“What the citizens of the U.S. fail to understand is that the battle against the 9/11 terrorists is not their battle. It is a Muslim battle.”

That is a quote in a very interesting editorial by Abd Al-Rahman Al-Rashed, Al-Arabiya TV’s director-general.  Translated from the indispensible Memri, he discusses the issues around the GZM and its worth reading the whole thing.  I was tempted to do another “here’s another anti-muslim bigot opposed to the mosque” type of thing, but most people capable of grasping that point have already grasped it and I think the material is best presented more straightforwardly.

A lot of the analysis is strange.  First, he makes the mistake of thinking Obama endorsed creating it, but hell, he wouldn’t be the first.  And also contra the people who claim that this controversy is spreading hate, he says that building the GZM “is unnecessary and unimportant, even for the Muslims. This mosque is not an issue for Muslims, and they do not care about its construction.”

But, to be blunt, by the end of the article, I got the feeling he was talking about how he felt, and mistakenly assuming the rest of the Muslim world feels the way he does.  But that is just opinion, and given that it is his job to understand the Muslim community, maybe I would be wrong to second guess him.  He then says something else that, if true, would drain the air out of liberals’ tires on another issue:

This reminds us of another principled stance that Obama took when he insisted that suspected Al-Qaeda members incarcerated in Guantanamo be tried in civilian [rather than military] courts, and that the [Guantanamo] military prison be closed down. This stance [also] is certainly a worthy one. However, the fact is that [Obama] fought a battle that does not concern Muslims across the world, because tens of thousands of Muslims, likewise accused of extremism, are imprisoned in [even] worse conditions in the Muslim countries.

Then he gets to the mosque on substance:

I can't imagine that Muslims [actually] want a mosque at this particular location, because it will become an arena for the promoters of hatred, and a monument to those who committed the crime. Moreover, there are no practicing Muslims in the area who need a place to worship, because it is a commercial district. Is there anyone who is [really] eager [to build] this mosque?...

He is making an interesting point.  While I vociferously defend opponents of the GZM from cheap assertions of bigotry, or lamer yet, racism (which is itself often a racist statment), the fact is there are people who hate all Muslims, period, however peaceful and decent.  I mean I haven’t looked into Klan attitudes recently, but I am going to go out on a limb and bet they hate all Muslims, want to ban all mosques and so on.  And you can bet they are using this in their recruiting attempts.  Of course I suspect the average klan chapter is so small that if they recruited two members they could claim 200% growth, but there is no up side to klan growth however small.  So valid and interesting points.

And then things get weird:

Those pushing to build this mosque may be construction companies, architect firms, or political groups who want to exploit this issue. The individual who submitted the building application – I do not know whether he [really] wants [to build] a mosque that will promote reconciliation, or whether he is [just] an investor looking for quick profits. Because the idea of a mosque right next to a site of destruction is not at all an intelligent one. The last thing Muslims want today is to build a religious center that provokes others, or a symbolic mosque that people will visit as a [kind of] museum next to a cemetery.

Um, okay.  So he thinks this is a conspiracy of the building industry, maybe?  No, not quite getting it, but its not quite of the level of nuttiness of claiming the Joooos are really behind it.

But nonetheless, he ends strong:

What the citizens of the U.S. fail to understand is that the battle against the 9/11 terrorists is not their battle. It is a Muslim battle – one whose flames are still raging in more than 20 Muslim countries... I do not think that the majority of Muslims want to build a monument or a place of worship that tomorrow may become a source of pride for the terrorists and their Muslim followers, nor do they want a mosque that will become a shrine for the haters of Islam.”

That point about the fight being against al Qaeda being a Muslim one, is not quite right, but he isn’t crazy to say it.  As I noted recently, al Qaeda largely kills other Muslims.  But we don’t have to be exclusionary about it.  It is both of our fight.  And its one we have to win, or we will be dragged back into the dark ages all over again.

Anyway, no, this is not an endorsement of all he said, obviously, but it was, well, interesting, right?