Photography by Greg Hayward Plans to build a Muslim community centre close to Ground Zero in New York have been causing controversy in America. The project, known as Park51 Muslim Cultural Center, is the creation of the Cordoba Initiative, an organisation which aims “to achieve a tipping point in Muslim-West relations within the next decade, steering the world back to the course of mutual recognition and respect??.
Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin wrote that “to build a mosque at Ground Zero is a stab in the heart of the families of the innocent victims of those horrific attacks.”
She called it an “an intolerable mistake on hallowed ground??.
Debra Burlingame co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America, whose brother died in the attack said “This is a place which is 600 feet from where almost 3,000 people were torn to pieces by Islamic extremists.”
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who endorsed the project said:
?The government should never, never be in the business of telling people how they should pray, or where they can pray. We want to make sure that everybody from around the world feels comfortable coming here, living here, and praying the way they want to pray.??
Newly appointed Park51 Senior Advisor, Imam Abdallah Adhami said, ?This is an extraordinary opportunity to be a key advisor on a project going forward that has enormous creative and healing potential for the collective good in New York City and in our nation.