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MOSQUE PROTEST: More than 1,000 people gathered near the site of the proposed mosque Sunday, protesting its construction near ground zero. (Jack Phillips/The Epoch Times)
NEW YORK—The mosque proposed to be built less than a block away from where the World Trade Center once stood drew another round of protests Sunday.
More than a thousand people came out with signs and slogans, decrying Cordoba Initiative's plan to build a 13-story, $100-million Islamic worship center at the site.
Jay Townsend, a Republican candidate running against incumbent U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, said that until the Muslim community “removes from the world's stage the despots who advocate the annihilation of America and her allies—not here, not now,” referring to the proposed construction of the mosque.
Felicia Chillak from the Conservative Society for Action held a sign protesting the establishment of the mosque.
“I believe building a mosque near ground zero is like building a crematorium near Auschwitz,” she said.
Nomie Darwish, a human rights activist and founder of Arabs for Israel, said the mosque would be a venue for the Cordoba Initiative to “promote Jihad” and “promote Shariah [law]” in New York City.
Manhattan Community Board No. 1 voted 29–1 in favor of building a mosque near ground zero a few weeks ago. Since then, Tea Party activist Mark Williams, who opposes the action, has embarked on a war of words with elected officials in favor of the proposal.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Community Board No. 1 Chairperson Julie Menin, and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler are among the officials that support the construction of the mosque.
“The vast majority of Muslims have no connection to terrorism, to al-Qaeda, or to the evils that engineered 9/11,” Nadler said in a statement two weeks ago.
Representatives of the Cordoba Initiative have stated that they are trying to improve relations between Muslims and others in the United States. According to them, the Cordoba House would “establish a vibrant and world-class facility in New York City that promotes tolerance and pluralism that will strengthen relationships and attract those of other faiths to integrate and learn about Islam.”
The proposed facility would also include a memorial dedicated to lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, during the World Trade Center attacks.
Moderate Muslims need a way to express themselves and differentiate themselves from extremists, stated Cordoba's website.
“The Cordoba Initiative is about moderate American Muslims who are the vast majority of the Muslim in the world and who condemn terrorism and 9/11 [attacks],” said Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, chairman of the Cordoba Initiative.
