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| New York mayor defends Ground Zero Mosque as free-of-faith issue |
| 2010-08-26 |
| [APP] New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, speaking at an Iftar dinner he hosted Tuesday night, strongly defended the right of a Muslim group to build a mosque near "ground zero", the site of 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bloomberg received a standing ovation from some 100 Muslim-Americans for weighing in on the debate over the proposal to build an Islamic Centre mosque near the World Trade Center site."We must do what is right, not what is easy," said the mayor as he ruled out a compromised solution to the issue which has caused increasingly heated debate across the US. Bloomberg said a "compromise", with the mosque built further away from ground zero, would undercut the values and principles that so many heroes died protecting. Property developer Sharif el-Gamal wants to construct a Muslim community centre, including a mosque and a 9/11 memorial two blocks from the site where 2,605 people were killed on September 11, 2001. The plan has outraged some Americans, and provoked demonstrations and protests, with Republicans, including Sarah Palin, spearheading the campaign. Last night Bloomberg told the audience the handling of the mosque plan would be a litmus test for "American values". The mayor said: "Let me declare that we in New York are Jews and Christians and Muslims, and we always have been. And above all of that, we are Americans, each with an equal right to worship and pray where we choose. "There is nowhere in the five boroughs that is off limits to any religion." Some opponents of the scheme have asked for the mosque to be constructed further away from ground zero, but Bloomberg said that this would not end the debate. "The question will then become, how big should the 'no-mosque zone' around the World Trade Center be?" he asked. "There is already a mosque four blocks away. Should it, too, be moved?" Said Bloomberg: "...If we say that a mosque or a community center should not be built near the perimeter of the World Trade Center site, we would compromise our commitment to fighting terror with freedom. "We would undercut the values and principles that so many heroes died protecting. We would feed the false impressions that some Americans have about Muslims. We would send a signal around the world that Muslim Americans may be equal in the eyes of the law, but separate in the eyes of their countrymen. And we would hand a valuable propaganda tool to terrorist recruiters, who spread the fallacy that America is at war with Islam. "Islam did not attack the World Trade Center - Al-Qaeda did. To implicate all of Islam for the actions of a few who twisted a great religion is unfair and un-American. Today we are not at war with Islam - we are at war with Al-Qaeda and other extremists who hate freedom." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #20 Because there is no transparency on this mosque one should question the motives of the people who want it so badly. There is far to much murkiness and too many unanswered questions. There is way too much "push back" on this issue. There is no reasonable compromise or accommodation on the part of the imam and his wife. There is no concern for the families of nearly 3000 murder victims. There are far too many statements by the imam and his wife that fall in the category that "America is bad. 911 was somehow our fault." What kind of bridge building is this? There needs to be a good light shined on the entire effort to push the mosque. Bloomberg seems to be a useful idiot for those pushing this mosque. He tends to be on the wrong side of many issues. He is quick to cite the First Amendment rights of the muslims regarding the 911 site. However, he doesn't mind trying to deny the rights of Americans, e.g. his stance on firearm rights guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-08-26 18:06 |
| #19 I wonder if the other mosque that is 4 blocks away is one of those little store-front operations ie something no one cares about. Since that already exists, I think the freedom to worship issue is already addressed. |
| Posted by: remoteman 2010-08-26 17:59 |
| #18 Call Bloomie's bluff. Let another mosque be built there, so long as it's a) run by people who are TRULY moderate, ie have a long history of opposing islamist violence and fanaticism, including denouncing the 9/11 attackers with no qualifications about US policy as "complicit" or "an accessory" b) designed as a small, humble, modest structure rather than a 13-story $100m+ triumphal monument c) adorned with signage and perhaps an exhibit or two reinforcing the messages about moderation and humility, above How 'bout it, Mike? Can you walk your talk? |
| Posted by: lex 2010-08-26 15:28 |
#17 Another interesting part of Bloomberg's speech:"The members of our military are men and women at arms - battling for hearts and minds. And their greatest weapon in that fight is the strength of our American values, which have already inspired people around the world. If we do not practice here at home what we preach abroad - if we do not lead by example - we undermine our soldiers. We undermine our foreign policy objectives. And we undermine our national security. So according to Bloomberg we, non-Muslims in the West, have to accommodate and appease Islam so that the Afghan people might show some good will and counterinsurgency can succeed. In logical conclusion, the net effect of Western military response to 9/11 is that civilian life in Western countries is now subject to the dictate of the Afghan people's will?!? I don't know of this has anything to do with Sparta, but most certainly this is madness! |
| Posted by: Tyranysaurus Whusogum8452 2010-08-26 14:49 |
| #16 DBD: Say It. |
| Posted by: tipper 2010-08-26 11:38 |
| #15 It strikes me as odd as this is the spot where the dhimocrats are choosing to plant their flag and fight. This is an unpopular issue with the vast majority of Americans, yet the dhims continue to shove it down our throats. Are they that blind? That scared? That paid off? That stupid? Whatever way it is, they will pay heavily for it in November. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2010-08-26 11:32 |
| #14 Let me see if I have all this straight: The Imam who said the US was complicit in 9/11 and is pissing on the graves of those who died by building a spite mosque is a moderate who's traveling around on the hate-filled taxpayers' dime. But we need to be more tolerant. |
| Posted by: regular joe 2010-08-26 11:16 |
| #13 IF there were de facto freedom of religion in NY, St. Nicholas's Church would have been rebuilt by now. Since it's not de jure restriction of religion, but simply the death of infinite papercuts, keeping it from being rebuilt, the bureaucracy can get away with this sort of thing. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-08-26 10:40 |
| #12 Why do I suspect there is a big pile of under the table money involved here? Bloomberg cannot be this politically tone deaf. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-08-26 10:27 |
| #11 "There is nowhere in the five boroughs that is off limits to any religion." Mayor Bloomberg, what about the re-building of the Greek Orthodox church at Ground Zero? What about the impediments that they have encountered? And there is the Christian church that has been trying for 15 years to make use of the public school facilities on Sunday for their services; they have had untold problems trying to do this. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-08-26 10:23 |
| #10 Bloomberg's complete dismissal of a compromise makes no sense? Why would one reject a solution that would allow a fair settlement of the issue, with both sides compromising to the benefit of both? Absolutely no compromise permitted sounds very, well, islamist. And it makes no sense whatsoever. None. And when an action is so illogical, there must be something behind it. What kind of death threats is he receiving from the muslim side? Something evil this way comes. |
| Posted by: Swanimote 2010-08-26 10:18 |
| #9 They are free to practice and worship anywhere else. This is not a free-of-faith issue at all. If folks don't realize this they are going to face a thrashing at the ballot box. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2010-08-26 10:04 |
| #8 i am so sorry New York that you have that mayor. Giuliani wouldn't have put up with it. this is an outrage - a travesty there is NO WAY that mosque should be built |
| Posted by: anon1 2010-08-26 10:02 |
| #7 New York mayor |
| Posted by: armyguy 2010-08-26 07:54 |
| #6 Thomas Jefferson understood Islam very well. Very well indeed. Which is why Rep. Keith Ellison used Jefferson's Koran to be sworn in on. An in-your-face act. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-08-26 07:45 |
| #5 After reading both this article and the one here.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11091931 ..I realised this man just doesn't get it. AT ALL. What is he, eighth richest man in America? Goes to show money and power doesn't stop your mind turning to shit. |
| Posted by: Kojo Cromble5733 2010-08-26 04:54 |
| #4 Coddle those enemies. It's a democrat tradition now. Bloomberg is an a**maggot. |
| Posted by: newc 2010-08-26 04:15 |
| #3 When is Bloomberg up for re-election? |
| Posted by: Water Modem 2010-08-26 02:36 |
| #2 Thomas Jefferson understood Islam very well. Very well indeed. As I said before - the dedication date - exactly 10 years to the day after the murder of 3,000 people - tells me all I need to know about the purpose of the murder mosque. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-08-26 01:12 |
| #1 The folks pushing for this mosque are not being transparent whatsoever. Funding, supporters, and political representation. I say feed it back to them until they are more forthcoming. I'm sure the founding fathers would not have put up with this until they understood what was going on. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-08-26 00:37 |