In the wake of reports regarding a mosque to be built at Ground Zero, the American Center for Law and Justice is imploring American citizens via their website to sign an online petition against the mosque’s construction. The cover of the website indicates that 46,729 people and counting have already signed this petition, supporting the ACLJ’s belief that the plans to build a mosque at Ground Zero are both “troubling and deeply offensive.” Their website indicates that the organization is taking the issue to court in order to prevent the Islamic place of worship from being built.
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| Protesters against the Ground Zero mosque |
The American Center for Law and Justice asserts, “We are deeply disturbed by the decision to build an Islamic mosque at Ground Zero—the sacred site where Islamic terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center and claimed the lives of thousands of innocent Americans.” The website provides alleged information regarding the investor that is financially backing the project, who has “reported ties to terrorism” and was “one of the key financiers of the Gaza-bound flotilla that recently carried terrorists determined to attack Israel!” The Center concludes their cover page of the website with a question that aims to make the debate clear: “As radical Islam continues its bold and deadly march to erase freedom from the face of the earth—we must determine who we will honor: America’s fallen 9/11 victims or the terrorists who attacked them?”
It is clear from this message on their website that the ACLJ is performing ideological work in order to frame their opposing stance on the controversial debate for the construction of a mosque at Ground Zero. By polarizing the debate—either you’re honoring the 9/11 victims or supporting terrorism—they are creating a binary that forces people to oppose the construction of the mosque, lest they be considered a terrorist. The message from the ACLJ seems to be applying essentialist notions to the Islamic community as a whole by inextricably linking Islam with terrorism. While it is true that the attacks on 9/11 were the result of radical believers of the Islamic faith, does that then make all Islamic people terrorists? It seems that they are also invoking ideas of American patriotism in order to enlist petitioners. The juxtaposition of the “Islamic terrorists” who “destroyed the World Trade Center” and the “thousands of innocent Americans” who died on 9/11 seem to present not just the terrorists, but also the Islamic community as a whole, as holding radical viewpoints that are the opposite of American beliefs and values.
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| Mosque in NYC |
I would argue that the message conveyed on the ACLJ’s website demonstrates a covert form of racism whereby they are denying the Islamic community the right to build a mosque for allegedly honorable reasons regarding the sensitive issue of 9/11. In addition, the ACLJ seems to be relying on racial essentialism in order to make their ideological work most effective, as they are inadvertently holding the entire Islamic community responsible for a tragic event that resulted from only a few radical people. The message seems to imply that all those who practice Islam are inherently capable of atrocities such as the terrorist attacks on 9/11, or at the very least that they are not qualified to honor the American victims. The website refers to Ground Zero as a “sacred site” and we can infer from what the website does not say that a mosque being built there would potentially desecrate the memory of all those who died. But what about those Arab-Americans who have lived all their lives here and also lost family and friends on that tragic day? Do they not deserve the right to pray for their loved ones the same way everyone else does? The racial formation of Arabs as terrorists is clearly present in this cover page, as the denial for the construction of the mosque at Ground Zero inherently suggests that the entire Islamic community should be punished and ostracized for the work of a few radical individuals.
Sources:
https://www.aclj.org/Petition/Default.aspx?sc=3612&ac=1&r=gzmg&s=google&gclid=CKCSnMC35aUCFUVqKgodRVLt3Q
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