Hamas took credit for an ambush attack that killed four Israelis, including a pregnant woman outside Hebron. The terror group promised more murders and later there was a large celebration of the killings in the West Bank. This unfortunately, is not big news anymore. Terrorism by groups claiming to follow Islam happen almost daily. If Glenn Beck can draw 300,000 marchers to Washington D.C., Muslims should be able to draw 300,000, or 3 million, to march in D.C., or London, or Brisbane, that would condemn terrorists who claim Islam directs them to kill.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is the force behind the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, is the kind of religious leader we want in the Muslim faith. He has done many good things on goodwill visits for the U.S. government. His words at a service for slain reporter/terror victim Daniel Pearl that expressed solidarity with the Jewish people were inspiring. He is a threat to radical Islam. However, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf also has negatives. Like many moderate Muslims, he takes positions that strike many Americans as extreme. For example, he has refused to condemn Hamas’ terrorism, he has said the U.S. is to blame for killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in the 1990s, and he has said that the U.S., through its policies, was an accessory to the terror attacks of Sept. 11.
The problem is that a “moderate Muslim” is not seen as “moderate” by many Americans. I’m not suggesting that the imam should change his personal views on Mideast relations, even if I find them outlandish. But supporters of the mosque need to realize that Americans are not bigots. The truth is Americans have showed much tolerance since the Sept. 11 attacks. What they haven’t seen is a response, or a show of force, of outrage from the Muslim world for the constant stream of terrorist attacks. To Americans, a failure to condemn terrorist for shooting a pregnant woman, or to see a rally of cheering adherents afterward, reflects intolerance and hate. If 300,000 Muslims rally in the West against Hamas and other terrorists who falsely claim Islam, I think many more from other faiths would be there as well. And isn’t that kind of interfaith cooperation what the mosque/cultural center supporters want?
