Muslims in the US are nervous about
celebrating Eid this year as the festival coincides with the 9/11
anniversary that too amid a controversy over plans to build a mosque
near ground zero.
A worried US commander in
Afghanistan has criticised a Florida church’s plan to mark the
anniversary of Sep 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington by burning copies of the Quran, and warned that the
demonstration “could cause significant problems” for American troops
overseas.
“It could endanger troops and it could
endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan,” Gen. David Petraeus said
in a statement issued Monday.
The Dove World Outreach Centre in
Gainesville, Florida, insists the Quran burning event is “neither an
act of love nor of hate”, but a warning against what it calls the
threats posed by Islam.
With about 120,000 US and NATO-led
troops still battling Al Qaeda and its allies in the Islamic
fundamentalist Taliban movement, Petraeus warned that burning Qurans
“is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause
significant problems – not just here, but everywhere in the world we
are engaged with the Islamic community”.
Several religious organisations have
joined with US Muslim groups to oppose the Quran-burning. The National
Association of Evangelicals is urging the Florida church to cancel the
event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two
religions.
Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Hindu
leaders in Gainesville have organised a “Gathering for Peace,
Understanding and Hope” the night before the scheduled Quran burning.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim Hooper, national
communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR), told CNN: “Most Muslim communities will be reluctant to have
something that’s perceived to be celebratory on 9/11 even though we’re
not celebrating 9/11.”
“There’s a whole cottage industry of
Muslim bashers now who would seize on that,” he said. “Unfortunately,
these are the times we live in.”
With many American Muslims already
feeling intense scrutiny over the controversy surrounding a proposed
Islamic centre and mosque near New York’s ground zero, many mosques and
Islamic groups are dramatically altering their usual plans for Eid
ul-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, CNN said.
The Islamic Centre of Murfreesboro,
Tennessee, which made national headlines after the site of its future
mosque was vandalised last month, has decided against scheduling any
festivities for Saturday.
“It’s a sad day for us as Americans and
it’s a sad day for us a nation and we don’t feel it would be right to
celebrate on the anniversary of 9/11,” Abdou Kattih, vice president of
the centre’s board of directors, was cited as saying by CNN.
In lieu of celebrations, many mosques
are planning open houses next weekend in the hope of strengthening ties
to their communities, according to Naeem Baig, vice president for
public affairs at the Islamic Circle of North America.
A coalition of influential Muslim groups
has announced a national day of service for Sep11, aimed largely at
burnishing the image of American Muslims at a sensitive time.
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Afghan protesters step on a U.S. flag during a demonstration against
the United States, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Sept. 6, 2010.
Hundreds of Afghans railed against the U.S. and called for President
Barack Obama’s death at a rally in the capital Monday to denounce an
American church’s plans to burn the Islamic holy book on 9/11.
