Many headlines have focused of late on the plans to build an Islamic Center in Manhattan, New York City several blocks away from the site of the World Trade Center where the September 11 attacks took place in 2001. The site has actually been used for Muslim worship for more than a year; the new building will expand it to house a community center and prayer room.
 Bigots demonstrate against mosque. |
Some of the worst, most bigoted anti-Muslim rhetoric has been heard since the days following the September 11 attacks. Opponents argue that the Islamic Center’s proposed location disrespects the lives lost on September 11, or even more ridiculously, that it will be a terrorist “command center” or “safehouse.”
In fact, the protests to stop the construction of the community center have nothing to do with the tragic events of September 11, and nothing to do with location. Take one look at the signs the protesters carry and the effigies of Arab and Muslim peoples, and it is clear: this campaign is driven by anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Arab racism. Although Islam is a religion with hundreds of millions of adherents worldwide—of various nationalities and ethnic background—it would be short-sighted to view the wave of anti-Muslim rhetoric as merely an attack on religion.
This was shown vividly on Aug. 22, when a large anti-mosque protest surrounded and verbally assaulted a Black man, reportedly a carpenter who works at Ground Zero, wearing what may have been interpreted as a skull-cap as he happened to walk by. The man was not Muslim, but because they thought he might be, he became the subject of the racist mob’s wrath. Police had to escort him away for his own safety.
The furor against the “mosque” (in reality, a community center) is not about location. If that were so, why would there be similar protests taking place against new mosques in other parts of the country? In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, opponents of a planned Islamic center have called it a “training ground for Muslims” “that will be used to attack us” and that every mosque is “a symbol for Muslims that they’ve conquered America.” Arsonists set fire to the mosque on Aug. 28, and Muslims going to inspect the damage reportedly heard gunshots.
In Temecula, California—very far away from Ground Zero—Tea Party activists have protested the building of a local mosque. Despite the small size of their protests, they received mainstream media attention. Protesters called for people to bring dogs to a protest outside of Friday prayers because they claim that Muslims hate dogs.
Why now?
Mosques have existed in the United States for generations. New York City alone is home to 600,000 Muslims. There are over 1,000 mosques from New York to Tennessee to California including an actual mosque—not a community center—just four blocks away from Ground Zero. So the question must be asked, why are Muslims being subjected to such a high degree of hostility and bigotry at this time?
The current rise in Islamaphobia is not simply propelled by a fringe group of conservatives who hate Muslims. The trend is politically driven by the capitalist system of war and militarism. Anti-Muslim bigotry is stirred up to justify an imperialist foreign policy that is carrying out wars against countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, countries whose populations are mostly Muslim. In addition, at a time of economic crisis, politicians look for any excuse to distract voters from the country’s real problems, and so they turn anger towards the most vulnerable sectors of society.
Mainstream politicians routinely spew racist hate against Arab, South Asians and Muslims on local and national news. ”Leaders” like Sarah Palin lead the way in calling on New Yorkers to “refudiate” the Islamic center. Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, said that the Islamic center is “an assertion of Islamist triumphalism,” part of “an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization.”
The Democrats and Obama himself are not much better. When speaking before a Muslim audience at a Ramadan Iftar event, Obama said that the mosque had a right to be built according to the law but then backed down the next day by saying he was not commenting “on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there.” Head Senate Democrat Harry Reid agreed with Palin and Gingrich and came out strongly against the mosque, as did Democrat washout Howard Dean.
New York billionaire Mayor Bloomberg and Democratic Governor David Paterson do not oppose the building of the mosque but requested that it be relocated further away. Moving the Islamic Center would only further validate the rampant Islamaphobia that is currently being promoted.
Anti-Muslim attacks
 The anti-Muslim climate has already resulted in hate crimes. Above, Ahmed Sharif, a New York City taxi driver, shows his wounds days after being attacked by a racist passenger. |
The level of Islamaphobia now circulating in society is creating an increasing hostile environment for Muslims. Just this week, a New York City man asked Ahmed Sharif, a taxi driver, if he was Muslim. When Ahmed Sharif said yes, the man pulled out a knife and slashed Sharif’s face, throat and arms with the knife while the cab driver yelled, “Please don’t kill me. I’m a very hard worker. I work very hard.”
Some may wonder why Marxists would defend any religion. As Marxists, we analyze every social phenomenon, including religion, in its particular context. We view the world through the lens of dialectical materialism. We believe that society and people function the way that they do because of their social conditions and the reality of things around them.
Lenin noted that religion is deeply rooted in capitalism and he advocated, like Marx and Engels, for a strict separation of church and state. We agree. However, no leading Marxist, including Marx, Engels or Lenin believed that religion should be outlawed or even shunned under socialism. After the socialist revolution in Cuba, no restrictions were placed on any religion unless it was being used to stage counterrevolutinary activities.
In the case of the struggle over the building of mosques, we are not guided predominantly by our views on religion and its role in class society. Instead, we recognize that such debates are steeped in racism. And as such, we have to fight against racism and for the oppressed.
Capitalism breeds racism. Racism does not flow naturally or inevitably from human nature. It is created and promoted by the capitalist class to divide workers and super-exploit them. Throughout U.S. history, white workers have been pitted against Black workers, non-immigrants against immigrants, straight against gay workers. The debate about the so-called ground zero mosque is no different. The promotion of anti-Muslim bigotry within government and the media only serves to pit non-Muslims against workers who are Muslim.
For the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which aims to build class-wide unity, there is no more important task than to stand up to bigotry, and stand together with our brothers and sisters in the Muslim community who are under attack.
The PSL will be participating in an emergency counter-protest on Sept. 11 to oppose a planned Tea Party rally at Ground Zero.
