It turns out ordinary Washington-area Muslims have a better grasp of civility that either the Ground Zero mosque supporters or that book-burning kook in Florida:
Muslims toning down Eid festivities in honor of Sept. 11
Each year on Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Ramadan month of fasting, 8,000 to 10,000 Muslims stream into the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring in shifts for special Eid services, followed by food, singing, dancing and henna decorating to celebrate one of Islam’s most festive holidays.
The religious services are on for this year. But not the rest.
“No celebrations, no festivities,” said Rashid Makhdoom, who is on the center’s board of directors. By uncomfortable coincidence, the holiday falls this year around Sept. 11 — for the first time since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Eid, like other Muslim events, is calculated on a lunar calendar and occurs slightly earlier each year. This week, depending on when in August one started fasting, it is either on the 9th, 10th, or 11th.
“Particularly, people are taking care not to do any celebrations on the day of 9/11, because it is a day of tragedy and we have to be sensitive,” Makhdoom said. “That’s the mood of the Muslims, generally very subdued.”
“We have to be sensitive” — look, I don’t get all touchy-feely about sensitivity, but this is just common courtesy.
I’m waiting for Bloomberg to announce that he supports lavish Muslim celebrations on 9/11.