NEW YORK: As I sit in my home in lower Manhattan writing, my husband and children are at the boys' school celebrating the International Day of Peace, as they do every year. It's a moving ceremony, which never fails to bring a certain mist to the parental eyes, despite their belonging to cynical New Yorkers. The adults sit with their children in a circle, and each child and parent shares something that makes them feel peaceful. The event is always the same week as the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly just up the road, and fills one with optimism that perhaps we really can all just get along. A similar sentiment was on display a day earlier, when Muslim leaders joined together to hold a press conference a few blocks from my downtown home, just outside the site of the proposed Islamic center, Park51. They were there to present a unified front in support of the controversial project. But there was a notable reminder that we are still far from living together in harmony: the absence of Imam Faisal Rauf. Imam Rauf could not attend the ceremony because he feared for his safety. News reports since then have revealed that he has been receiving threats and is now under police protection. Park51 has shown that there is plenty of ignorance and intolerance in America. Having said that, I've traveled to and lived in many different countries around the world, and I have yet to find one devoid of those traits. While much of what has been said and done in reaction to the proposed community center has sickened me, the firestorm surrounding it has also helped remind me that this is truly a remarkable country. Much of the media coverage on the topic has focused on the negative, and understandably so. But what the world's press often loses sight of is that, under the same circumstances, there would have been the same kind of knee-jerk reaction in almost any other country. What I have found heartening here are the people who have risen to defend Park51's right to exist. Out of this debacle a few unlikely heroes have emerged. Perhaps the most surprising for me was New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. I have never been a huge fan of his; my indifference to him was replaced with outright disappointment when he failed to back up the principal of a proposed Arabic-language school after she came under attack by many of the same players working to scuttle Park51's plans. She was ultimately forced to resign. When the furor arose around Park51, I expected Bloomberg to take the side of those saying that the feelings of the families who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks should be respected. I was surprised and heartened when, instead, he came down on the side of the constitutional rights of those behind the mosque. Over time, I have come to admire the mayor for his forceful and even heartfelt commitment to those rights—despite continuing to disagree with him on other matters. Many other surprising exemplars of principle have emerged by showing fortitude, conviction and dedication to the First Amendment, which guarantees, among other things, free speech and the freedom to practice one's religion. At the same time, others of whom I expected more—such as Senate Majority leader Harry Reid–have pandered pathetically to public opinion. But all that is what makes this country special. The guarantee of personal freedoms and, specifically, of free speech, means that the top man in the Senate could publicly oppose the President of the United Sates and the leader of his own political party. More saliently, it means that people who may not personally agree with something, who might even oppose it, recognize that their feelings and opinions must be subjugated to the greater ideals that live at the heart of this country. I can think of many, many countries in the world –Egypt being one of them– where people would oppose a minority religion building a place of worship on a site of emotional significance. I have a hard time thinking of another where public figures would find it in them to overcome their own feelings, defy voices of dissent and rally to support the rights of a minority. As shameful as the behavior of a handful of individuals has been on the matter of Park51, at the end of the day this country's ideals were upheld and the project was approved. That is something of which Americans should be proud. BM
