The imam at the center of the controversy over what's become known as the "Ground Zero Mosque" — a YMCA-like Islamic center on property two blocks from the former site of the World Trade Center — says the project will not be stopped and that financial backers will be identified.
In an Op-Ed article on the New York Times website posted Tuesday night, Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam for the proposed Park51 community center, writes of his surprise at the opposition to the center — but is emphatic in saying the center will be built.
"I have been away from home for two months, speaking abroad about cooperation among people from different religions," writes Rauf, who has been on a goodwill mission sponsored by the U.S. government.
"Every day, including the past two weeks spent representing my country on a State Department tour in the Middle East, I have been struck by how the controversy has riveted the attention of Americans, as well as nearly everyone I met in my travels."
"We are proceeding with the community center, Cordoba House," Rauf writes. "More important, we are doing so with the support of the downtown community, government at all levels and leaders from across the religious spectrum, who will be our partners. I am convinced that it is the right thing to do for many reasons."
READ MORE...
No comments:
Post a Comment