[chottala.com] Racially-motivated hatred in NY - "Ground Zero Mosque" protest

"Ground Zero Mosque" protest ends up, predictably, with racially-motivated hatred

Don't call these patriots bigots just because they harassed some Egyptian men for looking like Muslims

By Alex Pareene

AP/Swoan Parker

People in New York protest the proposed construction of a mosque near the World Trade Center site on Sunday, June 6.

There was a protest yesterday, attended by various wingnuts, racists, riled-up nativists, and terrified fools, of the supposed "Ground Zero mosque." (It will not be at Ground Zero, and it will actually be a community center that will include a mosque. But still.)

While national conservatives have picked up the ball, what local opposition there is to the proposed community center has been ginned up by Rupert Murdoch's New York Post -- mainly via perpetually outraged columnist Andrea Peyser, whose anti-mosque columns are regularly teased on the front page.

The entire anti-mosque campaign isn't about anything other than pure, paranoid Islamophobia. A Peyser column a few weeks ago was entirely about people in Sheepshead Bay -- some miles from Ground Zero -- protesting a proposed mosque solely because they're scared of Muslims.

Anyway, they had their protest yesterday. Mike Kelly of the Bergen (New Jersey) Record reported this heartwarming incident:

At one point, a portion of the crowd menacingly surrounded two Egyptian men who were speaking Arabic and were thought to be Muslims.

"Go home," several shouted from the crowd.

"Get out," others shouted.

In fact, the two men – Joseph Nassralla and Karam El Masry — were not Muslims at all. They turned out to be Egyptian Coptic Christians who work for a California-based Christian satellite TV station called "The Way." Both said they had come to protest the mosque.

"I'm a Christian," Nassralla shouted to the crowd, his eyes bulging and beads of sweat rolling down his face.

But it was no use. The protesters had become so angry at what they thought were Muslims that New York City police officers had to rush in and pull Nassralla and El Masry to safety.

"I flew nine hours in an airplane to come here," a frustrated Nassralla said afterward.

But don't you dare call these people bigots!

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/06/07/ground_zero_mosque_hate

Morons At A Ground Zero Mosque Protest | NewsReal Blog

Jun 9, 2010 ... The whole idea of having a mosque at Ground Zero is an abomination. It's nothing less than an attempt by radical Muslims to celebrate the ...
www.newsrealblog.com/.../morons-at-a-ground-zero-mosque-protest/ - Cached

 Ground Zero Mosque Protest

Ground Zero Mosque Protest 1 min - Jun 6, 2010 Uploaded by patriotUSA2007 www.youtube.com

9/11 Firefighter Tim Brown Discusses Protest ... 4 min - Jun 6,

 

 

__._,_.___

[* Moderator's Note - CHOTTALA is a non-profit, non-religious, non-political and non-discriminatory organization.

* Disclaimer: Any posting to the CHOTTALA are the opinion of the author. Authors of the messages to the CHOTTALA are responsible for the accuracy of their information and the conformance of their material with applicable copyright and other laws. Many people will read your post, and it will be archived for a very long time. The act of posting to the CHOTTALA indicates the subscriber's agreement to accept the adjudications of the moderator]

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___