Let Muslims build near site of ground zero

 I was disappointed when I first heard of the opposition to the construction of Cordoba House, a mosque and community center, near the site of ground zero. But over the past few months, since the proposed plan first became public, my initial disappointment has grown to disgust with the firestorm of protest to it and similar projects around the country.

The atrocities of Sept. 11, 2001, were perpetrated by Muslim extremists who hijacked Islam in the name of terror. The attacks were not committed by Islam, so to deny Americans of the Islamic faith the right to build a mosque and community center in a neighborhood of lower Manhattan, where two mosques already exist, is not only discrimination, it also is hateful and ignorant.

If the United States really is a nation of brotherhood, freedom and equality, then Americans must realize these are fundamental values that must influence our acceptance and inclusion of every American, of every creed, ethnicity and race. To tolerate anything less denigrates our nation to country club status, where some are welcome and others are not. As many minority groups in this country can tell you, we do not want to see a return to the sad state of affairs that existed during much of the 20th century, the days when signs reading "No Jews, Blacks or Dogs Allowed" adorned park fences, community centers and other private and public buildings, even in northern states.

For any person or group to single out an entire faith community and marginalize their participation in American society is not simply disgraceful, it also is un-American. Seeking to prohibit construction of a house of worship, whether it is a church, synagogue or mosque — at ground zero, in Temecula, Calif., or anywhere in the country — can only marginalize the members of that faith.

The national hysteria that equates Islam with terrorism has to stop. It is deplorable that so many of the world’s terror groups are Muslim, but we cannot blame Islam for this because there are far too many factors at play — cultural, economic and regional — to consider in understanding why Muslims are drawn to terror. The Islamic world is made up of hundreds of millions of Muslims, and the number of terrorists among them is infinitesimal. Most are hardworking, decent, peace-loving people, who live in corrupt and often brutal regimes. Those who live in this country came here for a better life, one of freedom and opportunity for themselves and their American born children.

American Muslims are guaranteed the same rights, privileges and protections extended to every other citizen by the Constitution, and this includes full participation in society and freedom of worship. Calling for a halt to the construction of a mosque anywhere is an affront to the Constitution, and we should all support the right of American Muslims to pray in a mosque of their choosing, at a site of their choosing.

Sept. 11, 2001, is a national tragedy we all mourn. By telling American Muslims they cannot build a mosque near the site of this tragedy, we are telling them we do not want them to mourn with us, to build a better world together, and that not every American is welcome at our national Thanksgiving table.

It is telling them they are not American, and never will be. It is telling them this is a country that holds a sword over the heads of every member of a community because of the actions of a few among them. It is telling them the United States of America is no better than the countries they fled to come here, and that their American brethren of all faiths are no better than the very terrorists we would equate them with.

I, for one, and especially as a Jew, do not want to send this message to any American Muslim.

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