To N.Y. Muslims, Islamic center near Ground Zero would be more than a mosque

[chimpymustgo]

To N.Y. Muslims, Islamic center near Ground Zero would be more than a mosque

By Krissah Thompson and Felicia Sonmez
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 19, 2010

This is what the controversial Islamic community center and mosque being planned in Lower Manhattan means to Ehab Zahriyeh: not having to play basketball in church leagues.

For Fatima Monkush, it would be a place to swim -- sans cap and layers of clothing -- with other Muslim women.

While the national debate about the center has elicited passionate statements for and against it from Democrats and Republicans, what Muslims have been left with is a great deal of disappointment. And for the young American-born New Yorkers who hope to use the site as a fitness center, meeting space and prayer hall, among other functions, the sense of rejection is personal.

"The debate is maybe the most unfortunate thing we've seen in a long time, to see Americans behave in such a manner," said Zahriyeh, 24, who was born and raised in Brooklyn. His parents are Palestinian Americans who immigrated to the city more than three decades ago.

-edit-

The project's organizers have said that the center, called Park51, is modeled on Manhattan's 92nd Street Y, a community center open to all New Yorkers. Park51 is also intended to be open to the entire community, though there will be some restrictions based on Muslim traditions.

It would house meeting rooms, a fitness center, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a restaurant and culinary school, a library, a 500-seat auditorium, a Sept. 11 memorial, a reflection space, and a mosque that could attract as many as 2,000 worshipers on Fridays. There is no place like it in the city, which is home to 600,000 to 700,000 Muslims, according to Columbia University researchers.

"Everybody's just excited for the space," said Monkush, 27, who grew up in Hartford and moved to New York recently to pursue a career in fashion. Her American mother and Bengali father worried about her safety when she told them that she planned to go to the Park51 site to pray during Ramadan last week, but she saw no protesters.

"It's very depressing to see your fellow Americans turning on you," she said.

Much more at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/18/AR2010081806714.html?hpid=topnews

[AlabamaLibrul]

1. Come on, why would you bring the locals who would USE THE PLACE into this? n/t

:sarcasm:

[aquart]

5. Locals? Are you serious?

Do you have ANY idea what it costs to move into that area? You need a trust fund or a Wall Street broker income. Young basketball players? Living there? WHERE?

If you want to know where Muslims live, look up halal markets nyc. The markets service Muslim communities. There is not one in lower Manhattan.

The article is a big fat fudge.

[unblock]

7. a lot of muslims in manhattan eat at mcdonald's, too, you know

just as jews don't shop exclusively at kosher market

[JHB]

9. And how many work in the area?

There are plenty of businesses and other organizations in that area that don't depend on residents.

[LostinVA]

10. I didn't realize NYC had scrapped its bus and subway system

My bad. OOPS!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

17. Those Mooslims are gonna pull an "I Dream of Jeannie."

Cross their arms and shout "Allahu Akbar!" Presto, they're at the mosque.

[Bluerthanblue]

18. if you don't think there are "poor" people living an Manhattan, then

you need to think again.

http://www.city-data.com/poverty/poverty-Manhattan-New-York.html

We were a host family for an awesome young man from Manhattan for 5yrs. He isn't Muslim, but his family was neither blessed with a "trust-fund" or well off financially.

:shrug:

Are citizens who are Muslim not entitled to the same rights as everyone else?

[Karenina]

2. "It's very depressing to see your fellow Americans turning on you."

[aquart]

3. LOL! The "CITY is home to 600,000-700,000 Muslims."

It sure is. How many of those homes are in Lower Manhattan? Talk about lying with statistics.

BTW, just in case you didn't notice, these young Muslims do NOT envision a place open to the community. They think that center is only for them where they don't have to play basketball with Christians, and they can swim with other Muslim women.

The interviewed young man was raised where? In the vibrant Muslim community of Brooklyn. Which could really use those basketball courts and that swimming pool.

And NOT A MOSQUE expects 2,000 worshippers every Friday.

LMAO.

[chimpymustgo]

4. I surely hope the bigots lose out on this one and the center gets built.

[aquart]

6. Oh, me, too.

Can't wait for those 2000 to flock to prayer instead of going home to their own neighborhoods and families after a hard day's work.

[AlabamaLibrul]

8. "Own neighborhoods and families" Jesus Christ, this HAS to be an elaborate ruse. That you Colbert?

nt

[chimpymustgo]

11. You're really showing your true colors here. Wow. You should be ashamed.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

19. Yes, they should stay in designated areas.

And while we're at it, how about placing an Islamic crescent on their clothing?

You are nothing more than a bigot. At least use what little courage you have to admit it.

[parkia00]

13. Just out of curiousity...

but where did you get the idea that "Muslims do NOT envision a place open to the community" or "think that center is only for them" or that triage about them not wanting to mix with non-Muslims?

Have heard of public transport? Can go places with those! I think NYC has some of those moving thingys that bring people around. Would it not be foreseeable if a Muslim that was not from that neighborhood was attracted to something in the area that he/she felt was of benefit, they could travel there?

If no ugly Muslims are in the area, then how come quite a few were killed there on 9/11? How did they get there?

And finally, how far is too near for a building with a mosque to be constructed before your sense of easily offended reality is offended? Should the other mosques in the neighborhood also be removed? Because you are offended? Because they are too near the haloed ground? All that talk about holy haloed ground crap where an incident that took the lives of people of a multitude of races and religions happened. All the holy sprinkling of dust that went all the way to China on salvaged steel to be melted down. How near is too near before Ann Cultour wannabes start barking?

[chimpymustgo]

16. parkia...you have raised the essential question: just what would be an acceptable distance

from the "hallowed" ground? Three blocks? Seven?

-edit-

how far is too near for a building with a mosque to be constructed before your sense of easily offended reality is offended? Should the other mosques in the neighborhood also be removed? Because you are offended? Because they are too near the haloed ground? All that talk about holy haloed ground crap where an incident that took the lives of people of a multitude of races and religions happened. All the holy sprinkling of dust that went all the way to China on salvaged steel to be melted down. How near is too near before Ann Cultour wannabes start barking?

-edit-

[Imajika]

12. Hey, I thought we were being told it wasn't a mosque?

It appears to be a community center AND a mosque. Basically a community center with a mosque in it. Please let the "it's not a mosque" talking point end here since there most definitely WILL be a mosque on this site.

Also, will men and women be able to swim in the pool at the same time? I bet the answer is no. Women will likely be segregated as they are at most/all Islamic community centers.

And yes, they have every right to build the community center AND mosque on this site. Personally, I could care less if they build it on ground zero itself. If the President HAD to say something I agree with his original statement from the previous Friday, not the revised "I won't address the wisdom of it" flip flop. But lets not fool ourselves into making this place sound soft and cuddly though. It's an Islamic religious site and most likely will NOT be some beacon to tolerance and understanding. People shouldn't try to build it up into some "Mom and Apple Pie" landmark so they can support it.

Politically, it was a TERRIBLE idea for the President to wade into this. He could have gone to that dinner Friday and said not one word about it. Most people have little idea of what is going on with the issues of the day, and sometimes a politician has to understand that the right thing to say will create an unnecessary firestorm driven by our populations general ignorance. Wading into this issue has caused a huge distraction for the President. The Republicans must be laughing hysterically right now at their good fortune. At least for the Democratic Party, this will be a big fat loser of an issue and the faster they can agree to put this community center AND mosque someplace else the better. Dr. Dean, Harry Reid, etc are right about that.

[Karenina]

15. "It's very depressing to see your fellow Americans turning on you."

[slackmaster]

14. We have "not a mosque", "it's a mosque", "mosque on the same property", and "more than a mosque"

:crazy: