Should a mosque be built just two blocks from the site of the September 11th attack? A spokesperson for U.S. President Barack Obama wants those with reservations about the idea to ask themselves the same question, except replace the word “mosque” with “synagogue” or “church.”
In late May, hearings were held at a community board in Manhattan to assess whether or not to allow a structure only a few blocks from Ground Zero to be re-commissioned as an Islamic community center. After four hours of public debate, which included statements from relatives of those who died on that tragic day, the board finally came to a 29 to 1 vote in favor of the project. As soon as the votes were tallied, American media outlets exploded with commentary — much of it against the decision. Some pundits called building a mosque so close to the site of the terrorist attacks a “slap in the face.”
More moderate detractors of the proposal argued that to build such a center at this site was culturally insensitive. Others went much further claiming that the proposed Islamic center — which will have a basketball court and educational facilities and could essentially be considered an Islamic version of the YMCA — is an attempt by the Muslim world to plant a flag of victory at the site of a battle. Anti-mosque activists even tried to have the site of the proposed Islamic center reclassified as a heritage building, thereby disallowing new construction on the site. To their credit the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected this reclassification proposal. Also to his credit, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg came out strongly in favor of allowing the Islamic center to go forward while also saying he understood that many of his fellow New Yorkers felt differently. The U.S. president entered the debate as well, saying he supported the fundamental “right” of Muslims to construct an Islamic center and mosque at the site.
Whether or not it's a good idea to build a mosque so close to a site where self-professed Islamic Jihadists killed roughly 3,000 people in an unholy war of terror is of course a matter of debate. Obama did address the issue over the weekend. Speaking about his earlier endorsement of the Islamic center project, the U.S. president said, “I was not commenting, and I will not comment, on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about.”
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