SALON

Terry Jones cancels Quran burning

The Florida pastor suspends his stunt until he can confirm the "ground zero mosque" will be moved

Topics: Islam, War Room, Park51, Religion,

Terry Jones cancels Quran burningPastor Terry Jones and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf

Radical cleric Terry Jones has apparently decided not to burn Qurans on 9/11. So … that’s that! Everyone wins, but Terry Jones — whose joke of a church has received a staggering amount of free publicity over the weekend — wins the most. According to early reports, Jones talked to Cordoba House imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, and Rauf agreed to move his supposed “ground zero mosque” from its proposed site, which was never ground zero. In exchange, Jones agreed to not burn copies of Rauf’s holy book.

If Jones is correct — he says he and a local imam are heading to New York to meet with Rauf! — then the nonexistent mosque that isn’t at ground zero will be moved because a lunatic asked them, politely. In that case, the lesson here is that terrorism works.

On the other hand, it sounds like Jones made this up. He may have talked to someone at the Cordoba Initiative, and who knows what they told him, but they now say they haven’t agreed to anything.

Update: Terry Jones’ new Muslim friend — Imam Muhammad Musri, the Islamic Society president of central Florida — explained that while Rauf and Jones never spoke, and Rauf certainly never promised to move his cultural center, Jones and Musri will fly to New York on Saturday to discuss this further. (Doesn’t Jones realize he’ll be flying with a known Muslim on 9/11?)

After it became apparent that Jones’ claims to have persuaded Rauf to “move it” were complete nonsense (this took way longer to figure out than it should have, by the way), CNN promptly began talking about Donald Trump, for some reason.

Longtime not-funny-anymore-joke Trump offered, on Letterman last night, to insert himself into this story by offering to buy the proposed Cordoba House location, with cash.

Once the Cordoba Initiative denied giving in to Jones, everyone on CNN began talking about whether it would sell to Trump. But Rauf doesn’t seem interested. He will not barter with his religion, he said in a statement.

It’s also been confirmed that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates also called Jones. Which is crazy.

At some point in the last few minutes, Jones also came back out and began speaking again. He said he had been told that an agreement to move the “mosque” had been reached, which seems to imply that he was lied to.

Update 2: It’s now been reported that the pastor’s deputy, Wayne Sape, says the burning is just “suspended” until the church confirms that the Cordoba House will be moved. Which it won’t be. So … the burning’s back on, and I bet Jones will soon announce that some Muslims totally lied to him.

Alex Pareene

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene

Next Article

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Comments

111 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>