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Monday, September 13,2010
Local community largely escapes 9/11 tensions
With the Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Fitr falling one day
before the 9/11 anniversary, some Muslims curtailed celebrations out of
reverence for victims of the attacks nine years ago.
But rejoicing for a sacred holiday and commemorating 9/11 don't have to be mutually exclusive, several members of the Athens community, both Muslim and non-Muslim, maintained in recent interviews.
"If they tone it down, it's like apologizing for something we are not all responsible for," said Shani Salifu, vice president of OU's Muslim Students Association, in an interview on Sept. 10. "(Terrorists) are criminals and should be treated as such," he added.
The dates for Ramadan and Eid ul-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, are determined by the cycle of the moon. Muslims in the U.S. follow the dates specified by the Islamic Society of North America, explained Salifu, a grad student at OU.
The close timing of Eid ul-Fitr with Sept. 11, coupled with disputes over the proposed Muslim community center (which would include a mosque) near 9/11 Ground Zero in New York City have heightened worldwide tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims, especially in the U.S.
Salifu said Muslims have the constitutional right to build the mosque, and it is unfair to blame an entire religion for the actions of a few.
"I know we have bad guys in Islam, which we admit, just as there are some in Judaism and some in Christianity," Salifu said. "The unacceptable behavior of some should not hold us ransom."
The option of moving the mosque to another location is irrelevant, Salifu said, because there should be no restrictions on building the mosque at that location.
He added, "There were practicing Muslims who were killed, and there were Muslim police and firefighters who saved lives," Salifu said. "So to say it is disrespectful - it's a non sequitur."
But Salifu said the Islamic Center of Athens, located in the middle of OU's East Green, at 13 Stewart St., is respected in the Athens community. (The Muslim Students Association manages the building.)
"We receive a lot of support from all the non-Muslim organizations. From what I know, I think we have good support from all the religious organizations," Salifu stated.
United Campus Ministry (UCM) at OU organized a silent candlelight vigil in front of the Athens County Courthouse to commemorate 9/11. It was the second year for the vigil, which took place on College Green last year and drew about 40 to 50 people, said Melissa Wales, program director of UCM. This year's location was chosen because it provides "more visibility," Wales said.
The solidarity seen at the silent candlelight vigil is exactly what UCM represents. (The formal name for the organization is UCM: Center for Spiritual Growth and Social Justice.)
"In this time of a lot of conflict and division, it's a group to connect people of different religious and cultural backgrounds," Wales said.
Evan Young, spiritual director of UCM, wrote via e-mail that the organization invites people of all faiths to participate in its programs. UCM has collaborated with the Islamic Center and Muslim Students Association for religious services, youth programs, interfaith potlucks, joint service projects, and service trips.
"Most (but not all) of the students involved at UCM are from a Christian background, but we've also had Baha'is, Unitarian Universalists, pagans, humanists, atheists, Buddhists, Jews, and probably others that I don't know about," Young said. "See - interfaith community is possible!"
Freshman Emily Feck, who lives in Jefferson Hall, which is a few hundreds yards from the center, said she was unaware of the Islamic Center of Athens and that, in general, many people seem wary of Muslims.
"I think people are still really suspicious, and I think the whole mosque near Ground Zero is kind of ridiculous," Peck said. "It's a slap in the face."
A recent Associated Press story, however, states that the proposed location is more than two blocks from the northern edge of the site, and a few more blocks from where the North Tower stood.
Freshman Elizabeth Scheidler did not know about the OU Islamic Center either and was unaware of the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero, but said that the location seemed to be a poor choice for any religious establishment.
OU students as a whole appeared uninformed about the proposed community center site and knew few, if any, Muslims on campus.
"I don't really know any Muslims here, but I know there are some because there's the Islamic Center," said junior Adrienne Roark.
Beyond simply a disconnect between Muslims and non-Muslims, Wales maintained that intolerance of Muslims does exist on OU's campus.
"I've gotten the sense that there's somewhat of a chilly climate," Wales said. "I think there are instances on campus that, while they (Muslims) are not receiving direct threats, I think they do not want to be visible and draw attention."
But Muslims are not the only religious minority experiencing intolerance, she said.
"Anti-Semitism is just as much a problem as Islamophobia," Wales said, citing swastika graffiti around the Athens area.
She also pointed out that religious extremists are not limited to the Muslim faith.
"You find radical elements in all religious institutions," she said, citing the pastor in Gainesville, Fla., who triggered worldwide unrest when he proposed that Qurans be burned on the 9/11 anniversary. (He did not follow through, however.)
In the United States in general, the Republican Party has been accused of stirring up resentment against Muslims, with many prominent Republicans demanding that the proposed Muslim community center near Ground Zero be moved to a more respectful location.
The general public seems to agree. A poll released last Thursday by Washington Post-ABC News found that two-thirds of respondents objected to the Muslim complex being built in Lower Manhattan near Ground Zero.
In related news, on the OU Campus over the weekend, the university's College Republicans held a vigil on College Green, from 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, through the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 11. In the press release on the vigil, the group stated, "All are invited to come pay tribute and remember those who lost their lives and to honor the families of those individuals as well as all of the emergency response teams who worked tirelessly through our country's time of great need."
The event, which involved the planting of hundreds of small American flags on front of Memorial Auditorium's West Portico, did not appear to have an anti-Muslim focus.
Also in Campus NEWS:
For most, the journey to Nine Fest seemed worth itFamed photojournalist grandpa? Hey, now there's an app for thatNine Festers enjoy the sun and music, without the mudA-bomb survivor keynotes OU’s International WeekTop Fox to speak at universityScholarship fund in works for late OU alum, war photographerStudent indicted for kicking cop in Palmer Street home during festPanelists give two cents on medical pot legalizationOak and Mill fests mellow down easyStudent Senate hopefuls debate
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Wow, you get dizzy easily.
Why did you feel the need to mention the Republican party. and what was the purpose of adding "did not appear to have an anti-Muslim focus" to the last paragraph. Are you blind to your own bias?
On my second point, if you ended an article by saying "Sally Smoe was present at the event, and did not appear to be anti-semitic" do you think that would be appropriate?
The reader might ask themselves, is Sally anti-semitic? If not, why would they say that? You, on the other hand, could defend the paper by saying you just reported the news, and nothing you said was factually untrue.
Do you think Sally would feel she was treated fairly?
We did the story as a local angle on a national story, the Islamic community center at Ground Zero. GOP leaders have been among the most outspoken against the so-called mosque, so that was just part of creating a context for the local story (along with noting that public opinion also thinks it should be moved).
As far as the last paragraph is concerned, we wanted to include the College Republicans club's 9/11 vigil as a "related" local development at the end, but wanted to explicitly separate what they were doing from our earlier mention of the national party's opposition to the Islamic center at Ground Zero. If we didn't say that, then some readers might have tried to draw a connection. We even discussed whether this would be perceived the way you're looking at it, but decided it was more important to make it clear that the local vigil had little or nothing to do with the New York protests. In other words, the connection was 9/11, not the protests.
You probably won't believe it, but that's really how we reasoned this out. This was all done right at deadline, and granted, we probably could have done it more elegantly. But bottom line, we didn’t want to inaccurately frame what the college kids were doing, by leaving any unspoken implication that they were protesting Islam. TS
OK, I don't agree with what you printed, but I understand your explanation.
Any plans to do an article on the issue of liberal hypocrisy over their reaction to the two separate afronts to another group's sensibilities? I'm just sayin...