosque.
-Extremists were responsible for the 9/11 attacks, not the Muslim religion as a whole.
-Muslim-Americans perished in 9/11 too.
Personally, I think the intolerance behind this is terrible. I am so proud of the men and women that gave their lives for 9/11 but having this community center built has nothing to do with 9/11. America is about acceptance, not just tolerance. Acceptance, and religious freedom for all. Besides, we've been building ground zeros near Islamic mosques for quite a few years now.
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Permalink Reply by WestPhilly on
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Caroline,
What about the "acceptance" and "tolerance" of people who think building an "Islamic community center with a prayer room" is a bad idea given its proximity to ground zero? (I know, they're all just ignorant, xenophobic racists.)
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I accept and tolerate the opposing opinion and I think there are many sides to stand on here...not just anti/pro. I didn't say that the "other" view was "ignorant, xenophobic and racist". I was making a comparison to particular members that have responded on this thread in a xenophobic, racist and ignorant way to politics.
Racism/intolerance is not a good enough reason to back up personal politics. If it were we would have dictatorships and likely a fascist country.
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"Look, I know we all have the right to free speech, but before you speak can you at least make sure you're not offending anyone's religion?"
Those two things are mutually exclusive. Can we have the right to freedom of speech, or is our freedom of speech limited because we might offend someone's religion? You can't have that one both ways.
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