Osama bin Laden is Laughing at Us: The Counterproductivity of American Islamophobia and How We Can Begin to Stop It

by Elizabeth Dovell

This is exactly what they wanted: to change and disrupt America’s way of life. The terror attacks perpetrated on 9/11/01 continue to influence our lives today; not just the memory of that horrific day, but the fear that has been instilled in the American public since the attacks. It is a continuation of their terrorism- to spread doubt, fear, uncertainty. In some respects, the enemy has already won- not just against “white America,” but against Muslim-Americans as well. The American Muslim- frankly, all Muslims not party to terror networks (believe it or not, they’re out there, folks)- is just as much or as little of a threat as your Judeo-Christian neighbor. Judge people based on character, not religion. While religion may indeed shape one’s life, it does not dictate action. Sure, there are plenty of Muslims in the United States who are criminals. There are also plenty of Christians, Jews, etc. who have broken the law and are menaces to society. We are making a serious mistake when we judge people solely on their religion. It’s not just bigoted, it’s irresponsible.
So why have we betrayed the Muslim community in this country? Is it because they are not as “American” as we are? Would we dare say such a thing about African-Americans or Asian-Americans? I myself am only a third-generation American...on one side. My maternal great-grandparents fled the pogroms of Russia and the Ukraine, and my father, born and raised in the United Kingdom, only became a United States citizen five years ago. So, really, how “American” am I? How “American” are the rest of us? That is precisely why the “it’s just not American” argument with regards to the Islamic community center at Park Place upsets and frustrates me. Why is it not American? The last time I checked, the United States was not a theocracy. Unlike states such as Saudi Arabia, we have no official state religion. Unofficially, Christianity is the established religion in this country, purely for majority’s sake. We are a melting pot nation- and I, for one, am proud of that.
I recently saw a post written by a friend of a friend on a social networking site. The user said, with regards to the Islamic community center, that this was America, and what did we need a mosque for anyway? Well, my friend. Would you dare say “this is America, what do we need synagogues for anyway?” If so, you would have been slammed as an anti-Semite. Nowadays, in many parts of this country, a statement like that is met with fervent nods of agreement.
In a recent New York Times Op-Ed piece, Nicholas Kristof quoted a Newsweek article concerning the turmoil caused by Park51: “Newsweek quoted a Taliban operative, Zabihullah, about opposition to the mosque near ground zero: ‘By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor. It’s providing us with more recruits, donations and popular support.’ Mr. Zabihullah added, ‘The more mosques you stop, the more jihadis we will get.’”
I think the ultimate triumph over the enemy would be to allow the community center at Park Place. Sure, it would take some convincing, some getting used to. Even better, the community center should emphasize the fact that multiple religions are welcome. Of course, the prayer room on the top floor should still be constructed, perhaps along with a nondenominational prayer room as well. Think about it: a place of peace, reconciliation, and cultural understanding located quite near the place we were attacked in order to break our morale, our spirit, and create chaos and strife? It may not solve the problem of Islamophobia in this country, but it's a pretty good step in the right direction.