In an insensitive, if not outright brazen display of disrespect for the firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11, Muslims placed their prayer mats right in front of a plaque at the Fire Department of New York’s headquarters that memorializes the 343 dead.
Independent reporter Susan Edelman wrote about the prayer rugs, circulating a picture of them.
For context, FDNY Islamic Society hosted an iftar last week – a breaking of the Ramadan fast with an evening meal.
Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore and Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended, along with an estimated 125 employees and guests.
According to Edelman, this event has taken place for years, using the FDNY auditorium at the Metrotech Plaza as a venue.
However, Edelman said, this appears to have been the first time prayer rugs were put in the lobby next to the plaque.
New: The placement of Muslim prayer rugs in front of the FDNY’s memorial plaque for firefighters killed on 9/11 has angered members who contend the Ramadan observance disrespected the fallen heroes. The FDNY denies any “intended disrespect.”
More here:👇https://t.co/s7OqCxvZLz pic.twitter.com/7gddkCFtJU— Susan Edelman (@SusanBEdelman) March 8, 2026
Another plaque is out of the shot, listing the 409 firefighters who died of various illnesses as a result of their heroism that day.
New York Republican Councilwoman Joann Ariola reportedly had over 20 complaints come to her office from 9/11 first responders and relatives upon learning about the event.
One current firefighter said, “As someone who respects the sacrifices made by all FDNY members, I believe the Muslim group involved, along with city leadership (including the Mayor), showed a real lack of sensitivity.”
The firefighter added that “the auditorium, already in use as a dining hall, could easily have served a dual purpose for any ritual or gathering — keeping the memorial lobby untouched and focused on its solemn role.”
“We owe it to the fallen and their families to treat that space with the utmost respect and inclusivity that truly honors everyone who served.”
The FDNY posted about the evening on social media platform X.
On Wednesday evening, @nycmayor joined the FDNY Islamic Society, Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore, Chief of Department John Esposito, and First Deputy Commissioner Daniel Flynn, along with FDNY members and guests, for a Ramadan Iftar Dinner at FDNY Headquarters in the… pic.twitter.com/xJmInE4yLl
— FDNY (@FDNY) March 5, 2026
Canadian Professor of Marketing Gad Saad has written about suicidal empathy as an explanation for the West’s willful decline.
The Gladstone Institute summed up Saad’s theory as follows: “Empathy becomes misdirected into a type of benevolent altruism that prioritizes the perceived feelings and needs of ‘marginalized’ or external groups at the expense of the survival, security, and interests of one’s own group and its values. The outcome is the weakening, and ultimately the destruction, of the very civilization that expressed this emotion.”
It’s this type of empathy that is leading the United States in 2026 to embrace a people who seek to subjugate non-Muslims.
Naive Westerners believe that Muslims are tolerant and seek the same ends that so many others do — religious tolerance, peaceful coexistence, and equal terms.
But to understand Islam, simply read the Quran.
Quran 9:29 reads, “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book [Christians and Jews], until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.”
These people lie to our faces, even after their history, their theology, and countless recent examples show who they are.
Western stupidity is Islam’s greatest ally.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
