Mosque near Ground Zero

Mosque to be built near Ground Zero
05:55 AM Aug 05, 2010

NEW YORK - As New York City removed the final hurdle for a controversial mosque near Ground Zero, Mayor Michael Bloomberg forcefully defended the project on Tuesday as a symbol of America's religious tolerance and sought to reframe a fiery national debate over the project.

With the Statue of Liberty as his backdrop, the Mayor pleaded with New Yorkers to reject suspicions about the planned 13-storey complex, to be located two blocks north of the World Trade Centre site, saying that "we would betray our values if we treated Muslims differently than anyone else".

The project received its final city approval when the Landmarks Commission voted 9-0 to deny granting historic protection to the building in Lower Manhattan where the US$100 million ($135 million) centre would be constructed.

But those opposed to the project pledged to aggressively fight it, using both litigation and public pressure.

The plan for the sprawling complex has quickly snowballed into an intense national debate about the nature of Islam and the meaning of the 911 attacks.

Republican leaders have assailed the proposal, calling it offensive. The Anti-Defamation League, an influential Jewish civil rights group, has also declared its opposition.

Opponents have argued that building a Muslim community centre so close to the site where radical Muslims killed about 2,750 people is as much a political statement as a religious gesture, and have demanded that developers find a different location.

Proponents emphasise that the centre would focus on interfaith dialogue, include members of other religions on its board.

But there were signs that the intense backlash has left moderate American Muslims uneasy about the plan.

"We still want to know who is going to be involved in this. So far, we have heard from just a few Muslim voices. If this is meant to be a community centre, who in the community will be involved?" said Mr Hussein Rashid, a professor who specialises in Islam in America. THE NEW YORK TIMES

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Fikrah:-

1) To change perception of something that is not true is true challenge. Islam has great meaning of 'peace' or 'salam'. In fact, only Islam the only religion in the world that promote peace by only saying its name.

2) The hatred must be channeled correctly. People misunderstood about Islam, because they don't have chances to know more about it. Like always, media plays significant role to promote anything in this world. Even in this case, where the major media of US stand in?

As for Muslims, we truly believe Islam will prevail and the Truth will always win in the end.