This is insane. Good for Andrea Peyser for writing this article!

Mosque madness at Ground Zero

Andrea Peyser, NY Post

A mosque rises over Ground Zero. And fed-up New Yorkers are crying, "No!"

A chorus of critics -- from neighbors to those who lost loved ones on 9/11 to me -- feel as if they've received a swift kick in the teeth.

Plans are under way for a Muslim house of worship, topped by a 13-story cultural center with a swimming pool, in a building damaged by the fuselage of a jet flown by extremists into the World Trade Center.

The opening date shall live in infamy: Sept. 11, 2011. The 10th anniversary of the day a hole was punched in the city's heart.

How the devil did this happen?

Plans to bring what one critic calls a "monster mosque" to the site of the old Burlington Coat Factory building, at a cost expected to top $100 million, moved along for months without a peep. All of a sudden, even members of the community board that stupidly green-lighted the mosque this month are tearing their hair out.

Paul Sipos, member of Community Board 1, said a mosque is a fine idea -- someplace else.

"If the Japanese decided to open a cultural center across from Pearl Harbor, that would be insensitive," Sipos told me. "If the Germans opened a Bach choral society across from Auschwitz, even after all these years, that would be an insensitive setting. I have absolutely nothing against Islam. I just think: Why there?"

Why, indeed.

A rally against the mosque is planned for June 6, D-Day, by the human-rights group Stop Islamicization of America. Executive director Pamela Geller said, "What could be more insulting and humiliating than a monster mosque in the shadow of the World Trade Center buildings that were brought down by an Islamic jihad attack? Any decent American, Muslim or otherwise, wouldn't dream of such an insult. It's a stab in the eye of America."

Called Cordoba House, the mosque and center is the brainchild of the American Society for Muslim Advancement. Executive director Daisy Khan insists it's staying put.

"For us, it's a symbol, a platform that will give voice to the silent majority of Muslims who suffer at the hands of extremists. A center will show that Muslims will be part of rebuilding lower Manhattan," said Khan, adding that Cordoba will be open to everyone.

"We were pleased to see that the community welcomed us as an asset to lower Manhattan," she added. "The community board approved it."

Not so fast.

The Financial District Committee of Community Board 1 seems to have gotten ensnared in a public-relations ploy by mosque-makers. At a May 5 meeting, the committee gave the project an enthusiastic thumbs-up. But boards have zero say over religious institutions.

Board chair Julie Menin, blind-sided by the move, predicts "this will be overturned by the full board" later this month.

But the damage is done.

Wounds that have yet to heal are now opening, as mosque opponents are branded, unfairly, as bigots.

"The worst tendency is the knee-jerk, emotional, angry, hateful response to acts of violence and war," said Donna Marsh O'Connor, who lost daughter Vanessa on 9/11 and supports the mosque. "I think it's racist tendencies."

Many more feel like Bill Doyle -- doubly maimed as he's forced to defend himself against charges of prejudice.

"I'm not a bigot. What I'm frightful about is, it's almost going to be another protest zone. A meeting place for radicals," said Doyle, whose son, Joseph, was murdered on 9/11.

"It's a slap in our face!" said Nelly Braginsky, who lost son Alexander.

Unclear is how the mosque will raise the $100 million-plus it needs.

"We would be seeking funding from anyone who would help," Khan told me. "Seeking maybe some bonds or something like that." At the May 5 community board meeting, she displayed a sign with names like "Rockefeller Brothers Fund" and "Ford Foundation," which observers believed meant money is coming from those organizations. But Khan says those groups merely gave money in the past, and no funding is yet in place.

There are many questions about the Ground Zero mosque. But just one answer.

Move it away.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/mo...1#ixzz0o1XiHYPy

Bending over backwards liberalism.

Are there Christian worship centres in the vicinity?

I feel quite torn over this issue. The logical part of me says that Muslims didn't fly those planes into the towers. Extremists did. People have the right to worship where they want. If they are law-abiding citizens, what right does anyone have to stop them??

And the not so logical part of me, the part that witnessed the smoke rising from the towers that day, the part of me that has seen the devastation wrought upon families by the deaths that day, the part of me that heard the church bells and bagpipes of countless funerals, that part of me is angered by the insensitivity of this mosque congregation.

That's the part of myself that I'm listening to. And I don't feel bad about it. At all.

" ... a platform that will give voice to the silent majority of Muslims who suffer at the hands of extremists. A center will show that Muslims will be part of rebuilding lower Manhattan ..."

If so, why not rent a storefront or build a modest reading/worship center?

That would be fine. And a whole lot less offensive to those who lost loved ones on 9/11, as well.

Words cannot describe the anger I'm feeling over this

I have to be contrarian here. If the people are US citizens and are not linked to any terrorist groups, and are obeying the current laws regarding zoning then they have every right to build/rent or buy property as any other citizen does. Presumably someone sold them the space.

Lilo, like I said above, I completely agree with what you said. You're 100% right. And yet, not.

No right is being questioned; propriety is being questioned.

Way to give them voice. This will give them a kick in the nut at best.

I hate mosques in all forms, they feel compelled to broadcast "Azan" through their loudspeakers for the neighborhood, if Sunni, five times a day, if Shiia three times a day. Not sure how that's in the US and if they do so. There's one recently built in our neighborhood, and it gives me headaches, I'm on verge of a suicide bombing the whole place down to the ground.

Are there Christian worship centres in the vicinity?

Or any other worship centres?

Of course, Mick. Lower Manhattan is full of both Christian Churches and Jewish Temples and Synagogues. But there's nothing on that scale (the proposed Mosque) in that neighborhood (near Ground Zero). You'd have to head uptown to find places like Saint Patrick's Cathedral or Temple Emanu-El.

This is bull shit. The only thing that should be at ground zero is a memorial to all the people who lost their lives cuz of those mother fucker muslim extremists.
This bull shit should not even be debated. It is wrong. If they win I hope someone blows it up.

It is bullshit, Mig. And I'm very angry about this. This has nothing to do with liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat. No one seems to think this is the right thing to do. NO ONE. Not even the most self hating, flag burning, extremist, lefty loons seem to think this is a good idea. To be honest, it has me confused as well as angry.

But let's not go hoping for anymore explosions in New York City, okay?

What about just burning it to the ground? LOL

Hey Mig, does the following look familiar:

"I'm getting tired of bull shit drama."

I am tired of the bull shit drama. It was meant in my personal life.

But this is still bull shit and wrong.

While I was quick earlier in this thread to recognise the kind of bending-over-backwards liberalism that results in these political gestures, the amount of unashamed Islamophobia going about in this thread is disgusting.

Fuck me.

Which you think is worse for this one theme, such passive liberalism or over-reacting conservatism?

Why is it over reacting?

You saying that it is underreacting?

There are.

I am not thrilled about the idea of a mosque near ground zero, but it is a free country and we have freedom of religion in the First Amendment, so we're stuck with it.

This is not some crazy left wing opinion, its a matter of following the constitution, no matter how offensive that may be at times.

Here's today's follow up article by Peyser. It involves a similar Mosque in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.

Long arm of Allah

Andrea Peyser, NY Post

The mosque at Ground Zero has company.

As far from Manhattan as one can get before hitting ocean, the people who live in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, have long prided themselves on peace, quiet and exceptional pizza. But now, they've been tarred as bigots, racists and worse. And that's by their friends.

A four-story mosque and community center is planned to tower over a narrow, residential strip, just as a 13-story monstrosity is set to cast a shadow over Ground Zero. The mosque, to be planted on Voorhies Avenue, is flanked on all sides by private houses, and sits across the street from an elementary school. It is planned to serve about 1,500 Muslims.

Some neighbors are scared. Some are suspicious of the organization with which the mosque is affiliated -- the "mainstream" Muslim American Society, a group with historical ties to the radical Muslim Brotherhood.

"A lot of people are afraid," said Victor Benari, 57, a member of Bay People Inc., a grass-roots organization formed to fight the mosque.

"Please understand," he said, "we are not Islamophobes. We are not bigots! We have nothing against Muslim residents. But you know what's going on today. What happened in the World Trade Center. What happened in Times Square. A lot of people are very concerned that a radical organization may be coming into the neighborhood."

Unlike better-organized residents of lower Manhattan, who cry, "Hell no!" to the Ground Zero mosque, those who defy the one in Sheepshead Bay have been crucified in local papers for making entirely defensible statements. Such as, "Mosques and Muslim schools preach hatred."

Public officials have not responded to their cries. And so, this small corner of Brooklyn, home to families and old folks, has turned into a mini-Gaza Strip, where neighbors don't speak, and people who just want to live in peace are transformed into militants.

How did it get to this?

Last year, a house that for years was occupied by an elderly couple was purchased by laundry owner Allowey Ahmed, a native of Yemen. Neighbors said they found out about plans for the property after a construction worker spilled the beans last fall.

Ahmed, 60, said he bought the plot with an unspecified "group of people sponsoring the project," and plans to start a nonprofit organization. He said he's floored by the uproar.

"We need a place of worship," he told me. "We like to have good, neighborly relations. I am shocked that some of the neighbors are saying we're terrorists!"

Ahmed said the Muslim-American Society is independent of the Muslim Brotherhood. However, the Anti-Defamation League warns that the society was founded as an offshoot of the brotherhood. And the ADL reported that a society convention in Chicago just last year devolved into a hate rally, as religious scholars and political activists railed against Jews and called for the eradication of Israel.

"We understand their concerns," said Ahmed. "We want to be good neighbors."

As a peace gesture, calls to prayer, typically made from loudspeakers, will be done quietly "most of the time," he said, adding that classes at the community center will be open to everyone.

This has not quelled critics.

"To build it on a little residential property -- it's unheard of!" said Joan Bonfonte.

"I don't want it here. It's basically 30 feet from my bedroom window," said Alex Tenenbaum, 40.

Bay People, which estimates its members at 1,000, is taking comfort from anti-mosque protesters at Ground Zero. Members are now raising money to hire a lawyer.

Why stick a mosque in a residential neighborhood?

Why build these megastructures at all?

Good people of New York won't stand for it.

They built Christian Churches with bells and Synagogues in residential neghborhoods all the time. This is totally specious.

What is Peyser's real agenda here? I don't get it. Mosques belong in residential neighborhoods just like churches, temples, etc. As long as they are within zoning and noise level rules, they should be left alone like any other religious building. Demographics change.

A few years back there was a similar brouhaha in Hamtramck- a traditionally predominantly Polish-Catholic enclave outside Detroit that has seen an influx of South Asians and Arabs over the past few decades. Initially a few hard words were said on both sides but rough compromises were reached and life goes on...
Hamtramck Prayer Broadcasts

Some apples and oranges are being mixed here. The US Constitution applies to government. Any violation of it would be a violation by government. States and local governments promulgate zoning requirements and restrictions. To the extent that they are consistent with the Constitution and are applied fairly and consistently, they are not functions of emotional assuagement.

A) She's a strong, educated, intelligent woman.

B) She's Jewish.

C) She lives in New York City.

In short, she's everything the extremists hate.

I don't think she has an agenda, Lilo. I just think it hits her closer to home than it hits some other people.


Are you seriously comparing a "brouhaha in Hamtramck" to the events of 9/11 in New York City? Because life didn't "go on" for 3,000 plus New Yorkers on that awful Tuesday morning. They weren't given the choice of a "rough compromise."

No. Not at all,PB. The comparison is between people in a Hamtramck neighborhood that didn't want a mosque in their area and people in a Brooklyn neighborhood that don't want a mosque in their area. In both cases people's fears and concerns will need to be addressed but I don't think we can compromise on the rights of American citizens to live and worship where they please as long as they obey the law like anyone else.

Reading Peyser's column I don't get the feeling that there's anywhere that she would say it's okay to build a mosque. I grew up around mosques, churches and a few temples-they're always in residential areas. When she refers to a Brooklyn area as "a mini-Gaza Strip", it strikes me as needlessly inflammatory.