By Mark Bashore, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-984844.mp3
East Lansing, MI –
How would you describe current relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in the United States? PBS NewsHour asked that question across the country. You can see the video responses -- or upload your OWN answer -- at Video Quilt - America Remembers 9/11.
This is the second in a five-part series looking at the impact the September 11th attacks have had in Michigan ten years later. "9/11: Mid-Michigan Remembers" focuses on personal accounts from that day, our sense of security and the partnerships that have grown in mid-Michigan since then.
The attacks knocked every community in America on its heels, including Greater Lansing. In the aftermath, leaders of area faith groups relied on a tradition of bridging ethnic and religious differences to relieve tensions between local Muslims and non-Muslims. Today, these leaders say that same tradition enables the community to respond constructively to events that still threaten to disrupt relations between the groups.
As the horrors of September 11th fade further into memory, the once ubiquitous question -- "Where were you on 9/11?" -- is hardly uttered any more. But on this anniversary, to remember is unavoidable.
"I was at home and I got a friend of mine calling me at 9 a.m. saying, 'Have you seen what happened?'" recalls Dr. Mahmoud Mousa, president of The Islamic Center of East Lansing.
"I'm not used to having the TV on in the early morning. I said, 'What happened?' He said, 'The World Trade Center has been hit by two airplanes.'
"I almost collapsed, because I knew the first thing that would happen would be Muslim names would come and our whole community would be persecuted along with that," says Mousa.
As anxious as the days following 9/11 were, faith leaders say Lansing and East Lansing enjoyed an advantage. Rabbi Michael Zimmerman, leader of the Lansing Jewish congregation Kehillat Israel, points to a history of ethnic diversity, particularly in East Lansing.
"There's a sizable Muslim community," explains Zimmerman. "It's an academic community, which I assume makes for a certain level of tolerance and understanding. Having the state, the university and GM [here] contributes to more of an open quality."
Zimmerman and others say this tradition had already established warm connections between area Muslims and non-Muslims.
But recent disruptions threaten that sense of peace. In the fall of 2010, a man left a defaced Quran at the Islamic Center. The incident coincided with threats by the controversial Florida preacher Terry Jones to burn Qurans in Florida. Pastor Kit Carlson of East Lansing's All Saints Episcopal Church recalls the response of a colleague, who said, "We shouldn't be burning it, we should be reading it."
That suggestion from Chaplain Sara Midzalkowzki of the Episcopal Ministry of Michigan State University led to a public group reading of the Muslim holy book.
"It was a beautiful experience," she recalls. "There were Muslims, Christians, Jews, atheists, all sorts of people here, and toward the end of the evening, a Muslim family from Ohio came in. They had driven all the way from Ohio to be part of that night."
Shereif Fadly grew up in Lansing and is a devout Muslim. Fadly's seen and participated in a long list of projects, many aimed at weaving Muslims and non-Muslims more tightly into the community's fabric.
"Interfaith meetings, cultural meetings, diversity meetings, the Islamic Center held open houses," Fadly says. "And then working on projects together, anything from Habitat for Humanity. I know that Muslim youth has worked diligently on working with shelters. I don't know if you heard about the Mayors' dinner."
That would be the fifth annual Mayors' Ramadan Unity Dinner, a joint project organized by the cities of Lansing and East Lansing. The gathering is a chance for hundreds of Muslims and non-Muslims to break bread and commemorate Islam's holy month.
All of these players say that in the post 9/11 world, they've learned how to respond to extreme acts in ways that actually reinforce tolerance.
That interplay will be apparent tomorrow evening [Wednesday, 9/7/11]. That's when the Reverend Terry Jones and his supporters will rally on the lawn of the state capitol. Interfaith organizers will hold a counter-rally at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. They're calling their event "Love Wins."
How would you describe current relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in the United States? PBS NewsHour asked that question across the country. You can see the video responses -- or upload your OWN answer -- at Video Quilt - America Remembers 9/11.