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Patrick backs NYC mosque plan
Kin of 9/11 victims split on proposal
‘The sooner we separate the peaceful teaching of Islam from the behavior of terrorists, the better for all of us.’ said Deval Patrick, echoing the words of George W. Bush
By Stephanie Ebbert
Globe Staff / August 5, 2010
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Sending your article For article has been sent. E-mail| Print| Reprints| Comments (17)Text size – + Governor Deval Patrick, who this spring became the state’s first sitting governor to visit a mosque, lent his support yesterday to an Islamic Center proposed near ground zero, stepping into the middle of a growing national furor over locating a Muslim house of worship so near the site of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Tweet Be the first to Tweet this!Submit to Digg digg Yahoo! Buzz ShareThis When asked about the controversy during a radio appearance, Patrick turned to the words of President George W. Bush, a Republican, to express the need to make a clear distinction between terrorists and practitioners of the Muslim faith.
“The sooner we separate the peaceful teaching of Islam from the behavior of terrorists, the better for all of us,’’ Patrick said on WTKK-FM 96.9.
The issue has caused bitter divisions in New York and has provoked strong emotions in Massachusetts, where the two planes involved in the attacks took off. Some local families of victims of the attacks have embraced the proposal for a mosque in Lower Manhattan as a symbol of religious tolerance, while others consider it unthinkably insensitive.
“It’s poor taste to put it where they’re putting it,’’ said C. Lee Hanson of Easton, Conn., whose son, Peter, daughter-in-law, Sue Kim, and 2-year-old granddaughter, Christine Lee, all of Groton, died on United Airlines Flight 175. “They should just build it a mile away. There would be no problems.’’
The 15-story mosque and cultural center are poised for approval after the New York City Landmarks Commission refused Tuesday to block redevelopment of the site.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg supports the proposed mosque and urged the families of Sept. 11 victims to embrace it as a symbol of the nation’s freedoms.
“We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional rights they died protecting,’’ Bloomberg said Tuesday. “We honor their lives by defending those rights and the freedoms the terrorists attacked.’’
The proposal has sparked indignation from national Republican leaders, including former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, and became part of the New York governor’s race when Republican candidate Rick Lazio pressed Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic contender, to investigate the project’s funding.
The families of 9/11 victims have been divided. Some believe the mosque will serve as a tribute to the perpetrators of the attacks rather than its victims, whose own below-ground memorial has yet to be built.
“I think it’s a tragedy for the United States,’’ Hanson said. “It’s another sign of weakness that we’d allow a victory mosque to be built next to what most of us is holy ground.’’
Cindy McGinty — whose husband, Michael McGinty of Foxborough, was killed while attending a meeting in the World Trade Center — expressed weary resignation to the plan. She said she just hopes it is done tastefully and that officials keep an eye on the proponents of the mosque and their sources of money.Continued...
“It just makes me suspicious,’’ said McGinty, who recently moved to Connecticut. “Why did they pick this spot? Why aren’t they being more sensitive? I don’t trust it. I can’t, because my husband’s one of the people who died.’’
But a family group called “September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows’’ has come out in support of the Islamic Cultural Center and said it would 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.’’
“I would never criticize and try to dissect the way other people feel,’’ said one member of the group, Terry Rockefeller of Arlington, whose sister, Laura, was killed in the attacks. “But for me, as someone who lost a relative on 9/11, this doesn’t insult her at all. This celebrates the city she loved living in. It is what makes America what we are.’’
Though Rockefeller had not heard Patrick’s comments, she said that she appreciated them and that it was important for political leaders to speak out about religious freedom.
“I’m really glad that the governor took exactly that kind of position of leadership,’’ Rockefeller said. “I think one of the saddest things about 9/11 has been the ways in which our fears have led us to really unthinkingly give up our Constitution and the values that have made us great. And religious freedom is right up there.’’
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish group that works to fight prejudice, declared its opposition to the center last week. “The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process,’’ the ADL said. “Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the city of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.’’
But supporters say that to deny such a use of the building would be to bow to knee jerk fear and prejudice and to curb a fundamental right to religious tolerance.
“I really sympathize with the sensitivities of people who are concerned,’’ said Bilal Kaleem, executive director of the Muslim American Society of Boston. “What I’m afraid of is that if we let our sensitivities mean that we effectively ban Muslims from building institutions in lower Manhattan, that would be totally anti-American. We end up becoming what the terrorists are.’’
The governor did not invite yesterday’s discussion on the mosque. He began his answer to the host’s question by saying, “Don’t we have stuff to talk about here in Massachusetts?’’
Patrick went on to say that he understands the concerns of many who still have “fresh wounds’’ from the terrorist attacks. But he recalled Bush’s remarks that Islam is a peaceful religion, inconsistent with the behavior of the terrorists who attacked America.
In May, Patrick reached out to the Muslim community, becoming the first sitting governor of Massachusetts to visit a mosque. He spoke to a crowd of some 1,100 Muslims and pledged to help them with a variety of measures, from denouncing discrimination and racial profiling to advocating time off on Fridays for afternoon prayers.
At the time, Patrick’s independent rival for governor, Timothy P. Cahill, criticized his appearance, saying the governor was “playing politics with terrorism’’ and “pandering to special interests.’’
Cahill’s comments were condemned by an interfaith group of Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant leaders who said that they would stand together to protect religious rights and that terrorism should not be turned into a political football.
Yesterday, in response to Patrick’s comments on the mosque, a spokeswoman for Cahill said only that he thinks the World Trade Center site should be reserved for memorials. Patrick’s Republican rival, Charles Baker, did not return calls for comment.
Stephanie Ebbert can be reached at ebbert@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
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THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING
Home / Your Town - hyperlocal news / Arlington
Patrick backs NYC mosque plan
Kin of 9/11 victims split on proposal
‘The sooner we separate the peaceful teaching of Islam from the behavior of terrorists, the better for all of us.’ said Deval Patrick, echoing the words of George W. Bush
By Stephanie Ebbert
Globe Staff / August 5, 2010
E-mail this article To: Invalid E-mail address Add a personal message
80 character limit) Your E-mail: Invalid E-mail address Sending your article For article has been sent. E-mail| Print| Reprints| Comments (17)Text size – + Governor Deval Patrick, who this spring became the state’s first sitting governor to visit a mosque, lent his support yesterday to an Islamic Center proposed near ground zero, stepping into the middle of a growing national furor over locating a Muslim house of worship so near the site of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Tweet Be the first to Tweet this!Submit to Digg digg Yahoo! Buzz ShareThis When asked about the controversy during a radio appearance, Patrick turned to the words of President George W. Bush, a Republican, to express the need to make a clear distinction between terrorists and practitioners of the Muslim faith.
“The sooner we separate the peaceful teaching of Islam from the behavior of terrorists, the better for all of us,’’ Patrick said on WTKK-FM 96.9.
The issue has caused bitter divisions in New York and has provoked strong emotions in Massachusetts, where the two planes involved in the attacks took off. Some local families of victims of the attacks have embraced the proposal for a mosque in Lower Manhattan as a symbol of religious tolerance, while others consider it unthinkably insensitive.
“It’s poor taste to put it where they’re putting it,’’ said C. Lee Hanson of Easton, Conn., whose son, Peter, daughter-in-law, Sue Kim, and 2-year-old granddaughter, Christine Lee, all of Groton, died on United Airlines Flight 175. “They should just build it a mile away. There would be no problems.’’
The 15-story mosque and cultural center are poised for approval after the New York City Landmarks Commission refused Tuesday to block redevelopment of the site.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg supports the proposed mosque and urged the families of Sept. 11 victims to embrace it as a symbol of the nation’s freedoms.
“We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional rights they died protecting,’’ Bloomberg said Tuesday. “We honor their lives by defending those rights and the freedoms the terrorists attacked.’’
The proposal has sparked indignation from national Republican leaders, including former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, and became part of the New York governor’s race when Republican candidate Rick Lazio pressed Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic contender, to investigate the project’s funding.
The families of 9/11 victims have been divided. Some believe the mosque will serve as a tribute to the perpetrators of the attacks rather than its victims, whose own below-ground memorial has yet to be built.
“I think it’s a tragedy for the United States,’’ Hanson said. “It’s another sign of weakness that we’d allow a victory mosque to be built next to what most of us is holy ground.’’
Cindy McGinty — whose husband, Michael McGinty of Foxborough, was killed while attending a meeting in the World Trade Center — expressed weary resignation to the plan. She said she just hopes it is done tastefully and that officials keep an eye on the proponents of the mosque and their sources of money.Continued...
“It just makes me suspicious,’’ said McGinty, who recently moved to Connecticut. “Why did they pick this spot? Why aren’t they being more sensitive? I don’t trust it. I can’t, because my husband’s one of the people who died.’’
But a family group called “September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows’’ has come out in support of the Islamic Cultural Center and said it would 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.’’
“I would never criticize and try to dissect the way other people feel,’’ said one member of the group, Terry Rockefeller of Arlington, whose sister, Laura, was killed in the attacks. “But for me, as someone who lost a relative on 9/11, this doesn’t insult her at all. This celebrates the city she loved living in. It is what makes America what we are.’’
Though Rockefeller had not heard Patrick’s comments, she said that she appreciated them and that it was important for political leaders to speak out about religious freedom.
“I’m really glad that the governor took exactly that kind of position of leadership,’’ Rockefeller said. “I think one of the saddest things about 9/11 has been the ways in which our fears have led us to really unthinkingly give up our Constitution and the values that have made us great. And religious freedom is right up there.’’
The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish group that works to fight prejudice, declared its opposition to the center last week. “The controversy which has emerged regarding the building of an Islamic Center at this location is counterproductive to the healing process,’’ the ADL said. “Therefore, under these unique circumstances, we believe the city of New York would be better served if an alternative location could be found.’’
But supporters say that to deny such a use of the building would be to bow to knee jerk fear and prejudice and to curb a fundamental right to religious tolerance.
“I really sympathize with the sensitivities of people who are concerned,’’ said Bilal Kaleem, executive director of the Muslim American Society of Boston. “What I’m afraid of is that if we let our sensitivities mean that we effectively ban Muslims from building institutions in lower Manhattan, that would be totally anti-American. We end up becoming what the terrorists are.’’
The governor did not invite yesterday’s discussion on the mosque. He began his answer to the host’s question by saying, “Don’t we have stuff to talk about here in Massachusetts?’’
Patrick went on to say that he understands the concerns of many who still have “fresh wounds’’ from the terrorist attacks. But he recalled Bush’s remarks that Islam is a peaceful religion, inconsistent with the behavior of the terrorists who attacked America.
In May, Patrick reached out to the Muslim community, becoming the first sitting governor of Massachusetts to visit a mosque. He spoke to a crowd of some 1,100 Muslims and pledged to help them with a variety of measures, from denouncing discrimination and racial profiling to advocating time off on Fridays for afternoon prayers.
At the time, Patrick’s independent rival for governor, Timothy P. Cahill, criticized his appearance, saying the governor was “playing politics with terrorism’’ and “pandering to special interests.’’
Cahill’s comments were condemned by an interfaith group of Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant leaders who said that they would stand together to protect religious rights and that terrorism should not be turned into a political football.
Yesterday, in response to Patrick’s comments on the mosque, a spokeswoman for Cahill said only that he thinks the World Trade Center site should be reserved for memorials. Patrick’s Republican rival, Charles Baker, did not return calls for comment.
Stephanie Ebbert can be reached at ebbert@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
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