Anger, hope meet Ground Zero mosque plan FEATURE 05/17/2010

Anger, hope meet Ground Zero mosque plan

FEATURE 05/17/2010 NEW YORK — An ambitious plan to build a mosque next to New York’s Ground Zero is prompting hope — and anger — in a city scarred by terrorism. There’s little to see now at the site, an abandoned clothing store two blocks from the former World Trade Center where nearly 3,000 persons died on Sept. 11, 2001. But Feisal Abdul Rauf, a New York imam and a leader of the project, says the planned multi-story Islamic center will transform both the drab lower Manhattan street and the way Americans have looked on Muslims since 9/11. Boasting a mosque with sports facilities, a theater and possibly day care, the center would be open to all visitors to demonstrate that Muslims are part of their community, not some separate element. “There’s nothing like this that we know of in the United States,” Rauf told AFP. “This will be a community center for everyone, not just for Muslims, but non-Muslims.” These are tense times for American Muslims who find themselves increasingly painted both by the public and law enforcement bodies as a possible source of terrorism. A failed car bomb in New York’s Times Square on May 1 was allegedly planted by a Pakistani-born American, prompting senior figures in Washington to recommend stripping basic rights from US passport holders suspected of Islamist militant links.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100517com5.html

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