On September 28th of 2000, the prime minster of Israel then Aerial Sharon visited the Islamic holy site, Temple Mount, also known as AL Haram Elsharif” in Jerusalem , unleashed the second Palestinian intifada that lasted for moths and caused tenths of death. The Israeli general confrontational visit to the Islamic holy site was looked at as insensitive to Muslims not just in the occupied territories, but all around the Muslim world. Now and 10 year later, we have the American intifada against the so called “Ground Zero Mosque” has been shaped mainly by irrational and out of control anti-Islamic movement that is sweeping the nation; Thousands of average Americans all over the country are marching daily in the street and town-halls to vent their anger against the proposed Mosque (Islamic culture center) in a rundown section of lower Manhattan, Islamophobia in America is going mainstream, anti Islamic slurs and derogatory comments of the right wing fanatics have been a fix on the evening daily news, a media frenzy of fear mongering misinformation about Islam and Muslims every way you look, the Islamic advocate group CAIR reported a dramatic rise in threats and attack on Muslims and Mosques in recent years, Muslims don’t need a mosque to pray, “the earth is a Mosque” the prophet advises us. This anti Mosque intifada has nothing to do with ground Zero hollowed site, Americans are opposing mosques all over this heartland; in Wisconsin, New Jersey, California and elsewhere. As the New York time reported “While a high-profile battle rages over a mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, heated confrontations have also broken out in communities across the country where mosques are proposed for far less hallowed locations”. “No more licenses for Mosques” shouted a patriotic American in one of the numerous anti Muslims rallies. The right wing extremist Pamela Geller an obscure blogger has become the darling of mainstream media promoting her ant-islamic hysteria that sweeping the nation. The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg calls Geller a “lunatic racist,” and illuminate the “very depressing” fact that despite being “a marginal nutbag… it seems as if she’s setting the national agenda now on matters related to Islam and religious freedom”. Lunatics organizations like the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and Stop Islamisation of America (SIOA) have become increasingly influential as politicians exploit anti-Islamic rhetoric in an election year. The frantic hyped debate on the so called Ground Zero Mosque, has moved from freedom of religion to freedom from religion, and a referendum on Islam as a religion and not on a Mosque location. The most ridiculous politician in America, Newt Gingrich wasting no time to further his battered political career equating the building of the Islamic culture center in lower Manhattan to building of a Nazi Museum at the Holocaust site. The former house speaker once again has shown his bankrupt and childish demeanor pondering to American ignorance to world affairs and adopt Saudi Arabia brand of religion freedom. The fear mongering Fox News lunched their well funded 24/7 anti-Muslim Misinformation propaganda machine to the point that it won’t be a far fetch for Muslims to prevent Fox News organization from near all the bombing sites in Iraq and Afghanistan; Insensitive to the families of the Muslims victims of war propaganda. The audacity of President Obama support Muslims rights to worship at it, but not the wisdom to build it, didn’t not save him from Americans deep suspicion of his faith, according to the latest Pew Polls shows that the number of Americans who believe of his Islamic faith myth has increased than a year ago and 1 in each 3 Americans don’t even know his religion faith at all. American strong xenophobic aptitude is deep and widespread in its short history, started with the natives culture genocide, to blacks enslavement, Japanese Internment, the Catholics inquisition in the sixties, the Jews, and now the Hispanics are experiencing this ethnic hostility, but nothing is so ridiculous and erratic than this Americana intifada against a Mosque. A whooping 70% of Americans oppose the building of the Mosque in lower Manhattan . Those are the same people who sent their sons and daughters to liberate Muslims in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan, and assure their freedom of religion. Recently America crowned a Muslim American the beauty pageant, Muslims American are free to build their body, but not their Mosques. Americans Intifada turned the secular site of ground zero to a holy place, at the same time turned Muslim holy place to a scary one. This extreme love and extreme hate to places is a dogma found only in sects and extremists like Taliban. So many Americans afraid of Mosques, and most of Americans never been in a Mosque, and without any evidence or rational think Mosques are center command for terrorists. Where in fact Mosques are the ones been threatened and terrorized in this country. I have been going to Mosques all my life, here and abroad, after each visit, the only people I would like to terrorize is the Mosque Imams themselves with their incoherent boring sermons. Mosque is the most diverse place in America where people from all cultures and backgrounds come together and practices Islam based on their own unique customs, and ethnicity; which makes the Mosque a very hard place to agree on anything let alone plot to hurt America. Americans seem to blame the 1.5 Billion Muslims for a single act by a few criminals on 9/11, this guilt by association and the collective punishment that Americans have toward Muslim Americans, is a birth right that Americans keep only for themselves , no Muslim is allowed to talk about American unconditional support to Israeli aggression and occupation of Palestine, or even questioning the wisdom of American Military expansionism in the Muslim world, causing the death of 100,000’s of Muslims, the world most powerful mercenaries of Backwater private company whipped out a whole city in Iraq, and they still operate in Muslim countries near mosques. American fixation with 9/11 and their sudden obsession of the Ground Zero hallowed site is idolatrous. With all due respect to the victim’s families who lost loved ones in 9/11 tragedy, it is not the only tragic single event in the history of the world. In the Muslim world everyday is a tragic event cause by American military intervention and support of Muslim dictators in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Afghanistan …; These are the same so called moderate Muslim countries that have become breeding ground for terrorists and centers of Bin Laden and El Qaida recruits. Muslim Americans are actually the most moderate Muslims population in the Muslim world, who incidentally were victims themselves of 9/11 have become the American new bogyman in post 9/11 paranoia. “ The “Ground Zero Mosque” Controversy, “has the Spanish inquisition feel to it, now they tell us where to worship, and what to wear and eventually Muslims would be asked to eat pork to be accepted” explained Professor Fouzi Slisli, who teaches in multicultural education at St. Cloud university. The irony of all this, the Ground Zero Mosque intifada is taken place during the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims, at the end of this fasting month comes the celebration of Eid Elftr (Breakingfast feast) which will be for the first time on 9/11, an anti-Muslim church community in Florida is embracing Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch politician who advocates banning the Qu’ran, celebrating on that day by planning to publicly burn copies of the Islamic Holy book, .You would never see a Mosque no matter how radical or wacky it is reciprocate to a such pervert behavior. Here is my advice to Muslim Americans on 9/11, abandon your Mosques, celebrate Eid Eftar only in shopping malls, Americans would be more likely to accept you as a faithful consumer but not as a faithful Muslim.
Ahmed Tharwat/ Host
Arab American TV show BelAhdan
Airs on MN Public TV , Saturday 10:30pm
