Imam planning mosque near Ground Zero wants 'what is best for everybody'

[harvey007]

Source: USA Today

"The imam who is planning a mosque and Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero in New York City said today he will do "what is best for everybody," but is concerned that moving the project will inflame Muslim radicals overseas."

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2010/09/obama-goolsbee-boehner/1

---

Looks like the Imam needs to clean up his New Jersey properties and correct problems for tenants there before taking on a new project....

Union City, NJ officials say the Imam's properties are among the "15 worst buildings in the city" for tenants.

Rats, bedbugs, no hot water for weeks....

http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/9380522/article-Controversy-hits-close-to-home-

[pinboy3niner]

1. Wow--looks like EVERYBODYon the Right is trying to smear him now!

Nice try, but the allegations have absolutely NO relevance to the Park51 project.

[davidinalameda]

12. so we're supposed to ignore that he's a slum lord?

[pinboy3niner]

13. Wow--didn't take long for you to leap to such a loaded term, did it?

As a Park51 opponent, perhaps you can give me a headsup on what's next on the agenda. Accusing him of spousal abuse? Pedophilia? Anything else that's wholly unrelated and irrelevant to the Park51 project?

The smear campaign certainly seems to be in full swing. Opponents failed in trying to challenge the facts and the project's merits, so they now resort to character assassination. Are you sure you want to be part of that? Really?

[customerserviceguy]

17. How you treat a property you already own

is indicative of how you will manage a future project. The Park51 project will have neighbors, and a lack of responsible dealings with tenants says something about how those neighbors will be treated, as well.

[boppers]

23. Is park 51 a residential property?

I hadn't heard that.

[davidinalameda]

25. I hope not

anyone who would move in would probably get the same type of attention as his current tenants in Jersey

[boppers]

26. So, anti-park51 people should be hoping for completion, then?

"Go ahead, spend a lot of money, make a horrible facility, that nobody will like, or visit."

...er?

[davidinalameda]

30. I didn't say that

I only said that I hope it won't be a residential property

I think it will get plenty of visitors if it's ever built

[boppers]

31. If it has a whole community criticizing it, maybe the feedback will back-scatter.

Better for those in the residential properties, possibly.

[customerserviceguy]

27. Property management is property management

In fact, its much more difficult with non-residential buildings than with residential ones, there is a whole big market dedicated to supplying residential building owners with services. When you have to get someone to work on any type of commercial property, you're dealing with a smaller group of expensive specialists.

If you can't ride your bike safely, why should I trust you with the keys to a car?

[boppers]

28. Because a bike and a car are very different things?

Are you suggesting people in wheelchairs shouldn't be allowed to drive?

FWIW, there is an entire business segment devoted to business/facility property management, as you note, just as there is a business segment devoted to residential property management. They tend to be more expensive, and more attentive, because they have to answer to tenants who have a higher bar of standards.

Rats in a house: Annoyed tenant.
Rats in a restaurant: Tenant leaves, or goes bankrupt after losing their business license.

[customerserviceguy]

29. Why would you take my analogy to that ridiculous of an extreme?

I've known a few disabled folks who used special controls to drive cars, and in my experience, they're better drivers, they know how easily they could lose a license.

OK, you're not getting the heart of the analogy: If someone who can ride a bike shows an inability to obey the rules of the road and stay safe, then why would we want to trust that sort of irresponsibility to drive something that can hurt far more than the operator? Does that help us avoid discussions of my supposed prejudice against people in wheelchairs?

It's going to be far easier to get someone to work on the boiler of your five or six unit apartment building than to find someone with the expertise to work on the boiler of your 100 room hotel. I'm sorry you don't understand that, but I used to be a tax accountant, and the more complicated the property, the more expensive the repair bill was going to be. And it's easy to want to put off maintaining things when they get that out of hand.

If I might criticize your analogy: Rats in a restaurant would almost always be caused by improper storage of food, and would be the tenant's fault rather than the landlord's.

But back to the point, if the city where you run rental properties is willing to say that you are one of the worst in the city, and there are many hundreds of apartment buildings in that city, then you are probably going to call into question the way you manage something else. You questioned it's relevance, and I'm telling you why it matters, if true.

[boppers]

32. Here ya go:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_absurdum

[davidinalameda]

24. you really need to read the 2nd article

and then tell me if slum lord isn't an appropriate description

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Turborama]

22. To counter the use of a select quote to opportunistically post a smear piece, here's the transcript

The video of the interview itself is here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x504059

AMANPOUR: Imam, thank you for joining us.

IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF: Thank you, Christiane, for having me.

AMANPOUR: Tell me about your plans for the Islamic center.

Are you going to keep it at Park 51, where you proposed?

RAUF: The decisions that I will make -- that we will make -- will be predicated on what is best for everybody.

AMANPOUR: How do you decide that?

RAUF: That's been very difficult and very challenging, because, unfortunately, the -- the discourse has been, to a certain extent, hijacked by the radicals.

The radicals on both sides, the radicals in the United States and the radicals in the Muslim world, feed off each other. And to a certain extent, the attention that they've been able to get by the media has even aggravated the problem.

AMANPOUR: 71 percent of New Yorkers say it should be moved. What is your main reason for not wanting to move it?

RAUF: My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be Islam is under attack in America, this will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment, this will put our people -- our soldiers, our troops, our embassies, our citizens -- under attack in the Muslim world and we have expanded and given and fueled terrorism.

AMANPOUR: Do you think that is a legitimate reason not to move it?

RAUF: It is an extremely important consideration.

AMANPOUR: . People are saying that because you intimated that it would cause great anger in Muslim countries around the world, it could threaten the United States. And people are saying that you made a threat.

Is that -- was that your intention?

RAUF: I have never made a threat. I've never made a threat, never expressed a threat, never -- I've never -- I would never threaten violence ever, because I am a man of peace, dedicated to peace.

We have two audiences. We have the American audience and we have the Muslim audience. And this issue has riveted the attention of the whole Muslim world. And whatever we do and whatever say and how we move and the discourse about it is being watched very, very closely. And if we make the wrong move, it will only expand and strengthen the voice of the radicals and the extremists.

AMANPOUR: But what about the sensitivities of the people who have raised the objections to the center being so close to -- to Ground Zero?

RAUF: I'm extremely concerned about -- I'm very, very concerned about their sensitivities. And this is why we have -- we have reached out to them and we will continue to reach out to them.

AMANPOUR: Do you think you, in retrospect, should have done something different from the beginning?

Did you do enough politicking, if you like, at a grassroots, local level to involve everybody in the community, including the 9/11 families?

RAUF: Well, we certainly had reached out.

And this -- this project was front page news in "The New York Times" last December. No one objected. What has happened is that since May -- five, six months later, for political reasons, certain politicians decided that this project would be very useful for their political ambitions.

AMANPOUR: Sarah Palin made a -- a famous Tweet saying please reconsider, the feelings are too raw.

What did you think about that?

RAUF: I felt it disingenuous, to a certain extent. The fact of the matter is, A, this has been used for political purposes. And there's growing Islamophobia in this country.

How else would you describe the fact that mosques around the country are now being attacked? We are Americans, too. As -- we are -- we are treated and talked about today as if -- as if American Mus -- and Muslims are not Americans.

We are Americans. We -- we -- we are -- we are doctors. We are investment bankers. We are taxi drivers. We are store keepers. We are lawyers. We are -- we are part of the fabric of America.

And the way that America today treats its Muslims is being watched by over a billion Muslims worldwide. And the battleground today, Christiane, is not between Islam and the West. The battleground has been moderates of all faith traditions in all the countries of the world against the radicals of all faith traditions in all parts of the world.

AMANPOUR: There's a pastor, Pastor Jones in Florida. What would have happened if the pastor had gone ahead and burnt those Korans?

RAUF: It would have created a -- a disaster in the Muslim world. It would have strengthened the radicals. It would have enhanced the possibility of terrorist acts against America and American interests.

AMANPOUR: And the solution might be that the pastor would not burn the Korans if you would move the Islamic center way away from where you plan it now.

Does that sound like a reasonable compromise?

RAUF: You can't equate the two, Christiane. How can you equate burning of any person's scripture with an attempt to build interfaith dialogue?

This is a house with multi-faith stakeholders, with multi-faith partners intended to work together toward building peace.

AMANPOUR: Did you ever imagine that recommending or suggesting or buying a place so close to Ground Zero would cause this kind of controversy?

RAUF: No.

AMANPOUR: And if you thought it would have provoked this kind of controversy, what would you have done?

RAUF: I would never have done it. I'm a man of peace. I mean the whole -- the whole objective of peace work is not to do something that would provoke controversy.

AMANPOUR: In the latest poll that ABC has conducted, only 37 percent of those who were asked expressed a positive feeling about Islam.

Do you think that Moslems, people such as yourself, others here, can actually have a place to practice their religion freely, to live freely as Americans, given that figure?

It's the most -- it's the lowest figure since 2001.

RAUF: In spite of the polls, the fact is that American Muslims are very happy and they thrive in this country. One of the misperceptions that exists in the Muslim world, which needs to be fixed, is the perception that Muslims in America are -- are -- are living in -- in very, very, very bad circumstances. They cannot practice religion freely.

It is not the truth at all. The fact is, we are practicing. We fast, we pray, we do our prayers. We are able to do that. The laws protect us. Our political systems protect us. And we enjoy those freedoms in this country. And the Muslim world needs to -- needs to -- to recognize that.

The recent controversy, I think, has heightened the concern among Muslims, but we feel that there is a spike of -- of -- of Islamophobia which is reaching and perhaps even possibly exceeding what happened right after 9/11.

From: http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-goolsbee-rauf/story?id=11615052&page=1

:hi:

[earcandle]

2. you just can't trust right wing media talking points. until Fairness Doctrine is back forget the

validity of the press unless it passes through Media Matters. 

[Imajika]

5. The Fairness Doctrine is never coming back...

We are in a different age. The Internet, cable TV, satellite radio, etc, etc - there is just no way the old Fairness Doctrine (or anything like it) is coming back.

I agree with you though, the validity of almost anything in the media is in doubt until/unless you've had a chance to filter it through something like Media Matters or spent some time actually researching via multiple sources.

Gone are the days where you could trust even a headline in a major paper or on a major network.

I think the most disturbing thing I notice is that as a people, we no longer even agree on what the news is.

Everyone is a journalist now, and people chose to get their news from sources that back up their own worldview.

[earcandle]

7. Lack of leadership and core values that bind us are the problem. We have the ability to install

both, once we clear out the murderers, the haters, and the
damaged from political power.

How do we do that?  Start locally and start talking. 

We seem to forget that our taxes from our labor funds just
about everything. 
This is our ace in the hole. 

[Mz Pip]

3. Unfortunately he won't be able to

do what's best for "everybody." Not in this polarized environment.

[burnsei sensei]

4. Indeed. Where the people are so divided,

there is no "everybody."

[Matariki]

6. What's best for everybody, for America, is for him to build as planned

If he gives in to these right wing terrorists then we all lose.

[earcandle]

8. Mr. Imam, don't even balk now. YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BUILD YOUR MOSQUE...

right wing talking points and symbolic threats and actions are
adolescent behaviors meant to carry meaning and do damage.

Please do not capitulate to the deranged.  One book burned by
one idiot out to start a race war is not worth any attention
at all.  Proving that our constitution works is the most
important and if you hang in there you will do us all a favor
by validating that we are not torn apart over asshat
individuals who want to make a symbolic war.

Be cool, dude. 

[Igel]

10. But how do you weigh that against the counterargument?

"If we don't move it, we give in to the right-wing talking points and adolescent behaviors of Muslim extremists."

Rauf keeps saying, "Don't hate us--you're wrong." He could be asking, "Why do the American extremists hate us?" or "Why do the Muslim extremists hate us?" All three utterances are relevant. The first leads ineluctably to the second, at least to critical thinkers; the third is suggested strongly by his claim that to move the mosque/center now would "inflame Muslim radicals." As well as, presumably radicals like Indonesia's Yudhoyono and Pakistan's foreign ministry.

With the Koran burning we were explicitly told to give in to the extremists: If you don't stop it, unreasonable not-really-Muslim Muslims will try to crush, kill, and destroy; you have no right to free speech if others dissent strongly enough.

Chomsky's right: Asymmetry is often a key to structure. Asymmetry in linguistic paradigms point to how language is structured; asymmetry in responses to eerily parallel threats point to how value systems are structured.

Mutually agreed-upon concessions leading to peaceful coexistence and cooperation after discussions and finding common ground is one expression of tolerance. But nobody wants tolerance; they want victory and domination. This isn't peace, this is Vietnam-style pacification dubbed "peaceful coexistence." It was the norm for most of human history. It works; but it's morally repugnant to a many people.

[earcandle]

19. First of all, mature intelligent people don't "hate". They have conversations based on principles

based on the principles of our constitution.  Do NOT undermine
the courts and the laws of the land by pretending
they don't exist. The laws are already in place that can
arrest and prosecute people who put our troops and our
country in danger for not honoring our rule of law and who
intentionally cause civil unrest.   

Secondly, we make those news agencies lose their licenses if
they give standing to uneducated people
who use that platform to put Americans in danger and to
blacken our good name.  

And thirdly, we don't identify ourselves with third world
emotionally triggered symbolic cultures who have
no government nor rule of law just because our social,
political and economic house is not in order. 
We do that by honoring our rule of law.

We don't pay attention to riff raff identifying us as a third
world country that is unstable so that we fall into a race and
class war.  Just because Halliburton wants to rebuild.  Fuck
them.

Don't even give these arguments any credibility. It will pull
us into barbaric conversations that we are way
to organized to have to endure.  Just stop the crap.  Stop
allowing haters to pretend we don't have it together.

We do have it together. Obama knows the constitution and left
alone, this will work itself out. 

[sam sarrha]

15. that has obviously been the case and never the question.. this mess is Choreographed for a reason..

and the puppet masters have everybody dancing to the tune they want.. both sides.

[lunatica]

11. I agree. What's best is to uphold the Constitution

Almost always what's best is not what people really want.

[AlbertCat]

16. What's best for everybody, for America, is for him to....

... build a science/ learning center to teach people about what really improves their lives and reject any bronze age mumbo jumbo from any civilization or corner of the world.

[Matariki]

21. You know what. You don't need to ridicule other people's spiritual views like that.

It's just as bad and disrespectful as one religion denouncing another and your religion is Atheism. Try to find a way to hold your own beliefs without attacking other people's.

[Bragi]

9. Anyone opposed to 'what is best for everybody'? /nt

[verges]

18. Have you not been reading the news?

Do you not read DU regularly?
Hell, have you not read this thread?
People often are opposed to things that would really be in their best interests.
How will we look at this in thirty years? Will this be a forgotten moment about the origins of a community center; or an embarrassing blemish demonstrating the bigotry and hypocrisy of our nation at this time?

[earcandle]

20. Maybe, but that is not saying much for the "Professional Left" We run the marketing industries.

They pay us.  So we can do a little marketing on the side in
our own behalf.