THE TELEGRAPH: The proposed creation of an Islamic centre at Ground Zero has New Yorkers pitting appeals for tolerance against appeals for respect for the bereaved, writes Alex Spillius.
A debate is raging in New York that has achieved the unlikely feat of pitting rabbi against rabbi, Muslim against Muslim and a former New York mayor against the current office holder.
Ignited by a proposal to build an Islamic centre and mosque just two blocks from Ground Zero in New York, it has turned into an exemplary ethical dispute for the post-9/11 era, pitting appeals for tolerance against appeals for respect for the bereaved.
The stated purpose of the project is to bridge the divide between American Muslims and their non-Muslim compatriots and to foster cross-cultural understanding.
It is led by Faisal Abdul Rauf, an imam who has run a mosque nearby in lower Manhattan for 27 years and who is considered the epitome of Muslim moderation.
Called Cordoba House, the $100 million, 13-storey centre would be open to all faiths. It would include a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool, book shops, restaurants and a September 11th memorial. One floor will be occupied by a mosque.
Formerly a coat factory, the building has been largely disused since the 2001 attacks, when it was struck by a piece of one of the planes flown by suicidal al-Qaeda terrorists into the World Trade Centre's twin towers.
Last week the city's Landmark Preservation Commission removed the project's only bureaucratic hurdle by unanimously declining to award protected status to the structure, meaning it could be rebuilt from scratch.
The developers have put a down payment on the property on Park Place. Only an outcry, or lack of funding, can stop it now.
To critics, the centre's proximity to the site of the atrocity would be an affront to the dead and to the feelings of families and firefighting colleagues who have survived them.
Some relatives have said that a building representative of the religion in whose name their loved ones were killed is too painful to countenance.
The Anti-Defamation League, a venerable Jewish civil rights group, came out against, arguing that "this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right".
In a Quinnipiac University poll, a narrow majority of New Yorkers disapproved of the plan, though a majority of Manhattans approved.
The arguments in favour have been led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with strong support from the local community board and many Jewish groups and churches. >>> Alex Spillius - American Way | Saturday, August 07, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – DOUGLAS MURRAY: If you were planning to build a new £68 million giant mosque and 13-storey “Muslim community centre”, which site – anywhere in the world – would you think it most thoughtless to choose? The charred ruins of a Bali nightclub? A railway station in Madrid? Or perhaps the site of the most infamous Islamist terrorist attack of all – Ground Zero in New York?
This must count as the most crass idea since the award-winning plan to plant a red crescent (I kid you not) in the field in Pennsylvania in which flight 93 came down on that same day in 2001.
Amazingly, the organisation behind the Twin Towers mosque plan have said they picked the spot precisely because of its location. “Building a mosque where a piece of the wreckage fell … sends the opposite statement to what happened on 9/11,” according to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the cleric leading the project.
Really? Building a mosque on the site of the Twin Towers sounds to me like having your Islamic cake and eating it. Those guys who brought down the Towers: bad Muslims. Those people who build mosques on the same site: good Muslims. Either way, the point is, it’s a gain for the religion which, misinterpreted or not, inspired the attacks. Continue reading and comment >>> Douglas Murray | Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The building of a mosque/Islamic center near Ground Zero is an act of triumphalism; further, it is in extremely bad taste.
It would be hard to think of doing anything more hurtful to the families of the fallen on 9/11. It would also be hard to try and think up doing anything which could be so disrespectful of those thousands that persished so needlessly.
On 9/11, thousands of people lost their lives because of Islam. It would be hard to conclude anything else. Islam is what inspired the terrorists. They also came from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, it is said, will now be behind the financing of this project: Cordoba House.
To think of anything more despicable than this would be hard indeed. This is an act of defiance and glorification of an act of Islamic terrorism. It also glorifies Islam itself.
Last week, the Landmark Preservation Commission opened up the way ahead for Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf to go ahead with the building of this already infamous edifice. However, this imam should show a modicum of respect for the victims and their families and back off. He has already played the system to his own advantage, and he has won the day – for now. He should still, however, be respectful of the country that has given him a home. He should not abuse the hospitality of the kind Americans who have allowed him to stay in their country.
If Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf really wants Islam to be respected in America, then he has no option but to find another location for his project. If this mosque/Islamic center goes ahead, Islam will become even more despised in America than it already is.
Is this what the Imam wants for his beloved religion?
Do the right thing, Mr Rauf – back off! You’ll do yourself a great favour. You’ll do Islam a great favour too. – © Mark
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