Open letter to the Anti-Defamation League. August 27, 2010
I am writing regarding the NYC Islamic Community center which has _wrongly_ been called the "Ground Zero Mosque." The ADL must change it's position and stand up to the bigotry and ignorance. ADL must stand FOR the right of Muslims to have their community center regardless if it has a prayer room or not. The poem from World War II "first they came for the trade unionists, but I was not a ..." comes the mind. It is an exceptionally dangerous precedent to allow ANY constriction on the construction of a site of worship because of religion and location. This inane attempt to "protect" the former World trade center could open up the flood gates for religious persecution OF ALL RELIGIONS! Even Christians would be at risk. What would stop ANY PERSON protesting ANY establishment because of a religious connection. What if a book store get's death threats just because the owner has a room where the Wiccan religion is discussed, or a jewish restaurant that gives some of it's space after hours for youth groups to discuss the torah, or a Christian church that gets protested by anti-alchohol zealots because it allows AA to meet in the basement.
We have freedom of religion of the country. PERIOD! As Jews we MUST stand with our fellow human beings for their freedom, ESPECIALLY religous freedom! The ridiculous stand the ADL has taken where THIS TIME it's OK to discriminate is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY WRONG. Shame on you! Six million people didn't die so that we can turn a blind eye to hate! Your decision is the slippery slope. It can become a murderous maelstrom down which 6 million jews, 2 million gypsies, countless homosexuals, catholics and impaired people lost their lives! This slope was greased with the anti-Semitism, yes, hatred of gays, yes, anger at WWI, true, but the real murder weapon was Apathy!
Apathy of the good people in Germany and Poland who knew the camps existed but did nothing. Apathy of the German people who allowed the NAZI machine to heard impaired individuals to their deaths under the guise of "correcting" the gene pool. Apathy from voters who decided that Hitler would bring prosperity and order and that his anti-jewish, anti-freedom and maniacal ways couldn't be too bad. Apathy from the US and other European governments who refused to bomb the tracks to Auswithz and Buchenwald during the war. The Apathy of all countries at the end of WW I who stood by while Germany was saddled with War debt which sent Germany into a twenty year depression and worse, into the claws of the NAZIS. It was apathy of the french who accepted when the military officer Dryfus was expelled from the army mainly because of his jewish heritage setting the tone of anti-semitism for the 20th century.
Bigotry, anti-semitistm, these are just henchmen. Apathy is the true killer.
Good people must stand for what is right regardless of public opinion and regardless of risk. "If you can keep your head while all others around you are losing theirs..." ADL, keep your head!
ADL. As a jew, as an American and as a member of the human race I demand that you do the just thing. Retract your weak decision. Show us that you can lead and lead ALL people.
Support the building of the NYC Islamic center. Do so with words, actions and money. Hold fund raisers, push politicians to grow spines and counter-protest the protesters. Put the word out and we, the jewish people, your finacnial and political supporters will come to your aid.
Do nothing, keep your stance that It's ok "this once" to discriminate and you will lose, freedom will lose, innocent muslims who are Americans will lose, the country will lose and you might just bring all of us down with you.
Josh Weisbuch
