Constitutional Law

Quran-burning on again, off again

By By The Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? As thousands of Afghans protested a tiny Florida church's plan to burn the Quran, the church's pastor said he wouldn't follow through with the burning if he were able to meet tomorrow with the organizers behind a mosque planned near ground zero in New York.

In Afghanistan, at least 11 people were injured today in protests against the planned burning.

Speaking to NBC's "Today" show, the Rev. Terry Jones said if he met with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf in New York, he wouldn't burn copies of the Muslim holy book. It wasn't clear if he meant the burning would be halted indefinitely or just for tomorrow.

Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, told CBS' "The Early Show" he had a commitment for Jones and himself to meet in New York with Rauf there.

However, Rauf later said he had no plans for such a meeting, even as he seemed to leave the door open for one.

"I am prepared to consider meeting with anyone who is seriously committed to pursuing peace," Rauf said in a prepared statement. "We have no such meeting planned at this time. Our plans for the community center have not changed. With the solemn day of September 11 upon us, I encourage everyone to take time for prayer and reflection."

City officials in Gainesville said today that no matter what Jones said he would do, they planned to stick with their plan to increase security in response to the event.

Earlier, Jones and Musri had disagreed sharply on the terms of their agreement.

Jones said yesterday he would call off the planned burning of Qurans because of a deal negotiated with Musri that the location of a mosque planned near ground zero would be changed. But Musri said he was clear when he told Jones that he could only set up a meeting with planners of the New York City mosque. Jones responded by suggesting that he would go forward with his plan tomorrow after all.

"We are just really shocked," Jones said of Musri. "He clearly, clearly lied to us."

FBI agents visited Jones yesterday as public safety became a paramount concern. The agents spent about a half hour talking with him, but church spokesman Wayne Sapp would not disclose what they discussed. Agents leaving the church wouldn't talk to an Associated Press reporter. Jones said earlier this week that agents have visited him twice since he announced his plans in July, the last visit about two weeks ago.

For U.S. political leaders and Muslims around the world who have been outraged by Jones' activities, the on-again, off-again threat bred even more frustration.

Cleric Rusli Hasbi told 1,000 worshippers attending prayers this morning in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, that whether or not he burns the Quran, Jones had already "hurt the heart of the Muslim world."

"If he'd gone through with it, it would have been tantamount to war," the cleric said in the coastal town of Lhokseumawe. "A war that would have rallied Muslims all over the world."

Muslims consider the book the sacred word of God and insist it be treated with the utmost respect.

In Afghanistan, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops are in harm's way, President Hamid Karzai said, "The holy book is implanted in the hearts and minds of all the Muslims. Humiliation of the holy book represents the humiliation of our people. I hope that this decision will be stopped and should never have been considered."

Previously, Jones had not invoked the mosque controversy as a reason for his planned protest at his Dove World Outreach Center. Instead, he cited his belief that the Quran is evil because it espouses something other than biblical truth and incites radical, violent behavior among Muslims.

Opponents of the New York City mosque argue it is insensitive to families and memories of Sept. 11 victims to build a mosque so close to where Islamic extremists flew planes into the World Trade Center and killed nearly 2,800 people. Proponents say the project reflects religious freedom and diversity and that hatred of Muslims is fueling the opposition.

President Barack Obama urged Jones to listen to "those better angels," saying that besides endangering lives, it would give Islamic terrorists a recruiting tool. Defense Secretary Robert Gates took the extraordinary step of calling Jones personally. He briefly spoke to the pastor before his first announcement to call it off. Gates expressed "his grave concern that going forward with this Quran burning would put the lives of our forces at risk, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said.

Outside London's Central Mosque across from Regent's Park, worshippers interviewed about the threatened Quran-burning seemed more upset by the news coverage of it than the threat itself.

Medhat Singab, a 47-year-old Egyptian-born Briton, said the news media were making a circus of "a church with 30 followers and an idiot."

"They can go on burning the Quran," he said, "It's not going to destroy Islam."

Jamal Ali, 17, said he was talking about the issue with his friends on his way to the mosque. The Sudanese-born student said he thought rowdy protests weren't the right reaction.

Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said the intent to burn copies of the Quran is Jones' "expression of hatred of Islam" but called on Muslims to restrain their reactions and not offend Christians in any way.

"This disgraceful act contradicts the very duties of religious and spiritual leadership to enhance the value of peaceful coexistence and safeguard the rights and mutual respect among religions," al-Sistani said in a statement posted on his website today.

News of the possible cancellation also was welcomed by Jones' neighbors in Gainesville, a city of 125,000 anchored by the sprawling University of Florida campus. At least two dozen Christian churches, Jewish temples and Muslim organizations in the city had mobilized to plan inclusive events, including Quran readings at services, as a counterpoint to Jones' protest.

Jones said at the news conference that he prayed about the decision and concluded that if the mosque were moved, it would be a sign from God to call off the Quran-burning.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on September 09, 2010 (boomark / email).