In a posting on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) web site under civil rights, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a statement on the planned Islamic Community Center at 45-51 Park Place, New York City.  Beginning in June 2010, opponents have sought to block efforts to expand their facility at 45-51 Park Place.

In its July 28, 2010 statement, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) joins those who oppose the development of the planned Islamic Community Center.  While ADL states that is supports freedom of religion, the ADL states “this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right.”  The ADL statement concludes: “In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain – unnecessarily – and that is not right.”

As Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has pointed out Muslims have held prayer services at the 45-51 Park Place location since December 2009.  45 Park Place is a good two blocks away from “Ground Zero,” or as one person has calculated about 600 feet (that’s roughly about two American football fields).  In the dense concrete jungle of New York City, two blocks might as well be a mile away in terms of visibility.

Individuals and groups may have a rainbow of subjective opinions about what is “right” or “wrong,” which they are entitled to have.  But America as a nation, and for the human beings around the world, ensuring justice and fair treatment for all is not based primarily on our subjective opinions on what we like and what we don’t like, but on our objective guarantees for freedoms for all Americans and all human beings.

America’s Constitution provides objective guarantees for our freedom of religion under the 1st Amendment, which were freedoms defended by America’s founding fathers long before the passage of the Bill of Rights.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created after the horror of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, was a unified message to say “Never Again” by seeking to objectively defend everyone’s right to freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:  “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) mandate is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike.”  Without supporting our universal human rights, there cannot be justice and fair treatment to anyone, anywhere.  To those in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Tennessee, who seek to gain legitimacy for protests against mosques by flying the Israeli flag or claiming their protests are based on their views on Israel, they do not represent American Jews, but they represent simply those who seek to deny human rights to others.

There have been many American Jews, including NYC Mayor Bloomberg who understand the importance of defending our objective guarantees of our Constitutional and human rights, for all people.

The Associated Press reported on the astonishment by many American Jews and Jewish groups on the ADL statement, reporting “Its position on the mosque was met with shock and condemnation by several groups. Jeremy Ben-Ami, head of J Street, the dovish, pro-Israel group, said he would hope ADL would be at the forefront in defending the freedom of a religious minority, ‘rather than casting aspersions on its funders and giving in to the fear-mongerers.'”

On July 30, 2010, the Jewish activist group J Street’s President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued the following press release:

— “The principle at stake in the Cordoba House controversy goes to the heart of American democracy and the value we place on freedom of religion. Should one religious group in this country be treated differently than another? We believe the answer is no.”
— “As Mayor Bloomberg has said, proposing a church or a synagogue for that site would raise no questions. The Muslim community has an equal right to build a community center wherever it is legal to do so. We would hope the American Jewish community would be at the forefront of standing up for the freedom and equality of a religious minority looking to exercise its legal rights in the United States, rather than casting aspersions on its funders and giving in to the fear-mongerers and pandering politicians urging it to relocate.”
— “What better ammunition to feed the Osama bin Ladens of the world and their claim of anti-Muslim bias in the United States as they seek to whip up global jihad than to hold this proposal for a Muslim religious center to a different and tougher standard than other religious institutions would be.”

The AP also stated that the “Rev. Welton Gaddy, head of the Interfaith Alliance, a Washington advocacy group, said he read the ADL statement ‘with a great deal of sorrow.’  ‘As an organization that for nearly 100 years has helped set the standard for fighting defamation and securing justice and fair treatment for all, it is disappointing to see the ADL arrived at this conclusion,” Gaddy said.”

The growing coast-to-coast, anti-mosque, anti-Islam campaign in America must be defied organizations and individuals that are willing to stand up consistently for our universal human rights.  On July 30, 2010, in Temecula, California, protesters against a mosque there showed up with a dog and signs such “No more mosques in America” to harass worshipers during the Muslim Friday worship services.

There are other international groups that recognize this anti-mosque campaign in America as a human rights disgrace, including those who have been victims of attacks by radical extremists.

A year after a mob of 20,000 came to burn down Christian homes and churches in Gojra, Pakistan, and weeks after Pakistan Christians were gunned down on courthouse steps for apocyrphal “blasphemy” charges, The Pakistan Christian Post published “‘Mosque’ ado about nothing. by Parvez Ahmed,” which condemns the NYC mosque protests.  In India, Hindus have suffered for many, many decades of endless terrorist attacks, including the Mumbai terrorist attacks that left the city in flames. However, on July 29, The Hindu published ‘Refudiate’ Palin’s bigotry, condemning the protests against mosques in America, stating “Opposition to the project remains strong and vocal, fueled by a mix of prejudice, paranoia, and misinformation… It would be a great pity if the most liberal-minded of American cities joins the list of places that suffer from Islamophobia.”

For a human rights groups, it is always a question of defending our human rights, including the objective, universal human right for “everyone” of freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship.

Those who consistently support our universal human rights don’t support calls to block the construction of any house of worship, of any faith, anywhere.

Our universal human rights and American Constitutional freedoms are not just for those we like or who are like us.  We stand with NYC Mayor Bloomberg, we stand with J Street, we stand with interfaith groups, we stand with Hindu groups, we stand with Christian groups, and we stand with all those Americans and our brothers and sisters in humanity with the courage to consistently support our universal human rights for all people.

We urge all to be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.