Our rally today is for those who were murdered nine years ago today — murdered in the name of a religion and a book whose followers now plan to place a victory mosque at the site of the murders.
And make no mistake, it will be seen as a victory mosque in the Islamic world. There are thousands of historical precedents — victory mosques all over Muslim countries, built on the cherished sites of conquered peoples. But there are no mosques of reconciliation built on the site of earlier jihad attacks in order to reach out in friendship to those who were attacked. None.
Yet we are to believe that this mosque, and this mosque alone, will be understood as the latter by the great majority of Muslims worldwide.
And that is not the only thing that strains credulity. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is an open proponent of Sharia and restrictions on the freedom of speech; he refused to denounce Hamas; and he has been highly disingenuous about his funding and about whether his mega-structure would contain a mosque at all. Yet we are to believe he is an warm-hearted moderate with nothing but good intentions.
We have had enough of being lied to. And we have had enough also of our dead being disrespected, and of the prospect of a monument to their deaths being built where they were killed. We have had enough of the media smearing everyone who opposes this mosque as hateful — running interference for a hateful ideology that would deny equality of rights to women and non-Muslims, and eradicate the freedom of speech and freedom of conscience.
Again: William Jennings Bryan said it in 1896 in a vastly different context, but every word applies today:
We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conquest; we are fighting in the defence of our homes, our families, and posterity. We have petitioned, and our petitions have been scorned; we have entreated, and our entreaties have been disregarded; we have begged, and they have mocked when our calamity came. We beg no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them!
We beg no more. We entreat no more. We petition no more. We defy them. We are not the aggressors. We are not haters. We are not racists. We are not bigots. We are not neofascists. Those who claim otherwise are knowingly or unknowingly abetting a monstrous evil.
We defy them. Peacefully, lawfully, and with unshakable resolvem, we defy them. And we stand for freedom today.
Join us at 3PM today at Park Place and West Broadway, right by Ground Zero.
The confirmed list of speakers includes 9/11 family members; former U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton (video message); the Dutch Parliamentarian and freedom fighter Geert Wilders; journalist Andrew Breitbart (video message); war hero and North Carolina Congressional candidate Ilario Pantano; nationally syndicated conservative radio host Mike Gallagher; Nelly Braginskaya, 911 family member; Muslim Iranian activist Sahand Khoshbaten; Coptic Christian activist Joseph Nassralla; Lisa Vincent, widow of author and journalist Steven Vincent, who was killed in Iraq; Narain Kataria, President of the Indian-American Intellectuals Forum; Sudanese ex-slave and human rights activist Simon Deng; Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, which has filed suit to stop the Ground Zero mega-mosque; Dan Weber, founder of the Association of Mature American Citizens; James Lafferty, VAST; Professor Richard Connerney of Pace University (Pace lost 4 students and 43 alumni); Darla Dawald, National Director of ResistNet.com; Satya Dosapati of Hindu Human Rights Watch; and Pamela Hall, NY Leader, SIOA.
The rally will begin with a brief memorial service for the victims of the 9/11 attacks, featuring prayers offered by a rabbi, a minister and a priest for the families of the victims and for the nation.
Playing Taps is Tom Butterfield. He is a descendant of General Daniel Butterfield, who wrote “Taps” during the Civil War.
The acclaimed vocalist Sarah Lee Michaels will sing the National Anthem.
Please bring flags and remember the solemn nature of the day. And be on your guard: the media, the Left and the Islamic supremacists will be doing all they can to try to discredit our cause by seizing on some incident or inflammatory sign and making it the focal point. Don’t be a pawn in their game. Remember why we are there, and what we are defending, and show the world which side really stands for decency, justice, and human dignity.