Manhattan, NY – A group of Jewish leaders has rallied today in support of the mosque near the World Trade Center.
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The Shalom Center representatives say they needed to speak out after the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group that advocates religious freedom, criticized the Cordoba Initiative mosque and cultural center.
“We need this Islamic center to preach love and respect in contrast to those that preach hate and destruction,” said Rabbi Richard Jacobs of the Westchester Reform Temple. “Here in this place, just a few yards from horrific pain and loss, let this Islamic center be a beacon of light and hope to our aching world.”
“That is why we are here, to open the doors to peace, to dialogue, to affirmation of ‘the one’ that Jews and Muslims and Christians all celebrate,” said Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center.
Members of the ADL held a protest near the site yesterday.
“If you want to reach out, if you want to reconcile, if you want to show love, why not listen to the people who suffered, the families, the victims, the responders who say, not here; not in my cemetery,” said Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League.
Another opponent of the project can be found in gubernatorial candidate Carl Palladino, who vows in his latest campaign advertisement, which was released today today, that he will do everything he can to prevent the center from being built.
“I am Carl Paladino and as governor I will use the power of eminent domain to stop the mosque and use the site as a war memorial, instead of a monument to those who attacked our country,” he says in the TV ad.
A lawsuit was filed yesterday challenging the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s vote not to declare the property on 45 Park Place a landmark.
The vote clears the way for the demolition of the building and the construction of a 13-story mosque.
A city Law Department spokeswoman said the department is confident the Landmarks Preservation Commission followed the appropriate procedures and legal standards.
The mosque’s developer has said even if the landmark status was granted, the group would work around the existing building.
The center is expected to cost $100 million to build. The founders have not yet set a date for its completion.
This Shalom Center is a fring group of wackos. They seem to run religious retreats
with female “rabbis”. I think Waskow is “self ordained”.
On Tisha Bav they took part in a unique fusion of political rally, multireligious prayer, and Tisha B’Av observance at noon , on the grounds of the US Capitol — bringing grief, hope, and action for healing Mother Earth, and demanding
“Get dirty fuels out of our air and water;
Get dirty money out of our politics.” . (from their website)
What it has to do with Tisha B’av I don’t know.
Is this guy for real? sep. 11 wasnt enough?
Jewish Leaders Rally In Support Of WTC Mosque – They are NOT Jewish Leaders!
“We need this Islamic center to preach love and respect in contrast to those that preach hate and destruction,” said Rabbi Richard Jacobs of the Westchester Reform Temple. REFORM RABBI? There is no such thing. Those guys are as phony as a three dollar bill. They made up a religion and called it Reform Judaism. Please don’t insult Judaism. Call it what it really is “Flavor of the Month Cult”! Where anything goes!!!
Maybe I can find a Reform Leader to perform a wedding between my dog and a goat.
They shouldn’t have any problem dredging up one of their lady rabbis to do this even though the dog is a goy!
Wow these people shudnt be titled jewish they are a bunch of liberal gay loving feminist obsessed terrorist maniacs. This mosque shouldn’t even be a topic of discussion and shudnt even be an argument or a decision it shouldn’t even be allowed for them to build one anywhere else in the U.S. And to all you “jewish” people, when these animals bring you into the mosque “house of worship” and cut ur head off and brutally kill and destroy you and your families I hope you will change your mind then. I do not wish it upon you however it seems ur wishing it upon urself… Good luck with life and I hope your eyes open toward the truth. If gentiles like shawn hannity and Rush limbaugh are able to set it so straight for you guys hopefully as “jews” you will be able to understand!!
We should not support the rapidly growing “9/11 victims syndrome” who insist on an insatiable and expanding grief agenda in both compensation and the right to dictate what gets built in proximity to ground zero. There are many victims of tragedies in the U.S. who have never been compensated and the families of our heroic troops who have died in real combat in Iraq an Afghanistan get only a tiny fraction of what was already paid to the 9/11 families. They are entitled to their grief but its time for them and Foxman and the other members of this 9/11 group to stop imposing their emotional agenda on the rest of us.
I’m much more impressed from todays rally than yesterdays radical one.
This is a not a jewish issue at all, jews should please stand on the side, especially the extreme ADL group, they don’t bring any good to anybody.
Ein lecho yoffe min hatznius.
if they build it, so be it. It was meant to be. There is no reason to oppose a mosque at this location.
how there you call them jewish leaders
What a bunch of liberal morons. I guess no one remembers 911. Go ahead stinkin arabs do it again!
please dont in sult ‘jweish ‘ with these ‘ leaders’ . Also ‘welcome’ ‘SAYS’ (the poster”to the batch of anti torah leftist posters on VIN. are you new or had different signed name?
Left-wing moonbat Jews don’t care who they let destroy them. These are the same kind that voted Hitler in to deal with the Communists.
Under Islamic tradition, a monument is to be built on the site of any major victory. This mosque is nothing more than a monument to the murders of 9/11. We should not allow them this monument to our destruction.