The Cordoba Initiative and Park51, the amended title of the Cordoba Mosque project at Ground Zero, is inflaming public opinion like no other issue in recent history ... and rightfully so. For the people who lost loved ones in the World Trade Center attacks, the wound may just have been starting to heal. But the proposed building of the "Ground Zero mosque" makes the victims feel like September 11, 2001, is happening all over again.
It is important to understand how the 9/11 victims feel and why this issue is spurring such a heated national debate.
I understand exactly why most of these families are adamantly opposed to this mosque. Why? Seventeen years ago, my beloved mother, Gail Parker, was brutally murdered in Tucson, Arizona. So let me tell you what it is like to have salt poured in an open wound that is your heart.
After the initial horror of having your loved one taken away by violence, it takes years to stabilize from that event. And then come the years of suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is largely triggered by reminders of that horrific event.
So, I implore all Americans to see what this mosque means from both a victims' perspective, and a historical one.
This project is purposefully named after "The Great Mosque" or "Mezquita" in Cordoba, Spain. In the early 8th century, The Christian Church of Saint Vincent sat upon the foundation of a Roman temple. Then the Moors (or Arabs) came, tore down St. Vincent's and built "The Great Mosque" to commemorate their victory over the Christians in Southern Spain. This conquest of the territory signified the Islamic supremacy over the Christians. And the Cordoba Mosque became the second most important house of worship, after Mecca, in the Muslim world.
When the Christians re-conquered Southern Spain in the 1236, they built a Cathedral inside the Mosque so they would never forget the history of what had happened years before. Throughout Southern Spain in the cities of Seville and Granada, most of the churches were also converted to mosques during the Muslim occupation of Andalucia. I spent a considerable amount of time in Southern Spain and have been to the mosque/cathedral in Cordoba. When you see the size and scope of the Mezquita, it is crystal clear what message the Muslims were sending to the conquered Christians.
Southern Spain is not the only place where mosques are built over churches and synagogues to signify Islam's dominance over Judaism and Christianity.
The Dome of the Rock was built on the ruins of Judiasm's holiest site, the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem. The Al-Aqsa Mosque was built on the southern end of the Temple Mount and over the Basilica of St. Mary of Justinian. The Grand Mosque of Damascus was erected over the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. There are hundred of examples of Islam's need to show dominance over the West.
So I ask? Why is this project being called the Cordoba Initiative here in lower Manhattan? If Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the Cordoba Initiative, was interested in building bridges between the Muslims and the West, why would they name the mosque something so incendiary?
Apparently, some people are now referring to the mosque/cultural center as Park51 because of the imagery created by the name Cordoba. However, if you visit Imam Rauf's website, the project is still referred to as the Cordoba Initiative.
The Executive Director American Society for Muslim Advancement, Daisy Khan, (who also happens to be Imam Rauf's wife) appeared on "This Week with Christiane Amanpour" to explain that what this Islamic center represents. Khan states that the project would be modeled like a JCC or (Jewish Community Center). She explained that there would be auditorium, swimming pool, cooking classes, schools, forums, conferences and a prayer space. Sounds good, but why won't Rauf and Khan meet with New York Governor David Patterson, who is offering state land to build the mosque elsewhere?
And why does the Imam and his wife want to open this mosque on the 10th anniversary of the attack on Ground Zero? These are questions the Imam is unwilling to answer.
The ultimate gesture of peace and humanity would be to build the Cordoba Mosque (or Park51) somewhere where the 9/11 families wouldn't have to feel the agony of having a shrine to their loved ones stomped upon.
In addition, this is a wonderful opportunity to build bridges between the moderate Muslims and the West by showing tolerance for our feelings and concerns. That would truly be a breakthrough in history ... and in the hearts and minds of the American people.
Follow Danielle Parker on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Danielle_Parker
The author also made some factual errors. For example, there was no church on the Temple Mount when Heraclius was defeated by the Arabs. There was a garbage dump (possibly deliberately to keep Jews out). Jews had been forbidden from entering Jerusalem. Later, Emperor Heraclius had also passed laws, with approval of the Pope to murder all Jews at the time. Upon conquering Jerusalem, Caliph Umer repealed those laws and permitted Jews to reenter Jerusalem. Then, the masjid was constructed
"In 610, the Sassanid Empire drove the Byzantine Empire out of the Middle East, giving the Jews control of Jerusalem for the first time in centuries. The new rulers soon ordered the restart of animal sacrifice for the first time since the time of Second Temple. Shortly before the Byzantines took the area back a few years later, the Persians gave control to the Christian population, who tore down the partially built Jewish temple edifice and turned it into a garbage dump,[14] which is what it was when the Caliph Omar took the city in the 630s."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Mount
As far as the Cordoba masjid is concerned, it is nice to see the author calling Unitarian Arian Visgoths "Christian". To keep it balanced, the author should have pointed out that Visgoths were at war with the Christian world for rejecting the divinity of Jesus (like Muslims).
Just for the record, I am not stating that building this community center is a good idea. Infact, I have expressed some reservations about it's construction. However, it is difficult to argue a position when people keep throwing up false information on the subject.
As far as taking " a long hard look at your surroundings" - I suggest you do the same and wonder when somebody will oppose YOUR beliefs or culture next.
Ms. Parker, your loss - while tragic, in no way grants the authority to speak on behalf of victims of violent crime. By definition, you do not qualify. You are the daughter of a victim of a violent crime. This is not said to hurt you or diminish your loss, but is a fact. This is obviously something you have a hard time grasping.
I see your need to identify yourself with real victims as an insult. You have portrayed yourself in this article as an attention-seeking, ignorance-spreading, fear monger. You have done no service to yourself, your mother or to the almost 3,000 lost on 9/11. I am embarrassed to be classified as an American with the likes of you. YOU are not a patriot. A true patriot does not incite fear and loathing. A true patriot embraces all of the things that have made this country great. This includes other cultures and peoples.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of value and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Seems like an impoverished point of view in itself, but wouldn't it be a source of pride for you to take the high ground, despite your misgivings, and show the world that we mean what we say about being inclusive?
You know, like not making exceptions to the rights minorities supposedly have to be protected against the majority.
This Ground-Zero mosque complex would be a symbol-not of reconciliation and tolerance, but of the greatest triumph of violent jihad in three centuries: 9/11.
This is a country ruled by a constitutional governement so there should not be any "argument" or "conversation" here as to what is clearly an unconstitutional bigoted discussion of who has the right to worship what and where.
To block such an initiative would be foolish and a victory for extremists abroad
Your constitutionally protected right to freedom of religion does NOT grant you land rights, zoning permits, and rubber stamped architectural approvals. It limits the government and indiividuals from discriminating against you for your religious beliefs, and nothing else.
Stop elevating what is essentially a local municipal issue into a manufactured defense of a pseudo violation of religious freedom.