Manhattan, NY – In his fiercest defense yet of the mosque proposed near Ground Zero, Mayor Bloomberg declared yesterday that it must be allowed to proceed because the government “shouldn’t be in the business of picking” one religion over another.
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“I think it’s fair to say if somebody was going to try, on that piece of property, to build a church or a synagogue, nobody would be yelling and screaming,” the mayor said.
“And the fact of the matter is that Muslims have a right to do it, too.”
Placing the proposed mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center site has led to an outcry from opponents, including family members of 9/11 victims, who contend the holy place at 45 Park Place would defile the memories of those who perished in the worst terror attack in US history.
Community Board 1 approved the project Tuesday night by a 29-1 vote after a raucous four-hour hearing in which nine members abstained.
The meeting got so heated that one young girl, whose father is Muslim and mother is Jewish and who went to testify in favor, decided instead to sit silently.
The issue also continues to fuel an intense debate on the Internet. One commenter likened a mosque near Ground Zero to a convent established on the grounds of Auschwitz. Pope John Paul II ordered the nuns to move in 1993 after years of protests from Jewish leaders.
But Bloomberg argued that blocking the 13-story mosque and Islamic cultural center would violate the essence of America.
“What is great about America and particularly New York is we welcome everybody, and if we are so afraid of something like this, what does that say about us?” asked the mayor.
“Democracy is stronger than this. You know the ability to practice your religion was one of the real reasons America was founded. And for us to just say no is just, I think, not appropriate is a nice way to phrase it
“. . . If you are religious, you do not want the government picking religions, because what do you do the day they don’t pick yours?”
Even with Bloomberg on board, the project still has to win approval of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, because the current building on the mosque site dates to 1857-58 and would have to be razed.
The landmark application has been pending since 1989 and was recently reinstated. The commission is scheduled to hold a hearing and a vote in the early summer.
The mosque’s proponents say they are prepared to raise $100 million and hope to accommodate up to 1,500 worshippers on Fridays. About 500 people already use the site for prayers.
Typical well known self hating jew!!!
Even though I would never contribute to such an organization and probably never even walk into such a building, Mayor Bloomberg has a point, and as Americans we must especially Jews we must defend and respect other religions.
We must always remember what Martin Niemöller once said:
“THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
THEN THEY CAME for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
Never Forget 9/11 but don’t ever forget what was attacked!
if a church or shul wud want to build there,the outcry from the families of 9/11 wud be a lot less.the reason y many r potesting the mosque is because only in america wud they allow a house of worship to b built by the same religion that destroyed TWC and is responsible for ALL terror attacks in the world. te christians and jews are not members of terrorism.curious to know if this imam who is pushing for the building at least denounced those responsible for 9/11.
these people from so-called religion of peace wouldnt hesitate to bomb & kill all infidels if they only could / so for what good reason should i let these animals have a Mosqe near such a sensetive area were so many victims of Islam died….Think about it
Huge mistake from Mr.Bloomberg. In general terms if you speak abstactly he is right but in today situation it is shameful to be a muslim. First of all $100,000,000 will come from some terrorist organizations and countries. No one will be able to trace it. It will be a monument to terrorists who distroyed WTC. Imam will be all smiley and speak beautiful words but the fact that he is still alive and in charge of such a big organization and money tells me that he is in good terms with our enemies. Show me a single muslim leader of prominence who speaks openly and bravely about atrocities and barbaric nature of extremists. I do not know a single one.
Mr.Bloomberg, stop beging right in general. Life requires analysis of a specific situation
Boomberg is 100% correct. All religions are protected by the Constitution. Unless the zoning laws prohibit it, there’s nothing that can be done. A church is still present at Auschwitz, but so is a synagogue. That was a reasonable compromise, since ppl of all faiths died there.
Bloomy, this is not a matter of “picking” one religion over another as there is only ONE “religion” out there currently in the business of terrorism. When you and your liberal fools get this thru your mini heads, it will be a great day!
1st Obama works on immigrating tens of hamas militants from gaza to the usa. Now he is quietly building them their “HOME” aka terrorist cell.
Bravo obama and bloomberg for contributing to islams attempt for world domination
#12 there are christians in Africa terrorizing people all the time and ever heard of goldstein?
On 9/11 watch Mayo Bloomberg cry for all the people who died , watch his crocodile tears!! Let us get somebody else to speak. Somebody who means what they say!!
they burn down twin towers and now they get to put up their own. With the YIDDEN always fighting for them. Then when everything goes haywire, out comes the anti-semitism. Right here in USA!!! Nothing changes, and the wheel turns.