Earlier this week, I mentioned that I had managed to score a coup - Sharif el Gamal, the lead developer of the Park51 project (also known, inaccurately, as the Ground Zero Mosque) agreed to do an interview with me over email. I took this quite seriously and in the interest of answering the critiques against the project (which I earlier took a strong stand in favor of, something that the rest of the muslim-American community has still hesitated to do), wrote rather pointed and aggressive questions, and even solicited some conservative critics to help me craft them.
The result is quite clear - a superb discussion of the quintessentially American and New Yorker ethos behind this project, one that affirms the American identity of muslim Americans in precisely the way I've been trying to do for years with words at my blog.
Take a look at the answers and I think you will be really impressed. It certainly gave me newfound courage in facing down the haters and reaffirming my support.
The interview questions themselves are reprinted below. As you will see, I pulled no punches. That makes the actual answers all the more remarkable. Kudos to Sharif el Gamal for being so forthright and willing to engage in such detail!
- How will you use this center to promote good citizenship and American values? What are the specific American values you seek to promote?
- Why must the project necessarily include a mosque? Wouldn't a general prayer area, which could be reserved in advance by any religious group, be more appropriate and compatible with the community-centric interfaith mission of the project?
- Some of Imam Feisal's past statements [1,2] have been used by critics to undermine the project's credibility. Can Imam Feisal clarify his views on terrorism to reassure New Yorkers he understands the moral weight of the tragedy of 9-11?
- What are Imam Feisal's specific roles and responsibilities in the project? If he is not in a leadership/executive position, then who is really "in charge" and making the decisions?
- Will you pledge make all funding sources fully transparent? What are your criteria for accepting funding from a foreign source, to assuage concerns about extremist influences?
- Why was the site's proximity to Ground Zero considered a "selling point" [3] ? What other locations in lower Manhattan, if any, were considered that could serve the same purpose?
- Do you concede there are genuine, valid concerns about this project which are not derived from Islamophobia or racism? What do you think those concerns are and how would you respond to them?
- How do you respond to a recent Quinnipiac poll [4] showing a majority (52%) of New Yorkers actively oppose the project? What would you say to the 17% undecided New Yorkers to try and persuade them?
- How do you make the case for supporting Park 51 to the local muslim American community? Doesn't Park 51 undermine support for (and even actively harm) more pragmatic mosque projects in Sheepshead Bay and Staten Island?
- The controversy has alienated many Americans and New Yorkers who are tolerant of Islam per se but viscerally react to the project with offense. In hindsight, what could you have done differently to avoid this reaction?