May 20, 2010

Ground Zero Mosque: A Cultural Center or Islamization?

By Ashraf Ramelah
This past week, just a few months prior to the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedies, the Planning Commission of lower Manhattan has approved the construction of a $100-million mosque near the site of Ground Zero. The thirteen-floor building, as reported by The New York Times a few days ago, will reach a height of one hundred feet. The group sponsoring the project has said that the city and its population would benefit from its purpose as a cultural center which will work to bring harmony between Islamic culture and New Yorkers. The mosque will be constructed in a city still bleeding from one of the worst civilian attacks since WWII, still suffering with the sad memory of the destruction of the World Trade Center and the loss of almost three thousand lives. After almost nine years, New Yorkers and all Americans still wait to see the replacement of the destroyed towers, but instead we find ourselves with a proposed Islamic cultural center, which for some will be nothing more than a...(Read Full Article)