Last Sunday, protestors gathered in their thousands to oppose the proposed ‘mega mosque’ to be built near New York’s Ground Zero.
The protest, which had been organized by the ultra conservative group, Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), began at noon in order to gather support behind concerted efforts to prevent construction of Cordoba House – a 15 story facility that project leaders believe will encourage tolerance and promote unity across racial and religious backgrounds.
“This proposed project is about promoting integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion through arts and culture,” say those behind the Cordoba House project.
“Cordoba House will provide a place where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, will find a center of learning, art and culture; and most importantly, a center guided by Islamic values in their truest form - compassion, generosity, and respect for all,” they add.
Adversaries of this Muslim-led project are challenging it because they believe that building an Islamic center on the doorstep of Ground Zero is offensive to both the victims and the families of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 2, 976 people lost their lives at Ground Zero when the Twin Towers collapsed in the attack.
“Ground Zero is a war memorial. Ground Zero is a burial ground,” said SIOA Co-Founder Pamela Geller during Sunday’s rally. “We are asking for sensitivity.”
The New York community board in charge of authorizing the center’s construction plans voted 29-1 in favour of it. In response to this setback, opponents of the Islamic center are pressurizing the Landmarks Preservation Commission to declare the intended building site (the Burlington Coat factory) as a landmark. The Burlington Coat factory is 152 years old and also contains a piece of one of the hijacked planes which crashed into it.
“We are going to sue the U.S. Government to get a designation of war memorial status,” declared Geller on Sunday.
(To read the full story, please go to http://christianpost.com)