(AP Photo/Hasan Jamali, Pool)
NEW YORK (CBS 2) – After months of keeping quiet, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is responding to criticism about the proposed Islamic community center and mosque near Ground Zero.
In a New York Times op-ed article, he writes about funding for the project and healing relations between religions.
After weeks of anger and angst over what is supposed to be a place of religious peace, New Yorkers are hearing for the first time from the spiritual leader who believes it is appropriate to build an Islamic community center and mosque two blocks away from the World Trade Center site, CBS 2′s Sean Hennessey reports.
“Let us commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 by pausing to reflect and meditate and tone down the vitriol and rhetoric,” Rauf wrote in an op-ed for the Times adding, “I am very sensitive to the feelings of the families of victims of 9/11.”
Jim Riches lost his firefighter son on 9/11 and was insulted by the opinion piece written by Rauf.
“I’m outraged by his article. I think he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s got anti-American rhetoric all over it and now he’s trying to act like Mr. peace maker. Well I don’t buy it,” Riches said.
But some advocates for the mosque say Rauf is right on in his tone and approach.
“He made a clear call for justice and religious freedom. It’s a basic, simple issue of religious freedom. It should not even be a question in the 21st century,” Bill Doares of the International Action Committee said.
Meanwhile, people on both sides of the mosque issue are gearing up for Saturday. Thousands are expected to march on the ninth anniversary of the attacks on America. Police are gearing up too.
“We have no reason to anticipate violence at these demonstrations, but obviously there’s the potential at any demonstration,” NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
15 Comments
Taquiyya- Look it up. When saudi arabia allows synagogues and Christian churchs to be built , then they can have a mosque, maybe not. Because islam is a death cult, NOT a religion.
September 8, 2010 at 4:40 pm
why must a mosque be built at this specific site ? I believe this is the way islam
is trying to claim victory
September 8, 2010 at 2:41 pm
WE’RE WAITING FOR ALL ARAB MEDIA AROUND THE WORLD TO SHOW IN FULL THE DEBATE GOING ON HERE…. WITH JEWS, CHRISTIANS AND PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS DEFENDING THE MUSLIMS’ RIGHTS TO HAVE THEIR CENTER… EVEN IF IT HURTS A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO’VE LOST FAMILY & FRIENDS IN 9/11
MAYBE WE SHOULD SEE THE SAME THING IN THE MUSLIM WORLD WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE DEBATING ABOUT BEING FAIR TO AMERICA
September 8, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Let’s try a little Jewish logic here. “Would it be ok if the Islamic Center were three blocks away?” “Four?” “Five? “How far should we go?” “Six?”
Finally, we just do it and then ten years from now we all realize how stupid this impasse was.
September 8, 2010 at 11:35 am
And since the bone head libturds here keeps censoring this (they have a problem on factual listings), I’ll just keep re-posting it
FACT: Everywhere where there are mu-Slimes, sh-!t happens.
China — sh-!t happens
(suicide bombers that kill little children and run amok with metal pipes in the streets)
India — sh-!t happens
(mu-slimes burned 100s of hindus alive in packed trains and burned villagers alive while they slept)
Middle East — sh-!t happens
(suicide bombers that kill little children)
Russia — sh-!t happens
(suicide bombers that kill women and children in crowded theaters)
South East Asia — sh-!t happens
(mu-slime thugs who kidnap teachers, school children, nurses, priests for ransom, than murder them all)
Europe — sh-!t happens
(suicide bombers that kill little children)
USA — 9/11 happened
Goes to reason, no mu-slimes, no sh-!t.
All these camel turds understand is violence and lies anyway. I say we oblige them by killing them all and than lie about how sorry we are.
Islam. It’s a disease. And like any other infestations of boils, pox and pestilence, it should be eradicated. You don’t talk to diseases. You eradicate them like you did polio.
And some bleeding heart imbecile here will post that it’s just a few individuals that are murderous, just like any other society. But than conveniently forgetting about the Fact that it happens worldwide and by a LOT MORE than just a few individuals. And they also continues to blank out of their empty heads the worldwide mu-slime jubilee celebrations as people burned on 9/11.
September 8, 2010 at 9:20 am
Yes, there is freedom of worship in this great country. Something you will not find in mu-slime infested lands. But there is also separation of church and state in this country. Meaning religion needs to obey the laws. One law in particular: Murder. Our Constitution does not guarantee a right to worship murder – random or codified in a “holy” text like the Koran or the Charles Manson Manifestos.
September 8, 2010 at 9:18 am
Let him build in the Middle of Atlantic ave where all his people were dancing in the streets on 9/11 POS
September 8, 2010 at 8:08 am
Elis, The great Mosque of Cordoba is now a Cathedral again and has been for many years. Also, there will be basketball courts and a cooking school in this islamic center as well as other things, open to the community.
September 8, 2010 at 12:57 am
You know what would really heal relations b/t religions like Rauf says he wants? Not making this an exclusively Islamic center, but rather an interfaith center. Cordoba has two meanings: 1) when Muslims offensively conquered the city and turned its cathedral into a mosque, and 2) when Christians & Jews lived under Muslim rule and could live tolerably as 2nd class citizens (with the same sort of rights and status as African-Americans during pre-1960s America). Rauf seems to be invoking the second legacy, but that was an INTERFAITH legacy, so therefore it should be an INTERFAITH center.
September 8, 2010 at 12:01 am
Do you also require St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Congregation Shearith Israel to convert to INTERFAITH centers?
September 8, 2010 at 5:47 am
You that Dangerous Rauf , no matter what you say in the name of peace it will never be peace because you all talk peace and it sounds just like beating cymbals.. …liar ,liar , liar you guys just want more of an easy way to commit more criminal acts against law abiding citizens.
September 7, 2010 at 11:43 pm
nah nah nahnah nah nah. We’re getting a mosque, right on ground zero! hahahah…Sorry but buyers keepers losers weppers..Dumb 9/11ers
September 8, 2010 at 1:12 am
We are not DUMB 9/11ers. We all lost a part of us….US, Americans that day. I almost lost a friend…who was lucky…that h decided not to travel to NY that day and be in the towers. We lost firefighters, policemen, moms, dads, brothers, sisters. I will never think we are dumb. When you have the feeling of waiting to hear from YOUR brother as to if he is on a plane or not…..then you will know what we feel.
September 8, 2010 at 5:59 am
What, pray tell, is a wepper?
September 8, 2010 at 8:54 am
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