Abe Foxman's Failure

When you run an organization dedicated to correcting stereotypes and fighting bigotry and prejudice like Abe Foxman and the Anti-Defamation League does to stop anti-Semitism (which is a clearly heroic goal), you lose all credibility when you then start tarring other people's religions.

The ADL has come out against the "ground zero mosque" and as a result, CNN anchor and Newsweek contributor Fareed Zakaria has returned a 2005 award he received from the ADL along with $10,000.  It's Fortman's response to Zakaria that removes any doubt about how the ADL feels about Islam.  Unfortunately, it removed any credibility they had too.  Greg Sargent:

In renouncing ADL's award, Zakaria wrote that the decision to oppose the Islamic center is "utterly opposed to the animating purpose of your organization," adding: "Your own statements subsequently, asserting that we must honor the feelings of victims even if irrational or bigoted, made matters worse."

To which Foxman responded, in part:

I hope you have read our statement on the proposed Islamic Center at Ground Zero and, more importantly, understand our position. We did not oppose the right for an Islamic Center or a mosque to be built. What we did was to make an appeal based solely on the issues of location and sensitivity. If the stated goal was to advance reconciliation and understanding, we believe taking into consideration the feelings of many victims and their families, of first responders and many New Yorkers, who are not bigots but still feel the pain of 9/11, would go a long way to achieving that reconciliation.

ADL has and will continue to stand up for Muslims and others where they are targets of racism and bigotry, as we have done at the request of and on behalf of Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf.

The "stated" goal, eh? Translation: The best way the builders of the Islamic center can show they're seeking reconciliation, as they claim to be doing, is to move.

This goes considerably further than ADL's initial statement, which didn't question the motives behind the center. In other words, this is no longer just about the feelings of those still wounded by 9/11, as ADL initially claimed.

It's terribly unfortunate.  I'm not sure if Foxman is trapped here or feels he has no choice but to oppose Cordoba House, but for an organization dedicated to fight religious intolerance, this seems...intolerant, yes?

Greg's take:

But look, many of those who are insinuating that the Islamic center isn't really about promoting reconciliation are targeting Muslims with bigotry. These folks are the ones who are going beyond saying this is just about respecting 9/11 victims. You've probably seen people calling this the "victory mosque," and so on. Those good people are actively trying to associate all Muslims with the 9/11 attackers. Seems to me ADL is coming perilously close to effectively siding with the bigots here.

Exactly.   But Foxman's not the only one who has failed at his mission.  The Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles -- which has recently opened the Museum of Tolerance in NYC -- has also come out against Cordoba House.

The group behind the recently opened "Museum of Tolerance" museum in Manhattan has come out against a planned Islamic community center, which includes a mosque, near Ground Zero.

"Religious freedom does not mean being insensitive...or an idiot," Rabbi Meyer May, the Wiesenthal Center's executive director, told Crain's New York.

"Religion is supposed to be beautiful," he said. "Why create pain in the name of religion?"

It's a topic he knows something about. The Wiesenthal Center caused an uproar in for building one of its Museums of Tolerance on top of an old Muslim burial ground in Jerusalem. 

And if that idiocy doesn't put this whole thing to bed, the other location where 9/11 victims were killed at the Pentagon has had a mosque in the building for years now specifically because it wanted to remind the United States Military that Muslim soldiers are above all American soldiers and deserve the rights to their religious practices like Christians and Jews do.  It's nice to allow our soldiers the freedoms these same soldiers risk their lives to protect, yes?

Oh, and Rep. Anthony Weiner?  Punted.  Which is better than being an asshole.