’Ground Zero mosque’ opens quietly

Al Jazeera ^ | 22 Sep 2011 | AP

[DelanoSAlways]

An Islamic cultural centre close to the site where New York's World Trade Center once stood has opened quietly in spite of scenes last year of vehement protests from those who said the area should not house a mosque.

The opening ceremony for the Park51 centre on Wednesday featured a photo exhibit called "NYChildren", displaying over 160 portraits of immigrant children living in New York.

Sharif El-Gamal, the center's developer, said the biggest error on the project was not involving the families of 9/11 victims from the start.

"We made incredible mistakes," El-Gamal told The Associated Press in an earlier interview at his Manhattan office.

The building at 51 Park Place, two blocks from the World Trade Center site, includes a Muslim prayer space that has been open for two years.

The Islamic center sparked a national debate last year about the place of Islam among the numerous religions practised in the US.

By contrast, Park51 has vowed to offer "social and recreational services, as well as world-class health, wellness and educational facilities", alongside a religious focus.

"Presently, Park51 is opening its doors to New Yorkers of all backgrounds for interfaith workshops, films and lectures," the group said on its website, as a mosque has already been operating on the site for two years.

Last year thousands of people marched through New York on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, facing off in angry debate under a heavy police presence as they protested for or against the project.

The row was stirred in August 2010 by threats from an evangelical Christian pastor to burn hundreds of Korans unless the mosque was moved.

[Beowulf9]

ping

[xrmusn]

I realize we are definitely a ‘cut above’ the rest of the world when it comes to these sort of things (whether for the better or not) but I just can’t quite picture Israel bombing Tehran then be allowed to build a Synagogue near the site of the carnage - unless of course they had ‘conquered’ Iran or at least declared they had.

We are sure in some strange times, the old frog in cold water trick has surely taken place - with the exception being WE saw it coming and (more or less) allowed it to happen.

[PghBaldy]

Where do you get that idea? I don’t think he was there.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

Party like it’s 1492.

[Sonny M]

Does a building have to be done in the classical mosque style, with a dome and a prayer tower, in order to qualify within Islam as a “mosque”? Is it enough to have a prayer sanctuary in it? Nobody would say that in order to be a church, a building needs a steeple.

From the muslims I have talked to, sort of yes, it seems there are a bunch of requirements for it to be a mosque.

Same muslims that I talked to, also said these guys were con-artists and that they think this whole thing is a scam to sucker money out of well meaning liberals.

[NTHockey]

ll it would take is ONE pig buried on the site BEFORE it opened. Now all we can do is what Americans have become too good at, b*tch and moan.

“Our Country won’t go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won’t be any AMERICA because some foreign soldier will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race!” Chesty Puller

[Diogenesis]

"(The GroundZero Mosque) cleared its final hurdle ….
developers plan to build the $100 million center which will include a mosque.
Since its incipient stages in July 2009, when a Muslim-run real-estate development
company purchased the damaged, vacant building and land where the new center
will be built, the project has sparked controversy and debate.
.... the tattered building that was bought by the Muslim real estate company had
been owned by a subsidiary of Bain Capital, a company Romney founded in 1984.
So it’s OK if his company can profit off the sale of the land ."

---

“Bain Capital, has cut checks totaling $90,000 to Romney’s operation. “

[stevie_d_64]

I was thinking a BBQ...Roasted Pig...etc etc etc...

Overall I’m just amazed that no one ever, in this entire process ever said that this might not be a good idea...

And why, with all the events leading up to the ten year anniversary of 9/11 did any of the families of any of the victims of this murder spree, ever get reported to walk by this facility and voice their dissaproval...

They were being interviewed for every other damn thing in the days leading up to the opening of the Ground Zero Memorial...Commenting on a lot of things, and not one mention of this abomination...

[sten]

in other words... a new public toilet opened at the Park51 center

i suggest using it frequently if you’re in the area.

feel free to ‘color outside the lines’

[Biggirl]

Rebuild first St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, then we will talk. SARC.

[Travis McGee]

[A_Former_Democrat]

Our side sure gives up easily

What if this had been a leftist protest?

[WPaCon]

They say that Islamic conquerors tend to replace the old symbol of the previous culture with a mosque, like with the Temple Mount and Hagia Sophia.

I’m a little insulted that the Muslims think the World Trade Center fits that bill with our culture.

[massgopguy]

Yes it does. This is a “Rabbat”.

[fwdude]

The Mohammedans see this as a great conquest, whatever else they’re saying. No doubt about it.

[American in Israel]

I would say it opened with quite a bang.

[nikos1121]

This is a mosque?

[HiTech RedNeck]

It’s about a quarter mile from the twin towers’ site, further away on the ground than the towers were tall.

What galls more is that the city has been giving the runaround to people wanting to repair a Greek Orthodox church building that was damaged due to the falling towers. It’s easier to get the city’s OK to put up this non-mosque, this rabbat or whatever, than it is to get the church building fixed. I don’t have to agree with all of the Greek Orthodox theology to know in my heart that this is a stupid situation and an affront to Jesus Christ and God.

[WPaCon]

I should have qualified my statement.

This mosque is not on the exact spot of the WTC and is not important enough to serve as its replacement the way the Dome of the Rock and the Aya Sofya Mosque did.

I’m also not sure whether the 9/11 planners even planned on building an Islamic replacement to the WTC.