Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Inter-faith leaders rally behind U.S. Muslims
From The Hindu
Citing flagrant violations of the Muslim community's rights by the
New York Police Department, a group of inter-faith leaders in New York City has
declined an invitation to attend an end-of-year breakfast event hosted by city
Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Leaders from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities said in
an open letter to Mr. Bloomberg they had decided to “respectfully decline” his
invitation in the wake of a series of leaked police documents obtained by the
Associated Press, which detailed how, throughout the 9/11 decade, “the NYPD has
been monitoring and profiling virtually every layer of NYC Muslim public life,
often with no suspicion of wrongdoing”.
Data collection
This included the NYPD's attempts to monitor and collect data on
New Yorkers at about 250 mosques, schools, and businesses throughout the city,
“simply because of their religion and not because they exhibited suspicious
behaviour,” the inter-faith group added.
Alluding to last year's controversial Last year, Park51 project,
the so-called “Ground-Zero Mosque” aimed at fostering communal harmony at the
site of the 9/11 attacks, the letter noted that the inter-faith group
appreciated Mr. Bloomberg's “principled position in defence of Park51 and
American Muslims as we endured attacks from hate groups and opportunistic
politicians who promoted un-American, divisive rhetoric.”
At the time conservative elements including some Tea Party leaders
had strongly criticised the choice of location of the Islamic centre as being
insensitive to the families of the 9/11 victims.
Trust
The person behind the Park51 project, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf spoke
to The Hindu about the NYPD surveillance issue, saying, “There is
widespread recognition that both law enforcement agencies and Muslim communities
need one another to safeguard against extremists activities. It is in the best
interest of the public that NYPD work closely with Muslim communities to
re-build trust and increase cooperation.”
Concern
Concern over the issue was aggravated by the fact that Mr.
Bloomberg and police Commissioner Ray Kelly were reported to have defended the
police's aggressive programmes to infiltrate Muslim neighbourhoods and mosques
purportedly designed by a CIA officer.
Though Mr. Bloomberg has not yet issued a response to the letter
and was said to have proceeded with the breakfast on Friday morning sans the
inter-faith group, participants quoted the Mayor as saying at the event
“Discrimination against anyone is discrimination against
everyone... We have to keep our guard up, but if we don't work together we won't
have our own freedoms.”
Labels: 9/11, Ground Zero controversy, Ground Zero mosque, inter-faith rally, New York mosque
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Obama in firing line over Ground Zero comments
From The Hindu
The latest political casualty of the sizzling controversy around the Ground Zero mosque, as it has come to be known, might be none other than President Barack Obama.
After he broke months of silence on the issue last week and threw his weight behind the proponents of the Cordoba House community centre, planned two blocks away from the site of the 9/11 attacks, he has found himself lacking the support of Senate Majority leader Harry Reid, and watched as Republicans began to attack his position on the subject.
Last week at a White House Iftar dinner Mr. Obama had said, “As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practise their religion as anyone else in this country. 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.”
However, Jim Manley, a spokesman for Nevada Senator Reid said shortly thereafter, “The First Amendment protects freedom of religion... Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else.”
Further, Republicans alleged that the President was no longer aware of what a majority of Americans felt about the mosque being constructed in the proximity of the worst terrorist attack on United States soil.
The New York Times quoted James Renacci, a Republican candidate from Ohio, saying, “It is very troubling to see President Obama again turning a deaf ear to the thoughts and concerns of a majority of Americans,” and that people at a recent public meeting “were furious about the mosque proposal”.
Mr. Obama also rephrased his own words over the weekend when he said, “I was not commenting, and I will not comment, on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there... I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about.” Those rights, according to him, related to the broader principle that government ought to “treat everybody equally”, regardless of religion.
Labels: Barack Obama, Ground Zero controversy, Ground Zero mosque
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