Alan Dershowitz: Anti-Defamation League Should Not Oppose Mosques at Ground Zero

[oberliner]

Concluding section:

The issue is whether a great human rights organization should oppose the building of a Muslim center near Ground Zero. I have heard no rational reason from the ADL why it should stand in opposition to this project.

I hope that Abe Foxman was misquoted or misspoke and that he will withdraw both his opposition to the mosque and most especially the argument he offered for it. The ADL should continue with its noble mission of siding with the victims of bigotry rather than making excuses for those who engage in bigotry.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-dershowitz/anti-defamation-league-sh_b_667478.html

Edit to add: Title is the title used by Huffington Post - we all know it's not a mosque and it's not at Ground Zero. The article reflects that, though the title does not.

[JI7]

1. i'm actually surprised by this today, i wouldn't have been surprised some years ago

but he had changed a lot in recent years . hopefully he is going back to the way he was.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. I hate it when that asshole is on the right side of an issue.

[aquart]

12. Not an asshole when he agrees with you.

Or perhaps you should rethink.

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. Color me shocked.

Dershowitz has been on the wrong side of so many things in recent years, I thought he permanently lost his mind. Good to see he found some sanity this time.

[oberliner]

7. A lot of Huffington Post commenters are responding the same way

Check out the comments on the thread if interested.

[provis99]

4. no one gives a shit what you think, Dershowitz.

[aquart]

15. On account of, he disagrees with you. Except today?

Gosh that makes things difficult. Best to be generally rude.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

28. This passive-aggressive shtick is getting old. -nt

[xchrom]

5. The old saying - even a broken clock - nt.

[Little Star]

6. Why keep saying "it's not a mosque". It is a mosque. Here..

Cordoba Center (Ground Zero Mosque)
The New York Times
Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Cordoba Center is a controversial Muslim mosque to be built two blocks from ground zero in lower Manhattan, part of a complex called Park51.

After a protracted battle that set off a national debate over freedom of religion, the project surmounted a final hurdle on Aug. 3, 2010, when a decision by the New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission cleared the way for the construction of Park51. The tower of as many as 15 stories will house a mosque, a 500-seat auditorium, and a pool. Its leaders say it will be modeled on the Y.M.C.A. and Jewish Community Center in Manhattan.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/park51/index.html


Google has many other articles saying it is a mosque.

[oberliner]

8. From their website

Park51 will grow into a world-class community center, including the following facilities:

* fitness facilities (swimming pool, gym, basketball court)
* a 500-seat auditorium
* a restaurant and culinary school
* cultural amenities including exhibitions
* education programs
* a library and art studios
* childcare services
* a mosque, intended to be run separately from Park51 but open to and accessible to all members, visitors and our New York community
* dedicated meditation rooms

http://www.park51.org/facilities.htm

A mosque is but one component of the entire community center.

[Little Star]

9. Yes, But the tower still houses a dang mosque. Why try to

pretend there isn't one? That is quite dishonest and it makes us look foolish, imho.

[oberliner]

11. Well, yes, but the entire building in question is a community center

It is not merely a mosque. It has a lot of other facilities that the entire community can benefit from.

[aquart]

14. What community would that be?

Since you're so familiar with the area.

[oberliner]

17. Whoever wants to use it?

I am not at all familiar with the area.

[Dorian Gray]

33. Why refer to the whole

community center as only a mosque. That is a strategy used to incite passions in those who are anti-Islam.

All the arguments against the building of it are flawed.

[aquart]

13. I would love to know what community they're serving.

A huge, intrusive Muslim enclave in the heart of the debris field.

PLUS a cooking school????

Well, I don't find that the least bit odd. BTW, what does it cost to become a member? Does that include cooking lessons?

A SEPARATELY-RUN MOSQUE. Well, really. Who can have a cooking school without one?

MOSQUE. MOSQUE. MOSQUE. MOSQUE. MOSQUE.

[oberliner]

19. Not sure what you mean

Sounds like it is very similar to a JCC (Jewish Community Center) with various classes, recreational facilities, religious instruction, and prayer space.

I would imagine membership costs would be about the same as well.

I am not sure I understand your reaction here.

[uppityperson]

25. delete, not sure if I have the right poster

[aquart]

31. Post 9/11, how many Muslim families moved into lower Manhattan?

It's a "community center." I am asking WHERE'S the community? Where are the Muslims who are going to be using and supporting this complex? Is it for tourists? Transients? Like the Y? Will it be renting rooms?

We have lots of specialized neighborhoods in NYC where different groups have settled. But lower Manhattan ain't like them. Not this area. This is sky high rents and extortionate lofts. There are some grandfathered artists and then there are the very well to do indeed. There aren't any poor people skipping down the street. (And good luck finding a supermarket.)

So I ask again, hoping for an answer: where's the community? what community? who are the people who need this mosque and this cooking school? Did I miss the ads for halal meat? My mother lives in an area with halal markets, kosher markets, and Korean markets because there are customers who need to buy the items used in cooking the food they're used to. So stores open to service their needs. Where's the halal market downtown? Where are the housewives?

I will laugh my ass off if this big fuss has been to build a country club in the city for oil rich Arabs.

[oberliner]

41. I have no idea

It seems like it has the potential to be something really positive for the community, be it those who live and work in the immediate area or those from other parts of the city who might be inclined to check out whatever cultural events may be offered.

[uppityperson]

24. what the hell are you going on about?

"A huge, intrusive Muslim enclave in the heart of the debris field"

What?

[EFerrari]

27. This is probably not good for you, aquart. nt

[Karenina]

35. Indeed. The vitriol increases daily...

:-(

[Spider Jerusalem]

32. And so what?

It serves the Muslim community in NYC, why is this a problem? Would it bother you so much if it were a Hasidic Jewish community centre with a synagogue? Or a Catholic community centre with a church? If some crazed orthodox Jew inspired by Baruch Goldstein had blown up a mosque in NYC, or a Catholic zealot had blown up an abortion clinic, there in the very area, would you then oppose either of these hypotheticals? Prejudice based on fear and loathing born of lingering post-traumatic grief is still prejudice. Hope that works out for you.

[Dorian Gray]

34. They're serving the islamic community

in lower manhattan/NYC.

Who cares if it's a mosque or a community center with a cooking school. What argument (other than you don't like it) can you actually use to really show it doesn't legally belong there?

[Canuckistanian]

21. Is the Jewish Community Center a Synagogue?

Just because Google refers to news organizations that SAY it's a mosque, does that make it true?

[Jackpine Radical]

10. It just plain makes me nervous and edgy

when I find myself on the same side of something as Dershowitz. Like, am I missing something?

Maybe he just figures that with an Islamic community center in the neighborhood, we won't have to look so hard to find some Muslims to torture.

[aquart]

16. Yes, Procrustes. It is confusing when people don't fit your bed.

It might mean people who disagree with you actually think and feel. No wonder you feel nervous and edgy.

[EFerrari]

22. This is the same @sshole that organized anti-Muslim rallies

on college campuses. Nothing he says should ever be taken seriously. He's a sociopath.

[Jackpine Radical]

23. And wrote the book on Carter's anti-semitism.

[EFerrari]

26. Was that him, too? Ugh.

[Jackpine Radical]

37. Check it out on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Case-Against-Israels-Enemies-Exposing/dp/0470490055/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281362513&sr=8-2

The explicit intent of this confrontational book is to intellectually engage prominent enemies of Israel in the open marketplace of ideas. Harvard law professor Dershowitz (The Case for Israel) begins with a vehement denunciation of his onetime friend Jimmy Carter, and he concludes with an appendix that systematically refutes many claims advanced in Carter's book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. Though the former president receives Dershowitz's most thorough criticism, the author also identifies and scrutinizes many other enemies, from Noam Chomsky and Patrick Buchanan to Hezbollah and the Iranian government. Dershowitz assumes the posture of a litigator, but his deep convictions and previous history with many of the book's subjects lend a more personal tone to his critiques, as Dershowitz himself admits. Chapters on terrorism and Iran, which are less targeted at specific individuals, take a more effective philosophical and historical approach. Despite its stated goal of eliciting further debate on the Israel-Palestine conflict, this provocative book will likely appeal to sympathizers and alienate readers less disposed to its author's positions.

[oberliner]

36. What anti-Muslim rallies did he organize?

Not sure what you are referencing here.

[EFerrari]

38. I'm going to have to look it up. But he was involved in

going from campus to campus and sponsoring something like "anti-islamofasicm" days. Let me see what I can find.

[EFerrari]

39. I confused him with Horowitz --

Horowitz did the "Islamo-Fascist Awareness Week" at colleges and Dershowitz did the interview in that awful RW film "Obsession" that was mailed out in the millions for free.


Re the "awareness week":
http://blog.thehumanist.com/?p=174

Re "Obsession":
http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/

[oberliner]

40. Yes, David Horowitz is off the charts

There is no way someone like him would come out in support of the Park51 project.

[Unvanguard]

18. I'm glad he's being a voice for reason and decency. n/t

[jimlup]

20. He's right but I still hate the guy

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

29. Dershowitz, huh? Wow. I guess...

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvenEvilHasStandards

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

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