New York, NY, United States (AHN) - The Community Board 1 in lower Manhattan has approved the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero. The board says the center will provide recreational facilities to the whole community and promote tolerance, but conservatives argue the mosque is an insult to victims of 9/11 and could serve as a terrorist recruitment site.
The board voted 29-1 on Tuesday to approve a proposal to build a facility called Cordoba House intended to foster better ties between Muslims and all other faiths. The approval came three weeks after the financial district committee of the board unanimously recommended the plan.
Robert Spencer, director of Jihadwatch.org, attended the vote and blogged, "Hindu activists were there. Jewish activists were there. Christian activists were there... It was a wonderful display of the unity among those threatened by jihad and Islamic supremacism that I've been calling for for years."
"There was a great deal of catcalling and booing of the multiculturalist platitudes and self-righteous moralizing, and the schoolmarmish chairperson of the Community Board repeatedly warned catcallers in the crowd that they would be held 'out of order' -- but their threats were as toothless and empty as their moralizing."
The plan will turn the old Burlington Coat Factory building at 45 Park Place into a $100 million center that will have a mosque, a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool, art exhibition spaces, bookstores and restaurants.
The project is the brainchild of Feisal Abdul Rauf, imam of a New York City mosque and founder of a non-profit, the Cordoba Initiative, that aims to "bring together leaders across the Muslim-West divide."
Opponents of the facility came in full force during the community board's vote, questioning Rauf's image as a moderate Muslim and arguing that a mosque near hallowed ground is an assault to the memory of 9/11 victims.
The September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, however, has declared its support for the mosque.
"We believe, too, that this building will serve as an emblem for the rest of the world that Americans stand against violence, intolerance and overt acts of racism and that we recognize that the evil acts of a few must never damn the innocent," the group said in a statement last week.
A group of opponents of the project previously called the center "a symbol of conquering America," while Tea Party Express Chairman Mark Williams said it "consists of a Mosque for the worship of the terrorists' monkey-god."
The statement from Williams prompted Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to lash out, "It is not our way to silence evil voices like this, but it is our responsibility to label these statements for what they are - un-American, unpatriotic, bigoted and race-baiting."
Stringer is one of a number of local leaders including New York City Comptroller John Liu and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn who say the facility would help rebuild a community that witnessed first-hand the attacks on the World Trade Center.
"The center will help us put an end to the false and hurtful idea that all Muslims are terrorists," Council Member Margaret Chin. "The sooner we put an end to this myth, the sooner we continue to rebuild Lower Manhattan as a strong, diverse community."
A non-profit called Stop Islamization of America, however, has warned that mosques are "a manifestation of Islamic domination and expansionism" and "have frequently been placed on the sites of the holy places of other religions"
SIOA says it is defending religious liberty against "attempts to bring elements of Sharia to the United States." The organization is the host of the rally next week and one of several groups with Facebook pages that had fans criticizing President Barack Obama for the planned mosque and labeling him a Muslim.
Four planes were hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001. Two of the planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon and the other into a field in Pennsylvania. A total of 2,973 people died.
