Plan to Build Mosque Near Ground Zero
aerial
Posts: 2,319
By Lauren Green
Outraged family members and community groups are accusing a Muslim group of trying to rewrite history with its plans to build a 13-story mosque and cultural center just two blocks from Ground Zero, where Islamic extremists flew two planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Outraged family members and community groups are accusing a Muslim group of trying to rewrite history with its plans to build a 13-story mosque and cultural center just two blocks from Ground Zero, where Islamic extremists flew two planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
"This is a place which is 600 feet from where almost 3,000 people were torn to pieces by Islamic extremists," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother died in the attack on the Pentagon that day.
"I think that it is incredibly insensitive and audacious really for them to build a mosque, not only on that site, but to do it specifically so that they could be in proximity to where that atrocity happened," said Burlingame, who is co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America.
The 13-story mosque and cultural center will be built on the site of a four-story building that was a Burlington Coat Factory retail store until 9/11, when part of a plane's landing gear crashed through the roof. The building, which will be razed, currently houses a mosque.
The New York City Mayor's office says "It's private property, and the area is zoned for uses that include this one."
Pamela Gellar, executive director of Stop Islamization of America, blasted the organization behind the plans, Cordoba Initiative, and its leader, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, saying the project is "an insulting flag of conquest of Islamic supremacism."
"How can you build a shrine to the very ideology that brought down the World Trade Center?" asked Geller, whose group is planning a June 6 rally to protest the project.
"We have to do everything we can to stop this ... a huge Muslim monument, a stone's throw from Ground Zero, with a mosque pointing toward Mecca."
She called it an act of deception that the group has been able to get the green light from the Lower Manhattan Community Board, whose finance committee gave it a thumbs-up last week.
Though the Cordoba Initiative's website calls part of the $100 million-plus project a mosque, its founder, Imam Rauf, says the project is not a mosque but a community center for all faiths that will include recreational facilities, a prayer space and a 500-seat theater that can be a part of the neighborhood's trendy Tribeca Film Festival.
Rauf insists the effort is meant to help heal the wounds of 9/11, "We've approached the community because we want this to be an example of how we are cooperating with the members of the community, not only to provide services but also to build a new discourse on how Muslims and non-Muslims can cooperate together to push back against the voices of extremism."
But Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, says there are more productive ways to fight Islamic extremism.
"Even when they have the resources, they are using it for a place of worship, a cultural center for organizations," he said. They are not using it for a counterterrorism research center.
"They are not using it to lead the war like Americans need to see us do and they are wasting our resources, not to mention that being close to the hallowed ground that is so sensitive in the souls of the families of 9/11. I think it is extremely poor judgment."
Jasser also has questions about the financing.
According to reports, the building that occupies the site was purchased last year for $4.85 million in cash by Soho Properties, a real estate company run by Muslims. Imam Rauf, who's also the founder of American Society for Muslim Advancement, ASMA, was an investor in that transaction.
The balance of the $100-150 million total cost still needs to be raised, but Rauf says he's confident it will be.
Jasser says that with such a financial commitment, there needs to be full disclosure about where the money is coming from.
"There should be transparency about who those investors are," he said, "whether that money is coming from domestic interest or not, and if it's coming from foreign interests we need to know, because I think that's a liability, and it shows that there is another agenda rather than domestic security and tranquility."
Madeline Brooks, a member of the New York chapter of Act! for America, a non-profit organization that "is opposed to the authoritarian values of Islam fascism," believes the Cordoba Initiative's agenda is to co-opt the 9/11 narrative and transform it into a Muslim conquest.
"Is it a victory for Islam over non-Muslims?" she asks. "Is this a feather in his (Rauf's) cap?"
Brooks says she's received hundreds of angry e-mails from people who say they can't believe the audacity of this project. "Why here?" she asks. "Why are you offending and outraging people... stirring up a huge hornet's nest?"
Rauf says the intent is to do exactly the opposite. "[T]his is where we can amplify the voice of the moderates," he says. "We have been condemning terrorism since 9/11; our voices have not been heard."
"If they wanted peace and harmony," counters Brooks, "do you really think they'll get that?"
Burlingame says, "The idea that you would establish a religious institution that embraces the very Shariah Law that terrorists point to as their justification for what they did ... to build that where almost 3,000 people died, that is an obscenity to me."
Outraged family members and community groups are accusing a Muslim group of trying to rewrite history with its plans to build a 13-story mosque and cultural center just two blocks from Ground Zero, where Islamic extremists flew two planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Outraged family members and community groups are accusing a Muslim group of trying to rewrite history with its plans to build a 13-story mosque and cultural center just two blocks from Ground Zero, where Islamic extremists flew two planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
"This is a place which is 600 feet from where almost 3,000 people were torn to pieces by Islamic extremists," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother died in the attack on the Pentagon that day.
"I think that it is incredibly insensitive and audacious really for them to build a mosque, not only on that site, but to do it specifically so that they could be in proximity to where that atrocity happened," said Burlingame, who is co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America.
The 13-story mosque and cultural center will be built on the site of a four-story building that was a Burlington Coat Factory retail store until 9/11, when part of a plane's landing gear crashed through the roof. The building, which will be razed, currently houses a mosque.
The New York City Mayor's office says "It's private property, and the area is zoned for uses that include this one."
Pamela Gellar, executive director of Stop Islamization of America, blasted the organization behind the plans, Cordoba Initiative, and its leader, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, saying the project is "an insulting flag of conquest of Islamic supremacism."
"How can you build a shrine to the very ideology that brought down the World Trade Center?" asked Geller, whose group is planning a June 6 rally to protest the project.
"We have to do everything we can to stop this ... a huge Muslim monument, a stone's throw from Ground Zero, with a mosque pointing toward Mecca."
She called it an act of deception that the group has been able to get the green light from the Lower Manhattan Community Board, whose finance committee gave it a thumbs-up last week.
Though the Cordoba Initiative's website calls part of the $100 million-plus project a mosque, its founder, Imam Rauf, says the project is not a mosque but a community center for all faiths that will include recreational facilities, a prayer space and a 500-seat theater that can be a part of the neighborhood's trendy Tribeca Film Festival.
Rauf insists the effort is meant to help heal the wounds of 9/11, "We've approached the community because we want this to be an example of how we are cooperating with the members of the community, not only to provide services but also to build a new discourse on how Muslims and non-Muslims can cooperate together to push back against the voices of extremism."
But Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, says there are more productive ways to fight Islamic extremism.
"Even when they have the resources, they are using it for a place of worship, a cultural center for organizations," he said. They are not using it for a counterterrorism research center.
"They are not using it to lead the war like Americans need to see us do and they are wasting our resources, not to mention that being close to the hallowed ground that is so sensitive in the souls of the families of 9/11. I think it is extremely poor judgment."
Jasser also has questions about the financing.
According to reports, the building that occupies the site was purchased last year for $4.85 million in cash by Soho Properties, a real estate company run by Muslims. Imam Rauf, who's also the founder of American Society for Muslim Advancement, ASMA, was an investor in that transaction.
The balance of the $100-150 million total cost still needs to be raised, but Rauf says he's confident it will be.
Jasser says that with such a financial commitment, there needs to be full disclosure about where the money is coming from.
"There should be transparency about who those investors are," he said, "whether that money is coming from domestic interest or not, and if it's coming from foreign interests we need to know, because I think that's a liability, and it shows that there is another agenda rather than domestic security and tranquility."
Madeline Brooks, a member of the New York chapter of Act! for America, a non-profit organization that "is opposed to the authoritarian values of Islam fascism," believes the Cordoba Initiative's agenda is to co-opt the 9/11 narrative and transform it into a Muslim conquest.
"Is it a victory for Islam over non-Muslims?" she asks. "Is this a feather in his (Rauf's) cap?"
Brooks says she's received hundreds of angry e-mails from people who say they can't believe the audacity of this project. "Why here?" she asks. "Why are you offending and outraging people... stirring up a huge hornet's nest?"
Rauf says the intent is to do exactly the opposite. "[T]his is where we can amplify the voice of the moderates," he says. "We have been condemning terrorism since 9/11; our voices have not been heard."
"If they wanted peace and harmony," counters Brooks, "do you really think they'll get that?"
Burlingame says, "The idea that you would establish a religious institution that embraces the very Shariah Law that terrorists point to as their justification for what they did ... to build that where almost 3,000 people died, that is an obscenity to me."
“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
Post edited by Unknown User on
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meh0
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aerial wrote:By Lauren Green
Outraged family members and community groups are accusing a Muslim group of trying to rewrite history with its plans to build a 13-story mosque and cultural center just two blocks from Ground Zero, where Islamic extremists flew two planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Outraged family members and community groups are accusing a Muslim group of trying to rewrite history with its plans to build a 13-story mosque and cultural center just two blocks from Ground Zero, where Islamic extremists flew two planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
"This is a place which is 600 feet from where almost 3,000 people were torn to pieces by Islamic extremists," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother died in the attack on the Pentagon that day.
"I think that it is incredibly insensitive and audacious really for them to build a mosque, not only on that site, but to do it specifically so that they could be in proximity to where that atrocity happened," said Burlingame, who is co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America.
The 13-story mosque and cultural center will be built on the site of a four-story building that was a Burlington Coat Factory retail store until 9/11, when part of a plane's landing gear crashed through the roof. The building, which will be razed, currently houses a mosque.
The New York City Mayor's office says "It's private property, and the area is zoned for uses that include this one."
Pamela Gellar, executive director of Stop Islamization of America, blasted the organization behind the plans, Cordoba Initiative, and its leader, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, saying the project is "an insulting flag of conquest of Islamic supremacism."
"How can you build a shrine to the very ideology that brought down the World Trade Center?" asked Geller, whose group is planning a June 6 rally to protest the project.
"We have to do everything we can to stop this ... a huge Muslim monument, a stone's throw from Ground Zero, with a mosque pointing toward Mecca."
She called it an act of deception that the group has been able to get the green light from the Lower Manhattan Community Board, whose finance committee gave it a thumbs-up last week.
Though the Cordoba Initiative's website calls part of the $100 million-plus project a mosque, its founder, Imam Rauf, says the project is not a mosque but a community center for all faiths that will include recreational facilities, a prayer space and a 500-seat theater that can be a part of the neighborhood's trendy Tribeca Film Festival.
Rauf insists the effort is meant to help heal the wounds of 9/11, "We've approached the community because we want this to be an example of how we are cooperating with the members of the community, not only to provide services but also to build a new discourse on how Muslims and non-Muslims can cooperate together to push back against the voices of extremism."
But Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, says there are more productive ways to fight Islamic extremism.
"Even when they have the resources, they are using it for a place of worship, a cultural center for organizations," he said. They are not using it for a counterterrorism research center.
"They are not using it to lead the war like Americans need to see us do and they are wasting our resources, not to mention that being close to the hallowed ground that is so sensitive in the souls of the families of 9/11. I think it is extremely poor judgment."
Jasser also has questions about the financing.
According to reports, the building that occupies the site was purchased last year for $4.85 million in cash by Soho Properties, a real estate company run by Muslims. Imam Rauf, who's also the founder of American Society for Muslim Advancement, ASMA, was an investor in that transaction.
The balance of the $100-150 million total cost still needs to be raised, but Rauf says he's confident it will be.
Jasser says that with such a financial commitment, there needs to be full disclosure about where the money is coming from.
"There should be transparency about who those investors are," he said, "whether that money is coming from domestic interest or not, and if it's coming from foreign interests we need to know, because I think that's a liability, and it shows that there is another agenda rather than domestic security and tranquility."
Madeline Brooks, a member of the New York chapter of Act! for America, a non-profit organization that "is opposed to the authoritarian values of Islam fascism," believes the Cordoba Initiative's agenda is to co-opt the 9/11 narrative and transform it into a Muslim conquest.
"Is it a victory for Islam over non-Muslims?" she asks. "Is this a feather in his (Rauf's) cap?"
Brooks says she's received hundreds of angry e-mails from people who say they can't believe the audacity of this project. "Why here?" she asks. "Why are you offending and outraging people... stirring up a huge hornet's nest?"
Rauf says the intent is to do exactly the opposite. "[T]his is where we can amplify the voice of the moderates," he says. "We have been condemning terrorism since 9/11; our voices have not been heard."
"If they wanted peace and harmony," counters Brooks, "do you really think they'll get that?"
Burlingame says, "The idea that you would establish a religious institution that embraces the very Shariah Law that terrorists point to as their justification for what they did ... to build that where almost 3,000 people died, that is an obscenity to me."
would you be outraged if the japanese built a shaolin temple and cultural center at pearl harbor?
would you be outraged if the brits built an anglican temple and cultural center at valley forge?
would you be outraged if the confederate states of america built a southern baptist center at fort sumter?
my point is that those associated with 9/11 are most likely not affiliated with these muslims building this center, so i don't really care and i do not have a problem with it."You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."0 -
Smellyman wrote:meh
that about sums up my thoughts on this issue too...My whole life
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln0 -
Isn't it amazing what spin people can put on things? This unsourced article (or blog?) would have us believe that this is an offensive gesture and that those who personally experienced teh 9/11 attacks are all against it. But I heard about this a month or so ago. And what I heard is that it will primarily be a community center where people of all faiths can come together, that its purpose is to give back to this community, to oppose extremism, and to foster peace and healing. And they quoted 9/11 victims who were not only supporting it, but actively working to make it happen because they considered this a way they could fight back against the attacks.
I'm so fucking sick of all the hatred I see coming from some groups these days. If it were up to them, we'd never have peace in this world.0 -
I agree Aerial it's bullshit !! we autta send their ass's packin !
Godfather.0 -
i expected something like this from you...Godfather. wrote:I agree Aerial it's bullshit !! we autta send their ass's packin !
Godfather.
seriously, why is it bullshit?"You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."0 -
scb wrote:Isn't it amazing what spin people can put on things? This unsourced article (or blog?) would have us believe that this is an offensive gesture and that those who personally experienced teh 9/11 attacks are all against it. But I heard about this a month or so ago. And what I heard is that it will primarily be a community center where people of all faiths can come together, that its purpose is to give back to this community, to oppose extremism, and to foster peace and healing. And they quoted 9/11 victims who were not only supporting it, but actively working to make it happen because they considered this a way they could fight back against the attacks.
I'm so fucking sick of all the hatred I see coming from some groups these days. If it were up to them, we'd never have peace in this world.
the problem is that everyone is getting their information from their own sources ... and in many cases - these "sources" are used by people to promote an agenda ... and unfortunately, it works ...0 -
agreed, is it just me, or was that article really easy to tell they were pushing an agenda?polaris_x wrote:scb wrote:Isn't it amazing what spin people can put on things? This unsourced article (or blog?) would have us believe that this is an offensive gesture and that those who personally experienced teh 9/11 attacks are all against it. But I heard about this a month or so ago. And what I heard is that it will primarily be a community center where people of all faiths can come together, that its purpose is to give back to this community, to oppose extremism, and to foster peace and healing. And they quoted 9/11 victims who were not only supporting it, but actively working to make it happen because they considered this a way they could fight back against the attacks.
I'm so fucking sick of all the hatred I see coming from some groups these days. If it were up to them, we'd never have peace in this world.
the problem is that everyone is getting their information from their own sources ... and in many cases - these "sources" are used by people to promote an agenda ... and unfortunately, it works ..."You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."0 -
gimmesometruth27 wrote:agreed, is it just me, or was that article really easy to tell they were pushing an agenda?
for sure ... it depends on what biases or perspective you share ... for people who are constantly being told that muslims are bad - this feeds into their prejudice and it's easy to swallow ...
i would say that despite the differences we have on this board - we'd mostly have a consensus on the project if we knew exactly what it was about ...
if it is being built as a shrine to the deaths from 9/11 - i'm sure we would all be opposed to it
if it is being built to oppose extremism and is trying to connect with people of all faiths - we'd all support it ...
but these days every issue is politicized with partisan bs and the truth is secondary0 -
I don't have a huge problem with this, but i do think it may be in bad taste in ways.
It reminds me of when the Klan put up their cross here on our city square at christmas time.
they have the right to do it in the name of their christian beliefs, but it's also bad form.
I don't know.Post edited by the wolf onPeace, Love.
"To question your government is not unpatriotic --
to not question your government is unpatriotic."
-- Sen. Chuck Hagel0 -
i understand your point, but i do not see the goals of, to quote scb, to "be a community center where people of all faiths can come together, that its purpose is to give back to this community, to oppose extremism, and to foster peace and healing" being any sort of bad form....the wolf wrote:I don't have a huge problem with this, but it do think it may be in bad taste in ways.
It reminds me of when the Klan put up their cross here on our city square at christmas time.
they have the right to do it in the name of their christian beliefs, but it's also bad form.
I don't know."You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."0 -
gimmesometruth27 wrote:
i understand your point, but i do not see the goals of, to quote scb, to "be a community center where people of all faiths can come together, that its purpose is to give back to this community, to oppose extremism, and to foster peace and healing" being any sort of bad form....the wolf wrote:I don't have a huge problem with this, but it do think it may be in bad taste in ways.
It reminds me of when the Klan put up their cross here on our city square at christmas time.
they have the right to do it in the name of their christian beliefs, but it's also bad form.
I don't know.
oh, i agree. I'm just saying, they had to know that some people would feel this way. Me myself, it dont bother me really. I guess I can just see where some might be a bit put off by it.Peace, Love.
"To question your government is not unpatriotic --
to not question your government is unpatriotic."
-- Sen. Chuck Hagel0 -
gimmesometruth27 wrote:
i expected something like this from you...Godfather. wrote:I agree Aerial it's bullshit !! we autta send their ass's packin !
Godfather.
seriously, why is it bullshit?
it wouldn't matter what I say to you and others on here about why so we'll just leave it at that and call it good.
just my opinion.
Godfather.0 -
fair enough, its just you and aerial are the only ones in the thread that have a problem with it and i want to know why...Godfather. wrote:gimmesometruth27 wrote:
i expected something like this from you...Godfather. wrote:I agree Aerial it's bullshit !! we autta send their ass's packin !
Godfather.
seriously, why is it bullshit?
it wouldn't matter what I say to you and others on here about why so we'll just leave it at that and call it good.
just my opinion.
Godfather."You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry." - Lincoln
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."0 -
I also have a problem with it.0
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All controversy could have been avoided if they planned construction 10 blocks down the road. This would not even be a story.Be Excellent To Each OtherParty On, Dudes!0
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How about we stop building places of worship in general.. stop wasting the time and money on fictional characters.0
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Probably. But if the main goal was to help create tolerance and understanding of their religion, then choosing this location was a severe miscalculation. This thread already has the potential of reaching double-digit pages. Not much upside and a whole lotta downside.polaris_x wrote:Jason P wrote:All controversy could have been avoided if they planned construction 10 blocks down the road. This would not even be a story.
but then it would be "a mere 10 blocks from ground zero" ... :shock:
Nonetheless, it is Friday. The Penguins and Crosby have been eliminated. I have beer on ice. And it is supposed to be in the 70's this weekend. Peace and love to everybody
Be Excellent To Each OtherParty On, Dudes!0 -
Jason P wrote:Probably. But if the main goal was to help create tolerance and understanding of their religion, then choosing this location was a severe miscalculation. This thread already has the potential of reaching double-digit pages. Not much upside and a whole lotta downside.
Nonetheless, it is Friday. The Penguins and Crosby have been eliminated. I have beer on ice. And it is supposed to be in the 70's this weekend. Peace and love to everybody
i'm guessing real estate is hard to come by in manhattan ... in any case - i second your other point! ... a great weekend to everyone ...0
This discussion has been closed.
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