An architect whom I met at one of industry networking events sent me an email plea for joining a protest demonstration against construction of a mosque in the heart of Financial District in downtown Manhattan.
At first I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read this:
Community Board for New York City’s financial district unanimously approved the construction of a 13-story mosque and Islamic cultural center right across from Ground Zero.
Apparently, it’s true.
“Swift kick in the teeth“, all right. “Insulted, appalled and infuriated” are a very mild expression to relay what I feel right now.
But if you feel like me, you must be a racist, bigot and altogether unenlightened person:
“The worst tendency is the knee-jerk, emotional, angry, hateful response to acts of violence and war,” said Donna Marsh O’Connor, who lost daughter Vanessa on 9/11 and supports the mosque. “I think it’s racist tendencies.” [Bold is mine – ETat]
For shame.
If you’re in NYC on June 6th, please join us in this protest action. There must be some sanity left in this world!
Update1:
The 13-story mosque and cultural center will be built on the site of a four-story building that was a Burlington Coat Factory retail store until 9/11, when part of a plane’s landing gear crashed through the roof. The building, which will be razed, currently houses a mosque.
The New York City Mayor’s office says “It’s private property, and the area is zoned for uses that include this one”.
Update2
See also:
“The land is bought — with $4.85 million in unaccounted for cash — and the project is a go. Short of colossal public outcry leading to an administrative miracle, Cordoba House will join the Manhattan skyline, a multiculti vision of togetherness”
Interestingly, the Imam and his colleagues at Cordoba Initiative forgot to mention a mosque in their nauseatingly-sweet description of the proposed building:
Cordoba House will provide a place where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, will find a center of learning, art and culture; and most importantly, a center guided by Islamic values in their truest form – compassion, generosity, and respect for all.
The site will contain tremendous amounts of resources that otherwise would not exist in Lower Manhattan; a 500-seat auditorium, swimming pool, art exhibition spaces, bookstores, restaurants – all these services would form a cultural nexus for a region of New York City that, as it continues to grow, requires the sort of hub that Cordoba House will provide.
Update3
How strange to read this reaction to a series of posts by Debbie Schlussel by Perry de Havilland. It’s like men are completely losing their minds and logical abilities when shown an ass and a pair of bouncing tits.
[…] 6, 2010 by ETat Leaving my house at 11am, I was prepared to be one in a few hundreds – how many people read blogs? There was […]
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