Before I went in, I thought in my head, "Okay, I want to bet $20 that the Rabbi's going to bring up the recent peace talks, and maybe $50 if he talks about Koran book-burning... that's so recent, would the Rabbi have had enough time to think about how to discuss Islam in this context?"
Turns out that I would've won the money.
Since the announcement for Koran book-burning, I felt real chills. This was a deja-vu of the book-burning in Nazi Germany that took place in spring 1933. Certainly the intentions were different thing but it's still a hate crime. As an American, it is still so hard to believe that there are people in this country willing to defying the principles that this country was founded upon.
I've been largely silent on the mosque-near-Ground-Zero issue because I am still so conflicted. My parents and brother are completely opposed to it. When we discussed this a few weeks ago, I tried to play Devil's Advocate but that failed. It could be the media but it is becoming scary to me, as a Jew, to see Muslims in America suffer from anti-Islam activities and speeches. I was so shocked to hear of a passenger who climbed in a taxi cab and had asked the driver if he was a Muslim, and the driver said his final word, "Yes." He was shot right then. Then I read about this little mosque in middle of nowhere between Rochester and Buffalo being bullied by the larger community (teenagers driving by and honking during prayer services, dog feces, etc). Although my parents are willing to acknowledge that we should, as Jews, be more sympathetic and tolerant towards Muslims because of our long history as victims, but 9/11 was just too personal for them (being New Yorkers and having worked in/near WTC).
The media is quite sensational, especially as these days leading up to our 9th anniversary of 9/11. The savvy journalists remember to question in their articles, "Is this an act of ignorance or pure hatred for what the fundamentalists did on 9/11?" But for most part, the media frames the situation as this- the Muslims are scapegoats and the Americans are simply acting out their anger for what 9/11 terrorists have done to their country.
So far me, I think, being a second-generation post-Holocaust, that I can support the idea of a Muslim community center near Ground Zero because I do believe it can serve as a purpose. As a social historian, I've found that discussions become more effective as memories become more tempered and there is a growing emotional distance between generations. Right now is, unfortunately, as much as we'd like to nip in the bud with the young children, not the right time. You have to look at the Holocaust in Germany and Eastern Europe. Politics certainly influenced censorship of the truth but among the people, discussions were very difficult and no one wanted to put up memorials. 50-60 years later, they are able to confront the Holocaust and teach the children about it and build these memorials. And you have these young Germans and Eastern Europeans willing to study Jewish history and learn Yiddish or Hebrew. From a historian's standpoint, you really need to give things time to heal. By placing a Muslim community center, the teachers and leaders can teach the next generation the importance of balancing religious ideology with modernity. By placing this place so close to Ground Zero, it serves as a constant reminder of why violence never has a solution and why there must be tolerance and respect.
This will just have to be a deferred dream for Muslim-Americans to build a community center near Ground Zero. At the moment, they need to come out publicly and educate America about their religion and culture, and spread their friendship circles.
