9/11 Koran book burning condemned

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned plans by the Florida pastor Terry Jones to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks – calling it a “disgraceful, disrespectful act”.

A spokesman for the State Department said the plans were “un-American” – and military leaders from General Petraeus downwards have warned it’s likely to put the lives of US troops at risk.

Last night leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths held an ’emergency summit’ in Washington DC – to unite against what they called the “derision, misinformation and outright bigotry” that’s been aimed at American Muslims – sparked by the move to build an Islamic community centre, part of which will be used as a mosque, a few streets from Ground Zero in New York.

Feisal Abdul Rauf – the imam behind the plans – wrote in yesterday’s New York Times of his shock at how “inflamed and emotional” the issue had become. He insisted the community centre would go ahead – saying it was intended to cultivate understanding among all faiths.

At last night’s meeting the former Catholic archbishop of Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick warned that “America was not built on hate” – while evangelical reverend Richard Cizik said: “To those who would exercise derision, bigotry, open rejection of our fellow Americans of a different faith, I say, shame on you.”

Around a dozen religious leaders went on to meet the Attorney General Eric Holder – to discuss how to work together in the week leading up to the 11 September anniversary. Rabbi David Saperstein, from the Religious Action Centre of Reform Judaism said the administration should be more vocal against Islamophobia: “There is a need for more vigorous action by the government”, he said.

And there was criticism for conservative politicians who’ve inflamed the issue: “We have a moral obligation to stand together”, they said.

The Rev Terry Jones isn’t the only pastor to be ramping up the anti-Islam rhetoric.

There’s the TV evangelist Bill Keller – who’s vowed to build his own Christian centre near the site of the proposed Ground Zero mosque. And now a Baptist preacher in Dallas – Pastor Robert Jeffress – has defended a sermon he gave last month where he claimed “the deep, dark, dirty secret of Islam: it is a religion that promotes paedophilia – sex with children.”

Jeffress is well known for his extreme statements – and he’s been roundly denounced by local politicians and media. But he’s unrepentant.

What’s more worrying is the extent to which this kind of sentiment is echoed across America. In a recent poll – some 18 per cent of people think President Obama is a Muslim – with even more believing he supports the views of radical Islam.

And in this key mid-term election season, it’s all becoming a highly political issue too.

And while many Democrats have spoken out against the surge in anti-Muslim sentiment, that’s not been the case with many prominent Republicans. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has compared Muslims to Nazis: he’s accused those behind the Ground Zero mosque of being Islamic supremacists, and in a radio interview last week he said, “we should think of the World Trade Centre as a battlefield site: this is a war.”

The Washington Examiner has compiled a whole list of Republicans who’ve voiced anti-Muslim opinions – including Congressman Tom Tancredo who’s described terrorist acts carried out by Muslims as a “dictate of their religion”; two House representatives who’ve accused Muslim interns in Congress of being ‘spies’; and Tennessee’s Lt-Gov Ron Ramsey who claimed “you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion or is it a nationality, a way of life or a cult, whatever you want to call it.”

One of the few contrasting voices on the right – New York mayor Michael Bloomberg: he’s delivered an eloquent defence of the Ground Zero mosque.

Asked about Pastor Jones and his Koran burning plans, though, he cited first amendment rights saying: “In a strange way, I’m here to defend his right to do that. I happen to think it is distasteful. I don’t think he would like it if somebody burned a book that in his religion he thinks is holy.”

But the atmosphere is growing ever more ugly and in the run up to 11 September there are fears that in this avowedly tolerant nation, the anniversary could provide a focal point for those bent on fostering bigotry and hate. As a headline in this week’s New York Times put it: American Muslims ask – will we ever belong?