Growing Opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque
Your voice and concern is being heard about plans to build an Islamic mosque at the site of Ground Zero in New York City.
A growing number of Americans - now 71% according to the latest CBS News poll - simply don't believe the Ground Zero site is an appropriate site for the mosque.
That comes as a growing number of Muslims leaders agree - they don't believe this site is the proper place to build a mosque either. We have compiled comments from a growing number of Muslim leaders in this country and abroad who oppose this location. You can read those comments here.
The fact is more and more people understand that building a mosque at this location is insensitive - especially to the families and friends of 9-11 victims - including our client Tim Brown, a firefighter and first responder who survived the Twin Towers' collapse, but lost nearly 100 colleagues that day.
For them, the pain never ends. They consider this site hallowed, sacred ground and, like most Americans, don't believe this is the place to build a mosque. To them, it should be a memorial - not a mosque.
As you know, we're preparing to amend our lawsuit challenging this mosque. We will be adding additional parties and causes of action. Important information was not previously disclosed about the ownership of the site. It turns out that a public utility, Con Edison, actually owns one-half of the site. We will argue that the mosque developers do not possess the legal right to proceed with demolition or construction. In addition to urging the court to put any demolition/construction on hold, we'll request that the New York State Public Service Commission, which has regulatory authority of any disposition of land owned by a public utility, conduct a required review detailing the impact of this project.
As we learn more about the project, we also learn more about Imam Rauf - the man behind the proposed mosque - a man who touts himself as a bridge builder.
Let's not forget that it was Imam Rauf who told 60 minutes days after the 9-11 attacks that that U.S. was "an accessory to the crimes" that occurred that day. This is the same Imam who has refused to label Hamas a terrorist organization. Hamas, by the way, wasted no time in backing Imam Rauf's plans for the Ground Zero mosque.
This is the same Imam who said "that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al Qaeda has on its hands of innocent non-Muslims" - alleging that US-led sanctions against Iraq led to the death of Iraqi children. The facts don't support that allegation. President Clinton clearly stated: "If any child is without food or medicine or a roof over his or her head in Iraq, it's because he [Saddam] is claiming sanctions are doing it and sticking it to his own children." And, it's important to remember that al Qaeda actually targets the innocent - including children - with its acts of terrorism. The comparison is absurd.
And where will the $100 million dollars come from to build this mosque? Backers of the project haven't ruled out taking money from countries like Iran which has been designated a sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. government.
Jordan has written a compelling article about this issue published in the Washington Post. You can read the article here. Please read the article and leave your comments at that site.
There's still a lot of unanswered questions about all of this. We will continue to investigate and to bring you the facts about this project and the people behind it.
We're grateful that so many of you are standing with us - and voicing your opposition to putting a mosque on this site. If you haven't had a chance to add your name yet, please do so now. Add your name here.