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The Taliban vs. the Mosque
The Taliban vs. the Mosque
Chris Hondros / Getty Images
Protestors rally against a proposed Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero.
Taliban officials know it’s sacrilegious to hope a mosque will not be built, but that’s exactly what they’re wishing for: the success of the fiery campaign to block the proposed Islamic cultural center and prayer room near the site of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. “By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor,” Taliban operative Zabihullah tells NEWSWEEK. (Like many Afghans, he uses a single name.) “It’s providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support.”
America’s enemies in Afghanistan are delighted by the vehement public opposition to the proposed “Ground Zero mosque.” The backlash against the project has drawn the heaviest e-mail response ever on jihadi Web sites, Zabihullah claims—far bigger even than France’s ban on burqas earlier this year. (That was big, he recalls: “We received many e-mails asking for advice on how Muslims should react to the hijab ban, and how they can punish France.”) This time the target is America itself. “We are getting even more messages of support and solidarity on the mosque issue and questions about how to fight back against this outrage.”
Zabihullah also claims that the issue is such a propaganda windfall—so tailor-made to show how “anti-Islamic” America is—that it now heads the list of talking points in Taliban meetings with fighters, villagers, and potential recruits. “We talk about how America tortures with waterboarding, about the cruel confinement of Muslims in wire cages in Guantánamo, about the killing of innocent women and children in air attacks—and now America gives us another gift with its street protests to prevent a mosque from being built in New York,” Zabihullah says. “Showing reality always makes the best propaganda.”
Taliban officials say they’re looking forward to a new wave of terrorist trainees from the West like this year’s Times Square car bomber. “I expect we will soon be receiving more American Muslims like Faisal Shahzad who are looking for help in how to express their rage,” says a Taliban official who was a senior minister when the group ruled Afghanistan and who remains active in the insurgency. As an indication of the anger that is growing among some Muslims in the West, this official, who requested anonymity for security reasons, mentions the arrest of three Canadian Muslims in Ontario last week on charges of plotting to build and detonate improvised explosive devices. (A fourth individual was arrested in Ottawa last Friday in connection with the case.) The Ground Zero furor will likely add to that anger. “The more mosques you stop, the more jihadis we will get,” Zabihullah predicts.
Chris Hondros / Getty Images
Protestors rally against a proposed Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero.
Taliban officials know it’s sacrilegious to hope a mosque will not be built, but that’s exactly what they’re wishing for: the success of the fiery campaign to block the proposed Islamic cultural center and prayer room near the site of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan. “By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor,” Taliban operative Zabihullah tells NEWSWEEK. (Like many Afghans, he uses a single name.) “It’s providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support.”
America’s enemies in Afghanistan are delighted by the vehement public opposition to the proposed “Ground Zero mosque.” The backlash against the project has drawn the heaviest e-mail response ever on jihadi Web sites, Zabihullah claims—far bigger even than France’s ban on burqas earlier this year. (That was big, he recalls: “We received many e-mails asking for advice on how Muslims should react to the hijab ban, and how they can punish France.”) This time the target is America itself. “We are getting even more messages of support and solidarity on the mosque issue and questions about how to fight back against this outrage.”
Zabihullah also claims that the issue is such a propaganda windfall—so tailor-made to show how “anti-Islamic” America is—that it now heads the list of talking points in Taliban meetings with fighters, villagers, and potential recruits. “We talk about how America tortures with waterboarding, about the cruel confinement of Muslims in wire cages in Guantánamo, about the killing of innocent women and children in air attacks—and now America gives us another gift with its street protests to prevent a mosque from being built in New York,” Zabihullah says. “Showing reality always makes the best propaganda.”
Taliban officials say they’re looking forward to a new wave of terrorist trainees from the West like this year’s Times Square car bomber. “I expect we will soon be receiving more American Muslims like Faisal Shahzad who are looking for help in how to express their rage,” says a Taliban official who was a senior minister when the group ruled Afghanistan and who remains active in the insurgency. As an indication of the anger that is growing among some Muslims in the West, this official, who requested anonymity for security reasons, mentions the arrest of three Canadian Muslims in Ontario last week on charges of plotting to build and detonate improvised explosive devices. (A fourth individual was arrested in Ottawa last Friday in connection with the case.) The Ground Zero furor will likely add to that anger. “The more mosques you stop, the more jihadis we will get,” Zabihullah predicts.
I think we the people need to be speaking to them? I am afraid you are right on.
Playing right into their hands...if that Q'aran burning happens in 2 weeks, it will be even worse.
This is the one that touched me....
U.S. Muslims launch ad to fight 'fear-mongering'By the CNN Wire StaffAugust 30, 2010 11:01 a.m. EDT
Plans to build a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan near ground zero have set off a fierce debate.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A new group plans to release a commercial in response to the New York controversy
The spot includes a wide variety of speakers talking about Islam and themselves
The group behind the commercial officially launches it on Monday
Washington (CNN) -- A doctor. A cop. A little girl. A Phillies fan.
They're all Muslims. And, they emphasize in a new online commercial set to begin appearing this week, they're all Americans.
"I don't want to take over this country," the dozen-plus speakers say in the public service announcement. "I don't support terrorism."
The online video is an effort to fight back against "the rising tide of fear-mongering" resulting from plans to build a Muslim community center in lower Manhattan in New York, the group behind it said.
The project, called Park51, has come to be known as the "ground zero mosque," although it is two blocks from the site of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Its supporters say it will include many other facilities in addition to a space for prayer.
The group behind the new commercial, "My Faith My Voice," describes itself as a "grass-roots effort by American Muslims from across the country," and says it has "no affiliation to any one organization or school of thought."
They currently have no money to put the ad on television but hope to raise funds to do so, they said at a news conference Monday.
A one-minute version posted on YouTube includes white, black and Asian speakers, young and old, in clothes ranging from hipster casual to Middle Eastern, with police and doctors' uniforms among them. Most of the commercial is in English, but it also includes a woman speaking Spanish.
CNN's Eric Marrapodi contributed to this report.
U.S. Muslims launch ad to fight 'fear-mongering'By the CNN Wire StaffAugust 30, 2010 11:01 a.m. EDT
Plans to build a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan near ground zero have set off a fierce debate.STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A new group plans to release a commercial in response to the New York controversy
The spot includes a wide variety of speakers talking about Islam and themselves
The group behind the commercial officially launches it on Monday
Washington (CNN) -- A doctor. A cop. A little girl. A Phillies fan.
They're all Muslims. And, they emphasize in a new online commercial set to begin appearing this week, they're all Americans.
"I don't want to take over this country," the dozen-plus speakers say in the public service announcement. "I don't support terrorism."
The online video is an effort to fight back against "the rising tide of fear-mongering" resulting from plans to build a Muslim community center in lower Manhattan in New York, the group behind it said.
The project, called Park51, has come to be known as the "ground zero mosque," although it is two blocks from the site of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Its supporters say it will include many other facilities in addition to a space for prayer.
The group behind the new commercial, "My Faith My Voice," describes itself as a "grass-roots effort by American Muslims from across the country," and says it has "no affiliation to any one organization or school of thought."
They currently have no money to put the ad on television but hope to raise funds to do so, they said at a news conference Monday.
A one-minute version posted on YouTube includes white, black and Asian speakers, young and old, in clothes ranging from hipster casual to Middle Eastern, with police and doctors' uniforms among them. Most of the commercial is in English, but it also includes a woman speaking Spanish.
CNN's Eric Marrapodi contributed to this report.
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