Jewish Voices Supporting the Mosque in New York; 
Sept. 11 Families Support Cordoba House Cultural Center

* The Mosque and Us (Editorial, The Jewish Daily
Forward) 

* Jewish Vigil Supporting Muslim Center in
Lower Manhattan (Rabbi Arthur Waskow) 

* Shame on the ADL for Opposing the Mosque Two Blocks
from Ground Zero (Rabbi Michael Lerner) and

* 9/11 Families Group Announces Support for Islamic
Cultural Center in Lower Manhattan (September Eleventh
Families for Peaceful Tomorrows)

==========

The Mosque and Us Editorial The Jewish Daily Forward

Published August 04, 2010, issue of August 13, 2010.

http://www.forward.com/articles/129826/

Before it became a cause celebre for Sarah Palin and
Newt Gingrich and other rank opportunists, before the
Anti- Defamation League sullied a once-noble reputation
by siding against religious liberty, before the tweets
and satellite trucks spun this all out of control, the
plan to turn an eyesore of an empty building two blocks
from Ground Zero into a mosque and Islamic center was
embraced as a sign of true healing.

The mayor's office was supportive, as were local
community boards, the "town halls" of New York civic
life. Prominent rabbis spoke in favor of Imam Feisal
Abdul Rauf, the cleric leading the project, whose wife
has been associated with the National September 11
Memorial and Museum, which also lent its public
support. Rauf had skillfully positioned himself as a
voice of moderate Islam; even the FBI called upon him
to reach out to Muslims after the terrorist attacks,

This is not to lionize the man, whose prolonged silence
(he's out of the country) has worked against him as the
controversy grows, allowing the bigots and bloviaters
to fill a dangerous vacuum. For everyone's sake, Rauf
ought to be more transparent about who is funding the
$100 million costs of the center. Saudi Arabia, after
all, has a long track record of troubling overseas
contributions.

But the character assassination now undertaken by those
purporting to represent the Jewish community is
distressing and unacceptable. In one breath, the ADL's
Abraham Foxman said he'd "stand up" for Rauf, while in
the next breath, he hints of ties with terrorism. And
while their positions on the placement of the center
are more reasonable, the American Jewish Committee and
New York's Jewish Community Relations Council have also
stooped to slander-by-innuendo.

What is going on here? These are organizations pledged
to promote freedom of religion, protection for
minorities, interfaith dialogue and a harmonious civic
community - all stated goals of the new Islamic center.
"We want to push back against the extremists," Rauf
told The New York Times last December. Isn't that what
we all want?

As we've said before on this page, the sensitivities of
family members of 9/11 victims must be acknowledged and
honored, without judgment or equivocation. Foxman
contends that the majority of victims' family members
is against the project, but he has no proof for that
claim, and it is contradicted by one of the largest
organizations representing the 9/11 families.

Without demeaning those feelings in any way, a tolerant
democracy must rise above them. Private pain alone
should not dictate public policy, nor should it provide
an excuse for individuals or organizations to stoke
prejudice and fear.

The ADL's position has outraged many of its friends and
supporters, to the degree that the reaction surprised
even Foxman, a veteran hardened by controversy. There's
a message: American Jews wish to rise above our own
understandable fears and sensitivities to reclaim the
optimism and excitement that interfaith relations
promise. That's the true voice of community.

==========

Jewish Vigil Supporting Muslim Center in Lower
Manhattan

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow

August 6, 2010

The Shalom Center A Prophetic Voice in Jewish,
Multireligious & American Life

http://www.theshalomcenter.org/node/1749

On August 5, The Shalom Center and other Jewish leaders
from New York held a vigil at the site of the proposed
Muslim cultural center and prayer space in Lower
Manhattan, supporting the plan for Cordoba House there.

It was an extraordinary success, both in the moment and
in media coverage. Prayer, song, and chants were
interspersed with speeches for a gathering of about 50
people, well- covered by print and TV media. More than
180 newspapers have carried reports of the vigil,
including full-page coverage in Metro and Newsday.

After a number of speakers from the Jewish community,
Daisy Khan, co-founder of the Cordoba Initiative that
is sponsoring and planning the cultural center, spoke
with heartfelt thanks to those of us in the Jewish
community who had been working in favor of Cordoba
House and who had gathered on Park Place to welcome
them.

Rabbi Ellen Lippman of Congregation Kolot Chayeinu in
Brooklyn, co-chair of Rabbis for Human Rights/North
America and one of the key organizers of the vigil,
gave Daisy Kahn the traditional Jewish symbols of a
housewarming: bread, salt, honey, and a candle.

We began with the chant, in Hebrew and English, that
teaches: "Here I stand, and I take upon myself the
commitment of the Creator: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself, your neighbor as yourself. Hareini m'kabeyl
alai et mitzvat Ha- Borei: V'ahavta l'rayecha kamocha,
l'rayecha kamocha. ' "

When I rose to speak, I explained that when I rise to
read from the Torah my name is "Abraham Isaac Ishmael
Ocean." With that as my name, I find my own self torn
apart and bloodied when there is bloodshed between the
children of Sarah through Isaac and the children of
Hagar through Ishmael -- between the different families
of Abraham. And when the families of Hagar and Sarah
come together in peace, only then can I feel my own
self united and whole.

I was wearing a tallit. I explained that in every
tallit, the tzitiziot on the four corners -- the
fringes -- are a mixture of my cloth ad God's, the
Universe's, air. They are threads of connection between
my self and the world. It is not good fences make good
neighbors but good fringes make good neighbors. It is
these frings that make the tallit sacred. And Cordoba
House would be exactly such a fringe, rooted in Islam
and reaching out to the rest of the world.

On my own tallit are embroidered the Dome of the Rock
and the Western Wall. And between them is embroidered a
rock-- the rock upon which in the Jewish tradition
Abraham bound Isaac, the same rock upon which in Muslim
tradition Mohammed--peace be upon him--began his
mystical ascent to Heaven. This tallit of mine
symbolizes the sacred companionship between Judaism and
Islam, as does my name.

For years, I explained, I have worked with and
alongside Imam Rauf and Daisy Khan for peace in the
world and dialogue between our traditions. I am not
alone in knowing who they are: the New York Jewish
Community Relations Council and the Jewish Council on
Public Affairs have publicly affirmed that these
leaders of the Cordoba initiative have for years worked
with the Jewish community in fruitful ways.

So all the questions that have been raised about
them:-- those truly curious and those simply
nasty--could have been answered simply by asking
leaders of the Jewish community.

I said that it was all the more distressing that the
Anti- Defamation League had ignored these close
relationships in New York City and made a national
tumult about the placement of a Muslim cultural Center
in Lower Manhattan.

I described a program on MSNBC the day before, in which
I was interviewed along with a new opponent of Cordoba
House -- representing a right-wing Christian
fundamentalist legal organization.. He compared the
building of Cordoba House in Lower Manhattan to
building a monument to Japanese kamikaze pilots in
Pearl Harbor. As I said during the interview and said
again at the vigil, this comparison was utterly
disgusting. The Cordoba initiative brings exactly the
opposite of terrorism or kamikaze pilots to the world.
It represents the deep truths of Islam--the search for
peace, the practice of compassion, the concern for
profound dialogue.

I said that I could not imagine anyone from the Anti-
Defamation League having made such a disgusting
comment. But what they did say opened the door to this
kind of vile attack on Islam.

That door must be closed and instead we must open the
door to deeper communication between us--not only the
families of Abraham but also the other religious and
spiritual families of humankind--Hinduism, Buddhism,
Sikhism, and all the others.

In doing this, I said, we should not pretend that there
are no bloody streaks in all these traditions. In
Judaism and in all the others, there are strands of
blood in the past and the present of our communities.
Rather than pretend they do not exist, we must act to
shape our futures beyond the strands of blood. Cordoba
House will be exactly such a way to shape the future of
Islam and all the other communities that live together
in the world.

We also heard from Rabbi Marcus Burstein on behalf of
the Union for Reform Judaism, which had just announced
its support for Cordoba House, and from , Rabbi Richard
Jacobs from Westchester Reform Temple, who said some
members of his congregation had been victims of the
9/11 attacks.

Rabbi Jeff Marker has posted three photos he took at
the vigil. See them here.
<http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40467&id=
1027342443> and also here <
http://rabjeff.livejournal.com/23409.html>

He writes: "Here is a view down Park Place. The site of
the Islamic Center is on the right, where there is a
crowd on the sidewalk. Note the building on the left,
between the Center and the WTC site. It is taller than
the proposed center, so how would the Center be some
kind of "triumphal" monument overlooking the 9/11
site?"

I would say there was one sour note at the vigil. Two
people showed up with signs expressing bitter anger at
the Anti- Defamation League and at others who have
opposed the building of Cordoba House. We had said the
vigil was not a political rally, and asked people not
to bring such signs. I asked the sign-carriers to
withdraw to a place of their own where they could
express their own opinions without violating the spirit
of our vigil. But they would not. So be it.

As I mentioned above, the news coverage by a wide
variety of media has been extraordinary. The Associated
Press and CNN and nine other news organizations took
notes, photos, and videos. Even after the vigil ended,
Rabbi Lippmann and I were surrounded by reporters
hungry for interviews. Earlier in the week, I was
interviewed by CNN and then by MSNBC. CNN invited me to
do an Op/Ed essay for their "My Take' column. (Click
here for my essay.)I have been invited by ABC News to
do an interview with them this Sunday. And newspaper
stories, photographs, and video are appearing all over
America and beyond.

I have been pleased that this week was also the one in
which a Federal district court held that the right of
same-sex couples to marry -- which for the past
generation The Shalom Center has affirmed is intended
by God -- is guaranteed by the Constitution. So it has
been a week of steps forward in the seeking of peace,
harmony, in God's world.

May the coming Shabbat be one of shalom, and the coming
week make real the sacred month that for Muslims is
Ramadan, a month of prayer and sacred fasting to deepen
relationship with God; and for Jews is Elul, a month of
daily hearing of the shofar (ram's horn) calling us,
"Sleepers, Awake!" to sacred study and self-examination
toward a deeper relationship with God.

Blessings of shalom, salaam, shantih, peace -

==========

Shame on the ADL for Opposing the Mosque Two Blocks
from Ground Zero

by Rabbi Michael Lerner

August 3, 2010

Tikkun Daily To mend, repair and transform the world

http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2010/08/03/shame-on-
the-adl-for-opposing-the-mosque-two-blocks-from-ground-
zero/

The ADL (Anti-Defamation League) publicly opposes the
construction two blocks from Ground Zero of the Cordoba
House (also known as Park 51), which the planners
imagine as hosting a range of activities similar to
those offered at the 92nd Street Y and would include a
Mosque at which Muslims could worship. The plan,
supported by Mayor Bloomberg, is opposed by some who
have consistently used the attack on the World Trade
Center as justifications for war and for stoking fear
and hatred of Muslims.

ADL leader Abe Foxman presented the position of this
organization, which claims to oppose discrimination, by
reading a formal statement that seemed to be a perfect
example of "shooting and crying" (first you attack
brutally, then you cry about how sad it is to be put
into this difficult position, often blaming the victims
for having "forced" you to attack them). The key to
that statement was this:

Proponents of the Islamic Center may have every right
to build at this site, and may even have chosen the
site to send a positive message about Islam. The
bigotry some have expressed in attacking them is
unfair, and wrong. But ultimately this is not a
question of rights, but a question of what is right. In
our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow
of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more
pain - unnecessarily - and that is not right.

This kind of argument is deeply mistaken. It was not
"Muslims" or Islam that attacked the World Trade
Center, but some Muslims who held extreme views and
twisted what is a holy and peace-oriented tradition to
justify their acts and their hatred. We see the same
thing happening in the name of Christianity (many of
those who justified the war in Iraq were Christians who
felt they were acting from a Christian ethical
perspective) or in the name of Judaism (the immoral
behavior of some of the settlers who use Judaism as
their cover for stealing land and destroying the olive
trees of their Palestinian neighbors). Just as we would
reject the idea that synagogues or churches may only be
built in certain locations because the actions of some
Jews or some Christians have made all Christian and
Jewish institutions feel threatening to people in
certain areas who have suffered, we reject the claim
that building the Cordoba center is somehow not right.

Arthur Waskow asks us to imagine how we would feel if
some group of Muslims in the United States, who
identified with the suffering of Palestinians and
included some who had lived in Israel and had to leave
to protect themselves from the oppression of Occupation
that they labeled as "Jewish oppression," had opposed
the construction of a synagogue in their predominantly
Muslim neighborhood because it would cause some of the
victims of Israeli policy to experience more pain.
Would we accept that? Certainly not.

Underlying the ADL position is its references to the
Holocaust and the need to respect the feelings of its
survivors. Sadly, the memory of Jewish suffering has
been appropriated by right- wing forces to justify
special privilege for Jews in general and Israel in
particular and it now is to be extended to victims of
September 11 (but not, for example, to the survivors of
U.S. military assaults on civilians in Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos, El Salvador, Haiti, the Dominican
Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Iraq, or Afghanistan).
To the political Right, the aggression of others is
always evil, while ours is always justifiable. That's
bad enough. But shame on ADL in particular for now
using our suffering in the Holocaust to justify
discrimination toward others, whether in Israel or in
the United States.

Actually, to those of us who take seriously the Torah
command to "love the stranger" (the Other), it seems
clear that the rebuilding of Ground Zero should include
the construction of an interfaith center in which all
of the world's religions could be represented -
particularly including Islam as a way of affirming and
supporting those many Muslims who do not adopt an
extreme anti-American or anti-Jewish perspective.

The American Jewish Committee tried to adopt a more
nuanced position but wanted to withhold endorsement
until it could establish that the source of money for
this building did not come from extremist elements in
the Muslim world. Yet how would we feel if construction
of a Jewish center was similarly conditional? Would
money from those who support the settlers or others who
believe that Jews have a right to all of the Biblical
Land of Israel and have a right to use violence to
achieve that end be sufficient reason to prevent the
construction of a Jewish center? Would a church that
received money from sources in the Christian community
that believed it appropriate to engage in violence to
create the world they wanted (e.g., to support a U.S.
military intervention in Iran) be sufficient reason to
deny them the right to build their Christian center? I
don't think so.

No wonder, then, that we at Tikkun - seeking to build a
world in which animosities among religions can be
dramatically reduced so that all of us can recognize
our common humanity (or what we Jews call "being
created in the image of God") and recognize the
immediate global environmental emergency to overcome
national and religious antagonisms so that we can work
together to save the planet and its peoples from
destruction - strongly endorse and support the
construction of the Muslim community center/mosque a
few blocks from Ground Zero.

Shame on ADL and the American Jewish Committee for not
understanding the moral imperatives of this moment!
They not only betray Jewish values ("do not do unto
others what you would not wish them to do to you") and
American values (government should not interfere with
the operations of religious communities), they also
unintentionally but undoubtedly increase the tensions
between Jews and Muslims at a moment when all sane
people in both communities recognize the need to build
bridges of understanding, friendship and mutual caring
as a prelude to supporting peace in Israel. Given that
both ADL and the American Jewish Committee have
consistently supported the most outrageous actions of
the Israeli government toward Palestinians, is it
possible that unconsciously they are taking these kinds
of stands because they do not see the supreme
importance of creating caring and sensitivity to the
needs of the other? Yet it is this sensitivity that is
the necessary prerequisite for a lasting peace with
justice and security for both sides in the Middle East
conflict. And that peace would be a major step toward
undermining the support that terrorists have been able
to amass, in part because such a peace is absent.

==========

9/11 Families Group Announces Support for Islamic
Cultural Center in Lower Manhattan

May 20th, 2010

September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/article.php?id=977

New York - Today, September 11th Families for Peaceful
Tomorrows, a nationwide group founded by family members
of those killed on 9/11 issued the following statement,
which may be attributed to their spokesperson, Donna
Marsh O'Connor:

September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows strongly
supports efforts to bring an Islamic Cultural Center to
lower Manhattan, near the Ground Zero site. We believe
that welcoming the Center, which is intended to promote
interfaith tolerance and respect, is consistent with
fundamental American values of freedom and justice for
all.

We believe, too, that this building will serve as an
emblem for the rest of the world that Americans stand
against violence, intolerance and overt acts of racism
and that we recognize that the evil acts of a few must
never damn the innocent.

To arrange an interview with a member of September 11th
Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, please contact David
Lerner or Shonna Carter, Riptide Communications,
212-260-5000 ([log in to unmask] or
[log in to unmask] ).

September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is an
organization founded by family members of those killed
on September 11, 2001. Currently comprised of over 200
families, the group advocates nonviolence and adherence
to the rule of law in the pursuit of justice and
accountability.

Our Mission

Peaceful Tomorrows is an organization founded by family
members of those killed on September 11th who have
united to turn our grief into action for peace. By
developing and advocating nonviolent options and
actions in the pursuit of justice, we hope to break the
cycles of violence engendered by war and terrorism.
Acknowledging our common experience with all people
affected by violence throughout the world, we work to
create a safer and more peaceful world for everyone.

Our Goals

1. To promote dialogue on alternatives to war, while
educating and raising the consciousness of the public
on issues of war, peace, and the underlying causes of
terrorism.

2. To support and offer fellowship to others seeking
non- violent responses to all forms of terrorism, both
individual and institutional.

3. To call attention to threats to civil liberties,
human rights, and other freedoms in the U.S. as a
consequence of war.

4. To- acknowledge our fellowship with all people
affected by violence and war, recognizing that the
resulting deaths are overwhelmingly civilian.

5. To encourage a multilateral, collaborative effort to
bring those responsible for the September 11, 2001
attacks to justice in accordance with the principles of
international law.

6. To promote U.S. foreign policy that places a
priority on internationally-recognized principles of
human rights, democracy and self-rule.

7. To demand ongoing investigations into the events
leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks that took
the lives of our loved ones, including exhaustive
examinations of U.S. foreign policies and national
security failures.

[A core group of 200 family members directly affected
by loss on September 11th have joined our group, and
thousands of supporters have joined our mailing list.
Our family members live in 31 states and seven foreign
countries. In accordance with our bylaws, our
co-directors and steering committee members are also
9/11 family members.]

==========

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