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Ground zero mosque site not hallowed: imam
[Al Arabiya] The imam leading the plan for an Islamic center near Ground Zero rejects arguments from Sept. 11 survivors that he was seeking to build on "hallowed" ground"It's absolutely disingenuous... that that block is hallowed ground," imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said, noting that the immediate area, a busy commercial district, contained a strip club. Opponents to the planned Islamic center two blocks from the epicenter of the Sept.11, 2001 attacks say that a Muslim presence there would be offensive to the memory of the 2,752 people killed in the World Trade Center. Many critics go further, claiming the positioning of a mosque so close to Ground Zero desecrates sacred ground and would celebrate terrorism. Abdul Rauf, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York, said that radicals had hijacked the debate and spread "deliberate misinformation and harmful stereotypes." "I regret that some have misunderstood our intentions. I am deeply distressed that in this heated political season some have exploited the issue for their own political agenda," he said. The imam refused to say whether he might move the center further from Ground Zero, as opponents demand, but indicated that he is considering this. Posted by: Fred 2010-09-14 |
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