The national conversation on the Park 51 Islamic Community Center has taken a turn for the worst. Fear, ignorance, prejudice, Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism have reared their ugly heads and meaningful conversation is no where to be found. Where do people turn to put the Park 51 controversy into context?

Jack Shaheen is the author of the groundbreaking work “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People,” and the author of “Guilty: Hollywood’s Verdict on Arabs after 9/11,” the winner of the 2009 Forward Magazine social sciences book of the year. He is a professor emeritus of Mass Communication at Southern Illinois University and a winner of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s “Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Shaheen has been following the recent developments on Park 51 and I caught up with him to see what he had to say.

With the growing anti-Islam fervor that has been ratcheting up as a result of people trying to stop a “Ground Zero Mosque” from being built, I wanted to address the people who are trying to confront those who are making this country more dangerous and who are endangering this country’s national security by writing a recruiting script for right wing fundamentalists or Islamists.

A majority of New Yorkers may object to the proposed cultural center and mosque, but that doesn’t mean they’re right.

For a lot of reasons it makes all the sense in the world to start a movement now to Ban Glenn Beck from Ground Zero. I hope you’ll join me. So, if you see him anywhere around there, tell him to “Get! Get!”

Highlight videos, partial transcripts, and the full, unedited 40-minute interview with Professor Marc Gopin, the Director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.

The issue of the Park51 community center is about more than just this one religious affiliated building. It would be one thing if it were just at this one place, where there is some heartfelt if misguided feelings about the site of a national tragedy a few blocks away. Sadly this is just the most visible of fights about the construction of Islamic religious buildings, whether they be mosques (which in the Islamic faith must be reserved for prayer alone) or community centers there is a push nation wide to prevent them from being built. Take a look at what they are saying in Temecula CA or in Tennessee.

“Originally posted at Squarestate.net“

Gov. Dean has taken a lot of heat from the Left for his idea that there can be come kind of dialog with the families of the 9/11 victims who object to the Park51 community center. He is making a stand on ideals, though not the ideals that many of us would like. It is a good idea to reach out and find common ground, but we can not do so with those who want it all their own way. This is exactly the same kind of situation the Democrats in Congress find themselves in. They want to find common ground with Congressional Republicans, but the Republicans insist on it being all there own way or nothing. There is no way to compromises with those who won’t bend.

We just received the worst economic news of the year, all the Mainstream media can talk about is a mosque and Dr. Laura?

No wonder Americans hate the mainstream media. They are as fickle as cats. Let’s just call them the CatMedia from now on. Ω

If September 11th brought out the best of Americans, the last several weeks have brought out the worst. As an American Muslim, I feel like I have been on the receiving end of a bipartisan smackdown of sorts amidst the uproar over the proposed construction of the Cordoba House Islamic community center in Downtown Manhattan.

Thursday, August 19th, 2010. Eggs recalled across the country, Palin defends Dr. Laura, Roy Blunt’s Ground Zero and troops pull out of Iraq.

Howard Dean, who once stood for some decent principles, tells us that those who want to build a Muslim center in New York City should be looking for a “compromise” that would place the center somewhere that didn’t cause a controversy. So long, Howard.