Muslim Mother of 9/11 Victim Asserts Islamic Center a Matter of Religious Freedom

Interview with Talat Hamdani, mother of 9/11 victim and member of 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, conducted by Scott Harris

During the sometimes ugly debate about the proposed location of an Islamic community center two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, family members of 9/11 victims have often been quoted as expressing opposition to the project. Many have said that the location at an abandoned Burlington Coat Factory building opens up old wounds, is too close to hallowed ground or just plain hurtful.

Arguments which counter that another mosque has been located for years just four blocks from the World Trade Center site fail to change the minds of many 9/11 family members who are still grieving for loved ones lost. But the mother of one 9/11 victim has a very different perspective from the majority of family members quoted in the media. Talat Hamdani's son Salman, a New York City Police cadet and Emergency Medical Technician, was killed on Sept. 11 when he went to the burning twin towers to assist in rescuing victims of the attack. When Talat did not hear from her son in the days after 9/11, she was told that as a Muslim, he may have been arrested by the FBI as a terrorist suspect. The New York Post newspaper in a sensational headline proclaimed that Salman was either "Missing or Hiding."

The unfounded accusations of her son's complicity with terrorism compounded the mother's grief when Talat was informed six months after the attack that Salman's remains were located under the World Trade Center rubble. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Talat, an active member of the group 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, who responds to those protesting the building of an Islamic center near the site where her son died as he attempted rescue victims of the attack.

Contact 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows at (212) 598-0970 (212) 598-0970 or visit their website at www.peacefultomorrows.org
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