A far grander vision: an Islamic center near Ground Zero

Get this:  The location was a major selling point for the Muslims...

They have some damn nerve, that's all I'll say.  To me this is nothing but another example of the Muslims extending a big middle finger to the Great Satan and the Great Satan just sitting there and taking it.     (h/t FReeperNY)

Muslim Prayers fuel spiritual rebuilding project near Ground Zero

On that still-quiet Tuesday morning, the sales staff was in a basement room eating breakfast, waiting to open the doors to the first shoppers at 10 a.m.

"Parts of a landing gear from one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center on 9/11 broke through the roof and two floors. The Burlington Coat Factory had not yet opened, and employees were having breakfast in the basement. No one there was injured."   ---->

There was no immediate sign of the fiery cataclysm that erupted overhead starting at 8:46. But out of a baby-blue sky suddenly stained with smoke, a plane’s landing-gear assembly the size of a World War II torpedo crashed through the roof and down through two empty selling floors of the Burlington Coat Factory.

The Sept. 11, 2001, attack killed 2,752 people downtown and doomed the five-story building at 45 Park Place, two blocks north of the World Trade Center, keeping it abandoned for eight years.

"A five-story building at 45 Park Place, two blocks north of the World Trade Center site, now houses a Muslim prayer space. Burlington Coat Factory operated a store there until Sept. 11, 2001, but it had been vacant since then, until a group of Muslims bought it in July."  --->

The building has no sign that hints at its use as a Muslim prayer space, but these modest beginnings point to a far grander vision: an Islamic center near the city’s most hallowed piece of land that would stand as one of ground zero’s more unexpected and striking neighbors.

The location was precisely a key selling point for the group of Muslims who bought the building in July.  A presence so close to the World Trade Center, “where a piece of the wreckage fell,” said Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the cleric leading the project, “sends the opposite statement to what happened on 9/11.”  (editor's note:  how do you figure?)

<---  "Every Friday afternoon, with the rumblings of construction at ground zero as a backdrop, hundreds of Muslims crowd inside, facing Mecca in prayer and listening to their imam read in Arabic from the Koran."

“We want to push back against the infidels extremists,” added Imam Feisal, 61.

Although organizers have sought to avoid publicizing their project because they say plans are too preliminary, it has drawn early encouragement from city officials and the surrounding neighborhood.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said through a spokesman that Imam Feisal told him of the project last September at a celebration to observe the end of Ramadan. As for whether Mr. Bloomberg supported it, the spokesman, Andrew Brent, said, “If it’s legal, the building owners have a right to do what they want.”

"Carts belonging to street vendors are lined up while their owners attend a Friday afternoon prayer service. The location is not designated a mosque, but rather an overflow prayer space for another mosque, Al Farah at 245 West Broadway in TriBeCa."   Why am I thinking of street cart vendor turned terrorist, Najibullah Zazi?   ---->

The mayor’s director of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, Fatima Shama, went further. “We as New York Muslims have as much of a commitment to rebuilding New York as anybody,” Ms. Shama said. Imam Feisal’s wife, Daisy Khan, serves on an advisory team for the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, and Lynn Rasic, a spokeswoman for the memorial, said, “The idea of a cultural center that strengthens ties between Muslims and people of all faiths and backgrounds is positive.”

Maybe for the freaking Muslims - the rest of the civilized world?  Not so much.  The evidence of the horrific way Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Copts, etc. are treated in Muslim world is thick on the ground. Wake up, sheeple!

There's more here.  Read it and weep.

Comments

[janice]

Unbelievable! This just makes me sick. What is wrong with people? Once this gets out, ordinary NY'ers won't stand for it.

[Dinah Lord]

I'm not so sure about NY'ers not standing for it, Miss J. We're still a tolerant and accepting nation. Just like the UK and France - and you see where that's gotten them. I fear it's only a matter of time until we see the types of problems that they are currently experiencing.

[Harrovian]

Sorry, where has religious tolerance "gotten" the UK, exactly? I live around the corner from the (in)famous Harrow Mosque, and probably have a higher level of religious, political and social freedom than many Americans - especially your poor, vilified "liberals".

And in a country where the right-wing media is saturated in pointed editorial - i.e. articles like this one - why are people who think for themselves branded "sheeple"?

I suppose it would be a dull world without angry little conspiracy theorists and intolerant curmudgeons. Watch your stress levels though; the angrier you get, the older you won't! :)

[Dinah Lord]

Stick around and maybe you will see where all of your multi culti mumbo jumbo and bending over backwards to create a special Muslim class has gotten the UK, Mr. Harrovian.

I beg to differ about your blanket statement claiming that you as a UK citizen have a higher level of religious, political and social freedom than Americans.

I have a Concealed Carry license for my 357 magnum - do you?

Thanks for playing though!

[Harrovian]

"Create a special Muslim class"? Nope, nothing like that over here. You must have us confused with something scary yet daft that someone made up.

But I did like "multi culti mumbo jumbo". I suppose at least you have the guts to admit you're a racist, although that's not necessarily a point in your favour.

One of the great anti-fascist chants from the other day was:
"Follow your leader!
Shoot yourself like Adolf Hitler!"

And you are so lucky to have the freedom to do exactly that. :)

[Dinah Lord]

Boy - it sure didn't take you long to start name calling and playing the race card. And when all else fails trot out Adolf Hitler, right mate?

Telling me to shoot myself was a nice touch, though.

(Perhaps you should think about changing your cuppa to decaf. Just sayin'.)

[Harrovian]

What exactly is NOT racist about "multi culti mumbo jumbo"? You brought that one up.

And that was an actual chant from the Harrow Mosque demo; I only mentioned it because it seemed to chime in so nicely with how freedom means guns. (That's a judgment call.)

For the record, I don't believe you personally follow Hitler (that wasn't my point) and I don't want you to shoot yourself.

I'm just saying that the freedom to carry lethal weaponry is, for want of a better cliché, a double-edged sword. (A whole other debate though.) Just be careful where you point that thing.

[Dinah Lord]

Multi-Culti mumbo jumbo is now racist? That's a bit of a stretch, Sir.

I did comprehend that it was a ridiculous chant made up by the United Fascists at the Harrow rally. But, thank you for clearing that up about my being a Hitler devotee and shooting myself.

I feel so much better now. /right

You might want to think about heeding your own advice when 'shooting off your mouth' and just be careful where (and how) you point that thing.

Just my humble opinion, of course.

[Harrovian]

"United Fascists" - ha ha, that's clever, misdirection. Well done Dinah - or should that be Dinallah? YOU are the true face of the Islamic conspiracy, with your blog set to make anyone who agrees with you look like a ranting, racist, ignorant fool.

Please. See? Misdirection. Okay, I lied about it being clever.

By multi-cultural it's obvious you mean multi-racial. You mock it in order to reject it. If you reject a multi-racial society, you're not too far from re-segregating the buses. But "multi culti mumbo jumbo" sounds more palatable. Again, misdirection.

I've clearly outstayed my welcome though. I've given a less insane perspective on the SIOE coming to Harrow, that's all I set out to do, I really didn't mean to rise to the bait of dead-end conversing with perfectly reasonable sounding nutjobs but hell, I sometimes can't help myself.

I'll check your classy, veiled threat at the door on my way out. You fight with monsters you become them, so I'd better be getting out of this cave now. Your e-mail alerts aren't working so I won't know if you respond to this.

Take care.

God bless.

Allahu Akbar.

:)

[Dinah Lord]

Mr. Harrovian-

Funny thing.

The only one "ranting" and "raving" around here?

Why, it would seem to be YOU.

The only one throwing around words like "racist", "conspiracy theorists", "daft", "intolerant" "ignorant", "insane", "misdirection", "fool", "nutjobs", "monsters", "Hitler"?

That would be YOU.

The only one making far out claims and outlandish assumptions? (See multi-culti mumbo jumbo = a belief in re-segregation.)

Why, that would be YOU, again!

For someone who claims to have been giving me the benefit of your "less insane perspective", well, YOU sure could have fooled me.

Stay classy, dude.

Dinah