Tariq Ramadan on Islamic Center
“Tariq Ramadan says [the Ground Zero Islamic Center] should be built elsewhere. He debates Mustafa Bayoumi, an associate professor at Brooklyn College.”
“My position,” says Ramadan, “is that in this situation, where we are struggling with something which is now built—is instrumentalized by, you know, political forces in the state and trying just to make it a symbol, I would say that the Muslims should think about, you know, the overall picture of their struggle for their rights and respect in the country. So, in my position, if this is a symbol—and we have to listen to this collective sensitivity of the Americans after what happened in September the 11th—is to say, look, on that, we can understand.”