9/11: Day of Sadness, Day of Rage

The world looks at America nine years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Political rabble-rousers and a coincidence on the calendar make this Saturday potentially explosive.

In the years since the attacks in 2001, Sept. 11 had been a day on which the nation came together in silent meditation and radiated an aura of unity. Now, nine years later, the atmosphere surrounding that day has changed. Activists exploit it nationwide for political provocation — often with xenophobic and anti-Muslim overtones. One day before the anniversary, the United States faces bitter divisions rather than a day of inward meditation.

At ground zero, the site where the World Trade Center once stood, a demonstration is scheduled to take place to protest the planned construction of an Islamic center. Geert Wilders, the Dutch conservative populist and Islam critic, has announced he will take part in the demonstration. In addition, former Gov. Sarah Palin and television talk show host Glenn Beck, figureheads of America’s conservatives, plan to use this day of memorial for their own rally.

The day of remembrance for 3,000 victims has also been completely overshadowed by a global discussion of plans by a fundamentalist pastor and his tiny congregation in Florida to publicly burn Korans that same day. It took a personal telephone call from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to get Pastor Terry Jones to drop his plan. The pastor’s vague warnings about the growing dominance of Islam in the United States reflect a growing fear that is generally becoming more and more accepted by the American public.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations said, “The level of anti-Muslim hysteria has gotten out of control over this manufactured controversy.” The head of the Islamic Society of North America, Ingrid Mattson commented, “I have heard many Muslim Americans say they have never felt this anxious or this insecure in America since directly after Sept. 11.”

The politicization of this day had heretofore been considered taboo. However, growing dissatisfaction with President Obama, persistent unemployment figures and insecurity in general has fueled the polarization. The atmosphere nourishes defensive reflexes that mainly target Muslims.

An action alliance called “Stop the Islamization of America” has also called for a demonstration on 9/11 near ground zero. The controversy surrounding the planned Islamic center is dividing America. In addition to Geert Wilders, leading Republican and ex-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, also plans to speak at the rally. Gingrich likened the Islamic center at that location to putting a swastika on a Holocaust museum.

And busy-as-a-bee former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and ultra-conservative television talk show host Glenn Beck also plan to put their political brand on that day of memorial. They have invited people to a rally in Palin’s home state of Alaska on 9/11 that Palin hopes will be full of patriots who will “never forget” what happened to America on Sept. 11. With their aggressive rhetoric against the Obama administration, both count among the most polarizing activists in the United States.

The 9/11 memorial day is also made more complicated by the fact that the Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, falls on the same day this year. Many American Muslims fear that celebrating the breaking of the fast will be misinterpreted as a festival honoring the 9/11 assassins. In many American communities, the celebrations have already been cancelled.