There are two interesting developments in the attempt to build a mosque at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.
The first is a letter that was published on August 9 in the Ottawa Citizen. The letter is from Raheel Raza and Tarek Fatah, who sit on the board of the Muslim Canadian Congress. They wrote:
New York currently boasts at least 30 mosques so it’s not as if there is pressing need to find space for worshippers. The fact we Muslims know the idea behind the Ground Zero mosque is meant to be a deliberate provocation to thumb our noses at the infidel. The proposal has been made in bad faith and in Islamic parlance, such an act is referred to as “Fitna,” meaning “mischief-making” that is clearly forbidden in the Koran.
When they say “deliberate provocation,” I believe they mean exactly what they say. The imam behind the effort to build this mosque appears to be a radical Muslim, and the mosque is to be a monument to their successful attack.
To understand Mayor Bloomberg and others who are facilitating this project, another matter offers clarification.
On 9/11, there was a church right across the street from the World Trade Center that was crushed by the collapse of tower number 2. This is the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. After years of trying to get permission to rebuild this church, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced in July, 2008, that it had reached a deal with church officials which would have allowed rebuilding of the church about two blocks from its original location. The Port Authority, however, it turns out, had a problem with the height of the proposed dome, and wanted it limited to be no higher than the World Trade Center memorial. The Port Authority subsequently broke off all talks and has refused further meetings.
In contrast, the mosque has been given the green light, even though it is proposed to rise 13 stories, much higher than the church would have been. Read the article, Mosque Moves Forward, Yet Church in Limbo.
See the main Liberty Musings website, and the page on terrorism.
