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ADL'S STAND ON GROUND ZERO MOSQUE IS WRONG
Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Aug 4 2010
Several hundred years ago, many European countries actively persecuted
Jews. The Netherlands gained a reputation of tolerance. At one time,
the powers that be even allowed synagogues in New Amsterdam, but
mandated that they be plain-looking and on the side streets, so as not
to "create problems" for passers-by. That was their idea of tolerance.
Something like this is apparently what the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) advocates for American Muslims. In a recent statement, the ADL
applauded freedom of religion and condemned "those whose opposition
to the proposed Islamic Center [near the World Trade Center site]
is based on bigotry."
The statement, however, goes on to say that "there are strong passions
and keen sensitivities surrounding the World Trade Center site ... The
controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic
Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process.
Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New
York would be better served if an alternative location could be found."
So the ADL is now afraid of controversy. Is it? The ADL recently
issued another statement decrying the recent Arizona immigration bill.
It also wrote a statement saying creationism and "intelligent design"
don't belong in the classroom. Both of these, by the way, are positions
I would agree with. And both are controversial positions. So what's
the problem as far as the Ground Zero mosque is concerned?
Maybe the problem is that a small minority of prominent, basically
conservative leaders in American Jewish organizations (whose
opinions definitely don't represent the majority of American Jews)
seem to see anything involving Muslims or Arabs in terms of the
Arab-Israel conflict. This might also explain the ADL's opposition
to a congressional resolution on the Armenian genocide. Turkey,
whose predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire, was responsible for this
genocide, is one of Israel's few allies in the Muslim world.
The head of the ADL, Abraham Foxman, apparently falls into the category
I described above. As a young man, he was part of a youth group that
admired Menachem Begin's Irgun, a militant organization that believed
in establishing a Greater Israel "on both sides of the Jordan." The
Irgun, which was responsible for the bombing of the King David Hotel
in Jerusalem, was considered beyond the pale by David Ben-Gurion,
the founder of Israel, Albert Einstein, and other prominent Jews. This
writer never saw his father, a lifelong Zionist who volunteered for the
Israeli Army in 1948, more upset than when Begin became prime minister.
While Foxman recently acknowledged that American Jews have the
right to criticize Israel, he clearly seems uncomfortable with the
idea. And by criticism, I mean legitimate criticism by organizations
such as J Street ("Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace"), not the type of vitriolic
anti-Zionism produced by the extreme left.
Getting back to the mosque. Sure, it might offend some people. It
offended Saudi Arabia, until recently, to have churches within
its territory. The ADL would be the first to condemn this state of
affairs. A mosque near Ground Zero is worth the same consideration.
From: A. Papazian
Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Aug 4 2010
Several hundred years ago, many European countries actively persecuted
Jews. The Netherlands gained a reputation of tolerance. At one time,
the powers that be even allowed synagogues in New Amsterdam, but
mandated that they be plain-looking and on the side streets, so as not
to "create problems" for passers-by. That was their idea of tolerance.
Something like this is apparently what the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) advocates for American Muslims. In a recent statement, the ADL
applauded freedom of religion and condemned "those whose opposition
to the proposed Islamic Center [near the World Trade Center site]
is based on bigotry."
The statement, however, goes on to say that "there are strong passions
and keen sensitivities surrounding the World Trade Center site ... The
controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic
Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process.
Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the City of New
York would be better served if an alternative location could be found."
So the ADL is now afraid of controversy. Is it? The ADL recently
issued another statement decrying the recent Arizona immigration bill.
It also wrote a statement saying creationism and "intelligent design"
don't belong in the classroom. Both of these, by the way, are positions
I would agree with. And both are controversial positions. So what's
the problem as far as the Ground Zero mosque is concerned?
Maybe the problem is that a small minority of prominent, basically
conservative leaders in American Jewish organizations (whose
opinions definitely don't represent the majority of American Jews)
seem to see anything involving Muslims or Arabs in terms of the
Arab-Israel conflict. This might also explain the ADL's opposition
to a congressional resolution on the Armenian genocide. Turkey,
whose predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire, was responsible for this
genocide, is one of Israel's few allies in the Muslim world.
The head of the ADL, Abraham Foxman, apparently falls into the category
I described above. As a young man, he was part of a youth group that
admired Menachem Begin's Irgun, a militant organization that believed
in establishing a Greater Israel "on both sides of the Jordan." The
Irgun, which was responsible for the bombing of the King David Hotel
in Jerusalem, was considered beyond the pale by David Ben-Gurion,
the founder of Israel, Albert Einstein, and other prominent Jews. This
writer never saw his father, a lifelong Zionist who volunteered for the
Israeli Army in 1948, more upset than when Begin became prime minister.
While Foxman recently acknowledged that American Jews have the
right to criticize Israel, he clearly seems uncomfortable with the
idea. And by criticism, I mean legitimate criticism by organizations
such as J Street ("Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace"), not the type of vitriolic
anti-Zionism produced by the extreme left.
Getting back to the mosque. Sure, it might offend some people. It
offended Saudi Arabia, until recently, to have churches within
its territory. The ADL would be the first to condemn this state of
affairs. A mosque near Ground Zero is worth the same consideration.
From: A. Papazian