Pam Geller was the organizer for the
anti-Cordoba House Park51 community center in New York City as the
property owners
intend
to
include
a prayer room with the structure. Geller and many other
right-wingers protested that the "mosque" was "at Ground Zero."
Actually, it'll be two blocks away and let's be clear, two blocks in
New York City is a pretty fair distance. The planned community center
is by no means going to be a "looming presence" as, say, a Disney
attraction at the Gettysburg battlefield would be.
Geller came to speak at Temple University on Thursday, the 7th of
October. Folks might remember that this is the second time that Temple
has invited a speaker who was openly hostile to Islam. The first was
Geert
Wilders just about a year ago.
A buddy of mine got inside and told me that there were about 70
audience members. The 10 security people inside didn't have much to do.
He stated that Robert Spencer was a very smooth, practiced and
on-the-ball speaker. Ms. Geller? Not so much. He found their case
against an aggressive Islam trying to conduct jihad against America to
be a pretty unconvincing one. They were unable to show that
anti-American sentiment was widespread among Muslims or that al Qaeda
represents any sort of serious movement among Muslims.
Crowd chanting (Flash video)
Head of Temple University Socialist's organization makes the point that
Temple does not provide pro-Islamic speakers to counter the
anti-Islamic speakers.
From
Fight
Back
News:
The wave of Islamophobia being stirred
up against the proposed Islamic Center at Park51 in Lower Manhattan and
Islamic institutions and people around the country has poisoned our
nation’s climate. We feel we cannot remain silent and surrender the
streets of New York City to the forces of hate and bigotry on this day.
We must offer an antidote to this poison.
Student from the National Lawyer's Guild tells us how important it is
to fight Islamphobia.
More chanting (Flash video)
Thankfully:
Jewish groups have stepped up efforts
to combat anti-Muslim bigotry, with several national initiatives
announced this week and supporting statements coming in from a range of
Jewish voices.
In Washington, officials from several Jewish organizations took part
Tuesday in an emergency summit of Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders
that denounced anti-Muslim bigotry and called for a united effort by
believers of all faiths to reach out to Muslim Americans.
There were several members from
Delaware Valley Veterans for
America and from
Philly
Against War present at the rally. We (Your reporter is a member of
both)
recently took part in the
Break
the
Siege
of Gaza fundraiser to take part in the launching of the
good ship
Audacity of Hope.
Update:
Your author puttering around with his camera. Buddy from DelValVets
Bill Perry put this and a
whole group of other photos on his Facebook page.