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2010/18: Park51: should a Muslim community and prayer centre be built near the site of the World Trade Centre?
Echo issue outline:

2010/18: Park51: should a Muslim community and prayer centre be built near the site of the World Trade Centre?

What they said...
'Any decent American, Muslim or otherwise, wouldn't dream of such an insult. It's a stab in the eye of America'
Pamela Geller, director of Stop the Islamisation of America

'We want to create a platform by which the voices of the mainstream and silent majority of Muslims will be amplified'
Daisy Khan, director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement

The issue at a glance
A proposal to build a 13-storey Islamic community and prayer centre two city blocks from the site of the World Trade Centre in New York have provoked controversy.
Muslim organisations selected the site of a former Burlington Coat Factory shop damaged in the September 11, 2001, attacks. The building at 45 Park Place has been vacant since it was hit by the fuselage of one of the jets flown into the World Trade Centre by Islamic terrorists.
Daisy Khan, director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, which is behind the project has said has said that the purpose of the centre is to spread harmony and amplify the voice of moderate Islam in the United States.
On May 5, 2010, the financial district committee of New York Community Board 1, representing local residents, supported the proposed Islamic centre.
A group called Stop the Islamicisation has led opposition to the project which is now being widely criticised as insensitive and inappropriate.

Background
Much of the information given below can be found in more extended form at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park51 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park51http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Trade_Center

Park51
Park51, originally named Cordoba House, is a 13-story Islamic community and prayer centre which its developers wish to locate two blocks from the World Trade Centre site in Lower Manhattan.
It is sometimes simplistically referred to as a mosque because it will contain a space for prayer. If it is built as proposed, it will replace an existing 1850s Italianate-style building that was being used as a Burlington Coat Factory before it was damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The proposed facility's design includes a 500-seat auditorium, theater, performing arts centre, fitness centre, swimming pool, basketball court, childcare area, bookstore, culinary school, art studio, food court, September 11 memorial, and a prayer space that could accommodate 1,000-2,000 people.

Public response
Initially there was little negative response to the project. The plans were reviewed by the local community board in May 2010, at which time they attracted some national media attention. Protests were first sparked through a campaign by conservative bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, leaders of the group Stop Islamisation of America, who called the project the 'Ground Zero mosque'.
Speaking in his capacity as a 'spokesperson for the conservative Tea Party political movement', Mark Williams called the centre 'a monument to the terror attacks'.
Some relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks said they found the proposal offensive because the radical Muslim terrorists who committed the attacks did so in the name of Islam.
Polls have showed that the majority of Americans, New York State residents, and New York City residents oppose building the centre near the site of the World Trade Centre; however, a majority of those living in Manhattan support building the centre.
A number of American politicians spoke out against the Park51 project:
Among them have been Republicans Senator John McCain; Sarah Palin; Mitt Romney (former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate); Senator Johnny Isakson; Senator Olympia Snowe; Idaho Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo; Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson; Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and North Carolina congressional candidate Ilario Pantano; and former House Speaker Republican, Newt Gingrich.
Some Democrat politicians have also suggested that a mosque would be better built somewhere else. These have included Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid; former Democratic Presidential Candidate, Howard Dean; and Democratic Representative, Mike McMahon, of New York's 13 District.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a U.S. Jewish civil rights group, while it has spoken out against what it has claimed is anti-Muslim bigotry, has also recommended that the Muslim centre would be better built somewhere else.
The Muslim centre has however attracted the support of numerous others. On August 13, 2010, in a speech at the annual White House Iftar dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, President Barack Obama acknowledged the right of Muslims to build the Islamic centre.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg strongly endorsed the project, saying that Ground Zero was a "very appropriate place" for a mosque, because it "tells the world" that the United States has freedom of religion for everyone.
Community Board 1 Financial Committee Chairman Edward "Ro" Sheffe claimed 'it will be a wonderful asset to the community.' New York City Councilwoman Margaret Chin has also said, 'The center is something the community needs.'
Additional New York politicians supported the proposal. They included Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler; NY State Senator Daniel Squadron; NYC Comptroller John Liu; NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.

The World Trade Centre, September 11 and 'Ground Zero'
The World Trade Centre (WTC) was a complex of seven skyscrapers in Lower Manhattan in New York City that were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with six new skyscrapers and a memorial to the casualties of the attacks.
The September 11 attacks (often referred to as September 11th or 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others.
The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C.
The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights.
Nearly 3,000 victims and the 19 hijackers died in the attacks.
The rebuilding process has started on the World Trade Centre site. In 2006, a new office tower was completed on the site of 7 World Trade Centre. The new 1 World Trade Centre is currently under construction at the site and upon completion in 2013 it will become one of the tallest buildings in North America. Three more towers were originally expected to be built between 2007 and 2012 on the site. After the late-2000s recession, the site's owners have said that construction of new towers could be delayed until 2036.
One of the first memorials on the site was the Tribute in Light, an installation of 88 searchlights at the footprints of the World Trade Centre towers which projected two vertical columns of light into the sky.
In New York, the World Trade Centre Site Memorial Competition was held to design an appropriate memorial on the site. The winning design, Reflecting Absence, was selected in August 2006, and consists of a pair of reflecting pools in the footprints of the towers, surrounded by a list of the victims' names in an underground memorial space. Plans for a museum on the site have been put on hold, following the abandonment of the International Freedom Centre in reaction to complaints from the families of many victims.
'Ground zero' is most commonly defined as 'the surface directly above or below the point at which a nuclear explosion takes place'.  After the September 11 terrorist attacks many Americans now refer to the site of the former World Trade Centre as 'Ground Zero'.

Web links and documents
On July 30, 2010, Salon published an overview of the opinion of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that the Muslim community centre should not be built on the proposed site because it would foster anti-Muslim feeling in the United States.  The full text of the ADL statement can be found at http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/07/30/adl_mosque_statement

On August 3, 2010, Salon published the full text of a speech given by Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, defending the right of the Muslim community of New York to build a community centre at a place of their choosing.  The full text of Bloomberg's speech can be found at http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/08/03/mayor_bloomberg_on_mosque/index.html

On August 22, 2010, SBS Dateline produced a report titled, 'Ground Zero Mosque'.  The report includes background information and a wide range of opinions both for and against the building of the Muslim prayer centre.  The full text of this report can be found at http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/transcript/id/600697/n/Ground-Zero-Mosque
The video of the report can be found at http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/600697/n/Ground-Zero-Mosque

On August 24, 2020, the 7.30 Report gave a comprehensive overview of the issues surrounding the building of a Muslim community centre near the site of the World Trade Centre.  The full text of the report can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2992382.htm
The video of the report can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201008/r625903_4232846.asx

On September 9, 2010, the online opinion site, On Line Opinion, published a comment written by Sadanand Dhume and titled, 'Manhattan project: the great mosque divide'.  The piece outlines the arguments on both side of the issue and concludes 'Western conservatives and liberals need to find common ground on one of the most pressing issues of our time. The failure to do so weakens both the West's culture of individual rights and the struggle against radical Islam'.
The full text of the article can be read at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10956

On September 11, 2010, President Barack Obama defended the religious freedoms of American Muslims.  A report of the president's address can be found at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/12/3009278.htm
An audio recording of part of President Obama's speech can be found at http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/news/audio/am/201009/20100911-sam-01-us-muslims.mp3

In an earlier speech given on August 13, 2010, President Obama similarly, and at greater length, defended the religious freedoms of Muslim Americans.  A full transcript of that speech can be found at http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/13/transcript-president-obama-at-white-house-iftar-dinner/

On September 18, 2010, The National Times published the opinion of Randa Abdel-Fattah that the Muslim community centre would help promote moderate Muslim views.  The opinion piece is titled, 'Ground Zero mosque is an antidote to extremism' The full text of the opinion piece can be found at http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/ground-zero-mosque-is-an-antidote-to-extremism-20100917-15g7p.html

The Internet site of the conservative lobby group Stop the Islamisation of America can be found at http://sioaonline.com/
The site presents a range of extreme anti-Islam views, including opposition to the building of a Muslim community centre near the site of the World Trade Centre.

The Internet page of the American Society for Muslim Advancement can be found at http://www.asmasociety.org/home/

Arguments against a Muslim community and prayer centre being built near the site of the World Trade Centre
1.  Building a Muslim community centre and mosque would be offensive to the survivors and the family and friends of those killed on September 11
It has been claimed that a majority of those who lost family and friends when the Twin Towers were destroyed by terrorists on September 11, 2001, are opposed to the building of a Muslim community centre two blocks from where the Twin Towers stood.
The argument put is that feelings are simply too painful for it to be appropriate for an Islamic symbol to be placed so near the site of the attack.
Posting on Twitter, the former Alaskan governor and Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, stated, 'Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand. Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in the interest of healing.'
In another post expressing similar views, Ms Palin stated, 'Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real.'
There have been vigorous protests from among 9/11 survivors and the families and friends of those who were killed.  Some relatives opposing the Muslim community centre have carried signs bearing the faces of 9/11 victims.  One of the protestors stated, 'This is an insult. This is demeaning. This is humiliating that you would build a shrine to the very ideology that inspired the attacks on 9/11.'
Peter King, a Republican congressman in New York, has also stated, 'It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero.'
A similar view has been put by Mrs Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was killed at the World Trade Centre.  In her view the building of a mosque would be a 'gross lack of sensitivity to the 9/11 families and to the people who were lost.'
The American Anti-Defamation League has stated, 'There are understandably strong passions and keen sensitivities surrounding the World Trade Centre site. We are ever mindful of the tragedy which befell our nation there...
It is not a question of rights but a question of what is right. In our judgment building an Islamic Centre in the shadow of the World Trade Centre will cause some victims more pain unnecessarily -and that is not right.'

2.  Building a Muslim community centre and mosque could be interpreted as tasteless triumphalism
There are those who fear that the building of a Muslim community centre at this location will be seen as a victory gesture in the conflict between radical Islam and the western world.  
Dan Senor, a founding partner of Rosemont Capital LLC, and Rosemont Solebury Capital Management and co-author of the book Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle, stated in The Wall Street Journal on August 3, 2010, '[T]he fact remains that in the minds of many who are swayed by the most radical interpretations of Islam, the Cordoba House will not be seen as a centre for peace and reconciliation. It will rather be celebrated as a Muslim monument erected on the site of a great Muslim "military" victory-a milestone on the path to the further spread of Islam throughout the world.' Every time
A similar view has been put by William McGurn, in another opinion piece also published in The Wall Street Journal on August 3, 2010.  McGurn stated, 'Even those who favor this new Islamic Centre surely can appreciate why some American feelings are rubbed raw by the idea of a mosque at a place where Islamic terrorists killed more than 2,700 innocent people.'
This view of mosque-building as 'triumphalism' can be seen on the conservative Internet site, 'Looking at the Left'.  On this site the following view was put, 'Muslim followers of Shariah law have long built mosques on the most cherished and sacred sites of the peoples they have conquered - on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, at Constantinople's St. Sophia Basilica (now Istanbul), and in Cordoba, Spain, the capital of the occupying Moors' Islamic kingdom. Many Hindu and Buddhist temples also were destroyed in Asia and now lay (sic) underneath prominent mosques.'  The 'Looking at the Left' Internet site concludes, 'Islamic triumphalism has a very long and brutal history.'

3.  Some of the funding for the Muslim community centre and mosque may come from Muslim extremists
It has been suggested that the building of the Muslim community centre may be funded by Muslim extremists.
It has been claimed that some of the funding for the $10 million Muslim community centre has been supplied by Muslim radicals who have also sponsored terrorist acts.
In an opinion piece written by Abigail Esman and published in Forbes Magazine on July 7, 2010, Ms Esman stated, 'The majority of U.S. mosques are sponsored by Saudi Arabia, where extreme Wahabbist Islam reigns supreme. Wahabbist Islam is what stands behind the Salafist philosophies that drive people like Mohammed Bouyeri, murderer of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, to commit their jihadist acts. It is preached in U.S. prisons by Saudi-sponsored imams, extolled in books that sell through U.S. mosques run by Saudi-sponsored imams, and taught in the Saudi-sponsored Islamic schools of Europe.'
Esman has suggested that if the mosque is substantially funded by Islamic extremists than this could undermine the moderate, peace-promoting intentions of those who are seeking to build the community centre.  
Abigail Esman has written, 'If the $100 million--or any major part of it--is to come from Saudi Arabia, Imam Rauf's good intentions will not likely matter very much.'
Published on Irish Central, Brendan Keane stated his view that, 'Islam is a religion with militant sects, heavily funded by oil money. That may sound like a slander on Islam, but it is really a crisis that faces all of us.
Muslims should not rally around a project built in their name, when they don't know about the project's money or the priorities of the financiers.'

4.  Building a Muslim community centre and mosque near the site of the World Trade Centre could cause a backlash against Muslim Americans
It has been suggested that building a Muslim community centre near the site of the World Trade Centre could provoke violence against Muslims living in New York and in other areas of the United States.
Ibrahim Hooper, communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has stated, 'What we're seeing is a tremendous wave of anti-Muslim rhetoric in our society, which has resulted in a number of hate incidents targeting mosques and Muslims around the country.'
Relatedly, Mark Potok, an analyst with the Southern Poverty Law Centre, has stated, 'Anecdotally, there is very little question we are seeing a real backlash in terms of anti-Muslim hate crimes and anti-Muslim speech in general.'
In New York, a Muslim cab driver was stabbed by a man who allegedly joked about Ramadan before striking, and in Seattle, Washington, a Sikh convenience store clerk was assaulted by a man who yelled, 'You're Al-Qaeda. Go back to your country.'
There seems to have been a spate of vandalism and harassment directed at mosques: construction equipment was set alight at a mosque site in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; a graffitied plastic pig was thrown into a mosque in Madera, California. and teenagers shot outside a mosque in upstate New York during Ramadan prayers.
A number of commentators have suggested that the proposal to build a Muslim community centre in the vicinity of the World Trade Centre has precipitated anti-Muslim feeling.  In an opinion piece written by Abigail Esman and published in Forbes Magazine on July 7, 2010, Ms Esman stated, 'There is, too, a certain danger: With emotions so high, it is hard to overlook the risk that both the mosque and, indeed, the worshipers could face retaliation.'

5.  It would be more appropriate to build a Muslim community centre and mosque elsewhere
Some critics of the proposal to build a Muslim community centre and mosque near the site of the World Trade Centre have argued that the Muslim centre should be built elsewhere.  These opponents of the mosque claim they are not denying Muslim worshippers the right to observe their religion, rather they are urging that this right be practised at another location.
A survey undertaken in August, 2010, found that New Yorkers agreed by a 54 to 40 per cent margin that while Muslims have the right to build a mosque wherever they wished, 53 to 39 per cent believed that 'because of the sensitivities of 9/11 relatives, Muslims should not be allowed to build the mosque near Ground Zero.'
The same view has been expressed by the Democrat Senator for Nevada, Harry Reid.  A spokesperson for Senator Read stated, '"The First Amendment protects freedom of religion. Sen. Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built some place else.'
Republican Congressman First District Congressman John Sullivan has also stated his belief that the Islamic community centre and mosque planned for a site near the former World Trade Centre in New York City should be built elsewhere.
Congress Sullivan has argued, 'I think it is extremely insensitive and should be moved. I think that doing it right there is a mistake, and they should have the sensitivity to be able to move it on their own somewhere else.'

Arguments in favour of a Muslim community centre and mosque being built near the site of the World Trade Centre
1.  The reaction of opponents is exaggerated and ill-informed
Defenders of the building of a Muslim community centre near the site of the Twin Towers claim that opponents of the construction have got key facts wrong.  
Firstly, the centre is being presented as a mosque when in fact it will be a thirteen-storey community centre including meeting rooms and a swimming pool.  It will also include a mosque, but that it not its sole purpose and the exterior design of the building does not indicate that it includes a mosque.
Daisy Khan, one of the co-proposers of the centre has expressed concern that critics of the Islamic cultural centre have misunderstood its creators' intent. Daisy Khan has stated that the centre will not function primarily as a mosque; New York City is already home to more than 200 mosques. Rather, modelled on the success of religiously based establishments like YMCAs and Jewish Community Centres, the Islamic centre is intended to serve the larger community as an institution for learning, collaboration and sharing knowledge across faiths and cultures.
Secondly, supporters of the Muslim centre have stressed that it is not being built at the site of the World Trade Centre, but two blocks away.  They further claim that given the height of buildings in the surrounding cityscape the Muslim centre would have no visual impact on the memorial which is planned at the World Trade Centre site.
Howard Wolfson, the deputy mayor of New York, has stated, 'New York is a very unusual place in its density ... I do not think the average person knows that you would not be able to see Ground Zero from this building, nor would you be able to see this building from Ground Zero.'
Thirdly, it has also been noted that far from being promoted by extremist Muslims, the centre has been proposed by moderate Muslims. Bobby Ghosh, writing in an opinion piece published in Time Magazine on August 3, 2010, wrote, 'Park51's main movers, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife Daisy Khan, are actually the kind of Muslim leaders right-wing commentators fantasize about: modernists and moderates who openly condemn the death cult of al-Qaeda and its adherents.'
Daisy Khan has stated of she and her husband, 'We are frequently sent by the State Department to go tour around various Muslim countries to speak about the merits of America and its constitution, and how Muslims live in America. And when people see that record they dismiss what the opponents are saying.'

2.  The Muslim community centre and mosque are intended as a sign of peace and religious harmony
Supporters of the Muslim community centre claim that one of the key aims of the project is to promote peace and harmony between the broader American community and Muslim Americans.  The centre is also intended to educate Americans about the true nature of Islam.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, one of the co-proposers of the Muslim community centre, has stated, 'This centre will be a place for all faiths to come together as partners, as stakeholders in mutual respect. It will bring honor to the city of New York, to American Muslims across the country and to Americans all over the world. The world will be watching what we do here. And I offer you my pledge -- we will live up to our ideals.'
Imam Rauf has further stated, 'Inspiring the initiative and our projects are the two commandments, the two most important commandments at the heart of the Jewish, the Christian and the Muslim faiths: to love the lord our God with all of our hearts, all of our minds, all of all souls and with all of our strength. And the second, as Jesus said, co-equal to the first, to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.'
In an opinion piece published in The New York Times on September 7, 2010, Imam Rauf has argued, 'Our broader mission - to strengthen relations between the Western and Muslim worlds and to help counter radical ideology - lies not in skirting the margins of issues that have polarized relations within the Muslim world and between non-Muslims and Muslims. It lies in confronting them as a joint multifaith, multinational effort.'
Imam Rauf concluded, 'The very word "islam" comes from a word cognate to shalom, which means peace in Hebrew. The Koran declares in its 36th chapter, regarded by the Prophet Muhammad as the heart of the Koran, in a verse deemed the heart of this chapter, "Peace is a word spoken from a merciful Lord."
How better to commemorate 9/11 than to urge our fellow Muslims, fellow Christians and fellow Jews to follow the fundamental common impulse of our great faith traditions?'

3.  The United States constitution protects the freedom of religion of all Americans
Those who support the building of a Muslim community centre near the site of the World Trade Centre cite the first amendment to the United States Constitution as guaranteeing the rights of Muslim Americans to build a place of worship.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is also the first section of the Bill of Rights. It guarantees freedoms of religion, speech, writing and publishing, peaceful assembly, and the freedom to raise grievances with the Government. It reads:
'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.'
President Obama has stated, 'Our Founders understood that the best way to honor the place of faith in the lives of our people was to protect their freedom to practice religion. In the Virginia Act of Establishing Religion Freedom, Thomas Jefferson wrote that "all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion." The First Amendment of our Constitution established the freedom of religion as the law of the land. And that right has been upheld ever since.'
In relation to the building of a mosque near the site of the World Trade Centre, President Obama stated, 'As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable.'
Not only does the United States constitution protect the religious freedoms of its citizens, but the constitution of the state of New York also guarantees those rights.  The state constitution states, 'The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this state to all humankind; and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his or her opinions on matters of religious belief.'
American private property rights also guarantee that so long as the Muslim community is the legal owner of the property on which it builds then it should be able to construct any building of its choice so long as that building is not in violation of local bylaws or other state or federal legislation.

4.  The issue is being exploited by political conservatives
It has been suggested that opposition to the Muslim community centre being built near the site of the World Trade Centre has been fomented and exploited by conservative groups in the United States for their political advantage.
Ibrahim Hooper of the Council of American-Islamic Relations has stated, 'This is a controversy that was manufactured by the cottage industry of anti-Muslim bigots out there who will seek any issue to marginalise American Muslims and demonise Islam. What they're trying to do is exploit the natural emotions generated by the 9/11 terror attack.'
A number of Republicans, including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have been accused of trying to gain political advantage out of the World Trade Centre mosque issue.  In an editorial published in The Nation on August 17, 2010, it was stated, 'There is no shortage of people looking to gain political capital from New York's Ground Zero Islam debate... The uproar over the proposed Muslim/interfaith community centre near "Ground Zero" in New York has rekindled the debate over Islam in post-9/11 America. And this time, a number of political bigwigs have jumped on the bandwagon to make their voices heard, generating political capital along the way.'
The editorial went on to claim, 'While Palin appealed to "the anguish of the families and friends of those who were killed on September 11, 2001", Gingrich called the proposed centre "an assertion of Islamist triumphalism" and added that supporters of the project were "apologists for radical Islamist hypocrisy"... For men and women running for public office, political exploitation is nothing new.'
Ali Mohammed, a New York food stallholder, stated in regard to Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich's comments, 'They got nothing to do with New York and they don't care about New York. They are trying to create propaganda.'
Jerrold Nadle has similarly stated, 'It's disgusting. It is an attempt to exploit for purely political motives a sensitive issue. And to exploit people they obviously don't really care about.'

5.  To prevent the Muslim community centre and mosque being built would marginalise American Muslims.
It has been claimed that to deny American Muslims the rights enjoyed by all other Americans would be inequitable and would stigmatise and marginalise this group.
The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, has stated, 'If we say that a mosque and community centre should not be built near the perimeter of the World Trade Centre site ... we would send a signal around the world that Muslim Americans may be equal in the eyes of the law, but separate in the eyes of their countrymen. And we would hand a valuable propaganda tool to terrorist recruiters, who spread the fallacy that America is at war with Islam.'
Mayor Bloomberg went on to say, 'It was not so long ago that Jews and Catholics had to overcome stereotypes and build bridges to those who viewed them with suspicion and less than fully American.'
In a speech given on August 13, 2010, President Obama declared, 'We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and every culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.'
The president went on to promote a vision of America that offers an equal place to all its citizens, 'Today, our nation is strengthened by millions of Muslim Americans. They excel in every walk of life. Muslim American communities -- including mosques in all 50 states -- also serve their neighbors. Muslim Americans protect our communities as police officers and firefighters and first responders... And Muslim Americans serve with honor in our military.'
The president concluded, 'The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are.'

Further implications
This issue has revealed the extent to which the trauma of September 11 still lives nine years after the terrorist attack.  The issue of whether a Muslim community centre should be built near the site of the World Trade Centre has shown the continuing grief and anger of many Americans.  It has also shown the extent to which, for some, anger is indiscriminant.  It is not simply directed at terrorists who kill in the name of Islam; for some, it is directed against Islam. This is unfortunate as it undermines America's longstanding commitment to freedom of religion.
It is also unfortunate as it feeds hostility between the Western world and Islam. With two wars currently being conducted against Islamic extremists, one in Afghanistan and the other in Iraq, it is important that the United States targets its enemies correctly.  America will ultimately withdraw from each of these war zones and any enduring peace in either area will depend on the success of the moderate Muslims whom the United States will attempt to leave in control.  When President Obama recently stressed that the United States was at war against terrorists not against Islam he was clearly referring to both America's domestic situation and its international one.
It is regrettable that the reconstruction effort at Ground Zero has been so slow.  Had there been some symbolic mark of healing as evidenced by the completion of a memorial to those who died on September 11 then the building of a Muslim community centre near the site may have touched a less raw nerve.
As things currently stand the situation is rife for exploitation both within the United States and outside it by extremists both Christian and Islamic.

Newspaper items used in the compilation of this issue outline
The Age:  September 9, page 13, news item (photos of Pastor Terry Jones) by Simon Mann, `US religious leaders denounce "anti-Muslim frenzy"'.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/us-religious-leaders-denounce-antimuslim-frenzy-20100908-1518u.html

The Australian:   September 13, page 12, comment by Brad Norington, `Obama tries to calm zealotry in Islam debate'.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/barack-obama-tries-to-calm-zealotry-in-islam-debate/story-e6frg6so-1225919788700

The Age:  September 13, page 12, editorial, `Lessons slow to sink in on the terrible anniversary of 9/11'.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/editorial/lessons-slow-to-sink-in-on-the-terrible-anniversary-of-911-20100912-156wx.html

The Age:  September 12, page 15, news item by Helene Cooper (photo of President Obama), `Obama turns light on tolerance'.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/obama-turns-light-on-tolerance-20100911-155ye.html

The Age:  September 12, page 15, news item (photo of Pastor Terry Jones), `Pastor from the fringe makes liberal city cringe'
http://www.theage.com.au/world/pastor-from-the-fringe-makes-liberal-city-cringe-20100911-155yg.html

The Age:  September 12, page 15,  analysis by Matthew Weaver, `How the media ignited Koran burning story'.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/how-the-media-ignited-koran-burning-story-20100911-155yf.html

The Australian:   September 11, page 17, news item (photo) by Brad Norington, `Pastor retreats on Koran burning' .
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/pastor-terry-jones-retreats-on-koran-burning/story-e6frg6so-1225917604353

The Age:  September 11, Good Weekend magazine insert, page 21, analysis (photos) by Christopher Henning, `One day that shook the world'.
CLICK HERE for this item (URL too long for display)

The Age:  September 11, Insight section, page 6, analysis by Richard King, `Core issue for the Big Apple'.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/core-issue-for-the-big-apple-20100910-154xl.html

The Age:  September 11, page 16, news item (photo), `(Donald) Trump's offer for Islamic centre site dismissed as "cheap" stunt'.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/trumps-offer-for-islamic-centre-site-dismissed-as-cheap-stunt-20100910-154xr.html

The Age:  September 11, page 16, news item, `New Trade Centre on a rapid rise'.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/new-trade-centre-on-a-rapid-rise-20100910-154xq.html