Your hating-muslims update for Friday 18 Shaban 1431.

First, the Temecula, CA anti-masjid protest seems to have fizzled: only about 20 protesters and one dog, far outnumbered by counter-protesters. I link many local stories because they all have different snappy quotes. 1, 2, 3, 4.

Islamic Center of Temecula Valley, and a construction facebook page.

Second, the ADL comes out sort-of-against the Cordoba Initiative’s “Ground Zero Mosque.” (“Better to go somewhere else” rather than “we must stop this project.”) Abe Foxman:

But its national director, Abraham H. Foxman, said in an interview on Friday that the organization came to the conclusion that the location was offensive to families of victims of Sept. 11, and he suggested that the center’s backers should look for a site “a mile away.”

“It’s the wrong place,” Mr. Foxman said. “Find another place.”

Asked why the opposition of the families was so pivotal in the decision, Mr. Foxman, a Holocaust survivor, said they were entitled to their emotions.

“Survivors of the Holocaust are entitled to feelings that are irrational,” he said. Referring to the loved ones of Sept. 11 victims, he said, “Their anguish entitles them to positions that others would categorize as irrational or bigoted.”

Oy, Abe Foxman.

I wonder if the masjid planners would do it differently if they could go back to the starting point. I get the sense sometimes that they genuinely didn’t think this would be a big deal. (This attitude is more understandable from people living in NYC, I think, because they conceive the location as “downtown Manhattan” rather than “two blocks from….”) But now backing down would be letting some awful people get their way, so they’re stuck.