Brilliant analysis. I particularly like this: > > why, here was a real opportunity for the Kuwait-born, Egyptian-fathered, > Arabic-speaking naturalized American Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to do some > genuine peace-making. Instead of warning Americans to toe his line or brace > for something “very, very, very dangerous,” Rauf could quite as easily have > devoted his air time to backing down and issuing a public call for tolerance > from that same Muslim world. > Y'know, we could do this for him. Write an April Fool's Press Release where we show him exactly the right words to say, to defend a moderate vision of Islam, call for respect for Muslims, yet praise American tolerance, call Muslims to show similar tolerance. and convert the Mosque into a Free Speech center co-managed by Geert and Geller.
That might get some attention.... E On Sep 11, 2010, at 9:49 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > Forbes > September 10, 2010 > > If We Don’t Build It, They Will Kill You? > “Peace” is a word so over-used and abused that by now it’s wise to brace > yourself every time some self-declared “peace-maker” pipes up. But even by > those standards, the perversion of “peace-making” hit fresh heights Wednesday > evening, when CNN’s Larry King Live, guest-hosted by Soledad O’Brien, devoted > a full hour to an interview with the imam behind the Ground Zero mosque > project, Feisal Abdul Rauf. > > Asked if it’s really a good idea to go ahead with his plans to build a mosque > and Islamic center at an address so close to Ground Zero that it has become a > flash point, Rauf gave a reply that boils down to a threat. Rauf said that if > his Cordoba House does not get built on his chosen site near Ground Zero, > “The headlines in the Muslim world will be that Islam is under attack.” > > Citing Muslim attacks on Danish embassies during the riots in 2006 over > Mohamed cartoons Rauf went on to say that the result of this current “crisis” > could be that “anger will explode in the Muslim world.” That, he said, could > lead to “something which could really become very, very, very dangerous > indeed.” > > Please bear in mind that CNN beams this stuff out not only across America, > but around the globe. While Rauf might proffer that he was merely giving > helpful advice, there’s an Islamist audience out there who could hear his > well-amplified words – “Islam is under attack” — as a summons to inflict yet > more of those explosive onslaughts in which thousands of Americans have > already been killed. > > As for the message Rauf’s words might impart to the many Americans who oppose > his project, his warning doesn’t sound like bridge-building. It sounds like > blackmail. Before Rauf rolled out his Cordoba House project for approval by a > Manhattan community board this past May, America’s annual observations of > Sept. 11 were a solemn matter, focused on the enormity of the Islamist murder > of almost 3,000 Americans. This year, the run-up to Sept. 11 has become an > angry showdown, involving Pastor Terry Jones and his widely and rightly > condemned on-again off-again plans to burn the Koran, growing frustration on > the part of many Americans who feel they are endlessly asked to defer to the > sensitivities of Muslims who respond with ever-growing demands, and at the > center of it all, the obdurate and self-promoting Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. > > Rauf’s own plans created this “crisis.” Rauf himself said last December > (before his partners began trying to unsay it) that he’d latched on to the > Burlington Coat Factory site precisely because of its proximity to Ground > Zero — so close to the heart of the Sept. 11 Islamist attacks that it was > hit by “wreckage” from one of the hijacked planes. If Rauf was genuinely > clueless at the time that harmony would not be served by trying to create an > in-your-face $100 million Islamic hub on the edge of Ground Zero, by now he > should be clued in. Whatever support he’s received has been dwarfed by the > many objections — the elite hothouse enthusiasms of Mayor Michael Bloomberg > and President Barack Obama notwithstanding. > > Repeated public opinion polls show that a large majority of Americans think > that while Rauf and his partners may be within their legal rights, they are > nonetheless doing the wrong thing. Among the critics are a number of Muslims > brave enough to publicly disagree with this self-appointed panjandrum of > Ground Zero, such as Miss USA, Rima Fakih, and Muslim American activist M. > Zuhdi Jasser. > > If Rauf ever had the smallest intention of promoting harmony, it is past time > for him to quit. Instead, having spurned the U.S. debate while spending a > secretive summer in Malaysia and the Middle East, Rauf returned to New York > on the eve of Sept. 11, to pronounce that unless his mosque gets built near > Ground Zero, Americans might expect from the “Muslim world” a new wave of > destructive fury. > > We used to call this kind of stunt a protection racket. The message here is > one of implied violence. Not that Rauf himself would do anything violent, > mind you. He’d just like his audience to know that if Americans don’t knuckle > under and get with his program for Ground Zero, he can’t be responsible for > whatever devastation the “Muslim world” might inflict on his behalf. ”My life > has been devoted to peace-making,” he told CNN’s O’Brien. > > In his CNN interview, Rauf also said that had he anticipated the pain his > Cordoba House project would cause, he would not have started down this road. > That turned out to be a throwaway remark. He then implied there is no going > back, lest it result in — here’s that threatening element again — “greater > conflict.” > > Really? All Rauf has to do is announce that he is in the market for a venue > less inflammatory and quite possibly more convenient for his planned > community palace with mosque and swimming pool – though less likely to land > him a permanent pulpit on global TV news. Far from trying to shut down Rauf’s > plans for an Islamic center, New York Governor David Paterson has offered to > help him relocate, at taxpayer expense. On Thursday, real estate magnate > Donald Trump offered to buy out the Burlington site, in cash, for 25% above > what Rauf’s developers paid, provided they build their mosque at least five > blocks from Ground Zero. Apparently that would be too great a compromise for > Rauf and his partners. They just keep saying no. > > As for any anger that might boil up in the Muslim world should Rauf decide to > build his Cordoba House a few blocks further from Ground Zero, why, here was > a real opportunity for the Kuwait-born, Egyptian-fathered, Arabic-speaking > naturalized American Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to do some genuine peace-making. > Instead of warning Americans to toe his line or brace for something “very, > very, very dangerous,” Rauf could quite as easily have devoted his air time > to backing down and issuing a public call for tolerance from that same Muslim > world. > > In battening on to the crater of the destroyed Twin Towers, Rauf and his > partners are getting the publicity ride of their lives. They are exploiting > the site as an amplifier for their own agenda, never mind who gets hurt. With > their newly acquired megaphone, what are they broadcasting to the world? > Rauf’s wife and business partner, Daisy Khan, who covered for him in New York > during his summer excursions abroad, seized the opportunity last month to > make a televised denunciation of America as a place “beyond Islamophobia.” > Now comes Rauf, with his pronouncements on CNN that if his Cordoba House > doesn’t go up near Ground Zero, Americans had better worry – even more than > they do already — about “national security.” The “peace” he would bring to > Ground Zero now smacks of an extortionist’s chilling instructions: Do it my > way, or else. > > > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
