My name is Donald Smith. I was killed on 9/11 at what you call Ground Zero. I find is astonishing, absolutely astonishing, that none of you out there has consulted with me, or with any of my fellow victims, about the proposed mosque and Muslim community center at Ground Zero.
You now call this sacred ground. Well, if it is sacred ground, it is only because of me and my fellow 2,755 victims. It is not sacred because of anything that happened to you, or that you made happen. So, please, a little humility here. A little humility when you talk about how youre going to memorialize Ground Zero.
Absolutely everybody and his cousin has an opinion about this. President Obama. Daniel Libeskin. Mayor Bloomberg. The Cordoba Initiative. The Port Authority. Every talking head. Imams. Evangelicals. Every editorial writer in the land. You name him, you name her they have an opinion. But me, Donald Smith, cut down in the prime of my life, and for nothing! Why dont they ask me? Just because I can no longer speak on my own volition does that mean I don’t have an opinion, and, I dare say, a lot more credibility on this than any of the multitudes of pontificators out there.
So, this is my opinion:
Let me rest in peace. Dont make a statement out of me. I do not want to be a poster child for the First Amendment, for the Anti-Defamation League, for moderate Islam, for zoning laws, for one religion or another, for an architectural award, for Democrats, for Republicans, for business as usual, for moving on with our national life, or for wallowing in the past. Ido not want to be a proof for anything like this or for anything or anyone else.
I just want to lay still, in peace, undisturbed. Believe me, I suffered enough already youll never know. And Im glad youll never know. Take it from me. All these plans and statements and debates and attacks and defenses of this or the other project for Ground Zero weary the soul. And the soul is the only thing I have left.
Please, let it rest in peace.
Copyright © 2010 by the Intermountain Jewish News
