When it is a commercial space. When it is a community center. And most important, when it is a political football.
I speak, of course, of the planned development located in Lower Manhattan at 51 Park Place called Cordoba House.
The facts in this case are simple. On September 11, 2001, two passenger jets were hijacked by a number of men, Muslims all, and they crashed these jets into 1 World Trade Center and 2 World Trade Center, setting the buildings ablaze. Trapped by the fires, many people jumped to their deaths. Approximately one hour after each building was struck by a jet, they collapsed onto themselves. Several buildings surrounding the trade center towers were also destroyed. Almost three thousand people were killed.
Now, almost 10 years later, significant reconstruction is taking place on the World Trade Center site. Two blocks north, on Park Place, stands a sealed and vacant building that formerly housed the Burlington Coat Factory, a discount clothing store. The building was purchased by a Muslim developer with the intention of constructing a cultural center, named Park 51, based on its address of 51 Park Place. Part of that development is to include a mosque.
This is from the Park 51.org
website:
Park51 will grow into a world-class community center, planned to include the following facilities:
* outstanding recreation spaces and fitness facilities (swimming pool, gym, basketball court)
* a 500-seat auditorium
* a restaurant and culinary school
* cultural amenities including exhibitions
* education programs
* a library, reading room and art studios
* childcare services
* a mosque, intended to be run separately from Park51 but open to and accessible to all members, visitors and our New York community
* a September 11th memorial and quiet contemplation space, open to all
The developer has followed all applicable rules and regulations. The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission has found the site to be of no architectural significance. The local community board voted overwhelmingly in support of the project. Finally, the use of this space for Muslim prayer services is not a new development, as the 51 Park web site reports,
Daily Muslim prayer services have been held at 51 Park Place since late 2009. We hope to expand services and facilities in the coming months, although a firm date has not yet been set for the opening of Park51
So why do many people object to this development. Moreover, who are these people who so vocally and vociferously object?
There are the hate mongers, the people for whom anything Islamic is anathema. For them the issue of he Park 51's proximity to the World Trade Center is convenient camouflage for their anti-Islamism. They wouldn't be happy if Park 51 were moved 5 blocks, 5 miles, or 500 miles.
There are those who believe that this is a deliberate poke in the eye from Islamists who are following an old tradition. They say that this planned development is nothing less than a Muslim victory marker, similar to the construction of the Dome of the Rock on the site of the Temple in Jerusalem or by changing the Sancta Sophia in Constantinople to Hagia Sophia. From
Wikipedia:
In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque.[6] The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over. The Islamic features — such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside — were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey.
There are those who honestly believe that the site is too close to the World Trade Center. For them the wounds are still too raw and the Islamic beliefs of the murderers are impossible to sever from the Islamic beliefs of the Park 51 developers. To them, an Islamic center at this specific location is an insult and the development should be moved.
There are those I call the "perpetual mourners". For them, September 11, 2001 happened yesterday. Their losses are still immediate and fresh. They have not been able to either finish or diminish their grieving and to "move on".
There is even a movement among some of the city's construction tradesmen to boycott the site despite the high unemployment in the construction industry. See
this story in the New York Daily News:
A growing number of New York construction workers are vowing not to work on the mosque planned near Ground Zero.
"It's a very touchy thing because they want to do this on sacred ground," said Dave Kaiser, 38, a blaster who is working to rebuild the World Trade Center site.
"I wouldn't work there, especially after I found out about what the imam said about U.S. policy being responsible for 9/11," Kaiser said.
The grass-roots movement is gaining momentum on the Internet. One construction worker created the "Hard Hat Pledge" on his blog and asked others to vow not to work on the project if it stays on Park Place.
And what of the supporters of the Park 51 development?
The developer, Sharif El-Gamal, is digging in his heels and
rejecting any offers of alternative sites:
The developer of an Islamic cultural center that would include a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero appear to have rejected Gov. David Paterson's offer to help them find a different site but a meeting may still be in the works.
On Tuesday, Rep. Peter King said he learned the governor planned to speak with the imam and developers of the mosque and cultural center later this week. Both King and Paterson are scheduled to discuss the issue on Larry King Live tonight.
Lead developer Sharif El-Gamal told NY1 yesterday no meeting had been scheduled yet. Since Paterson first offered to help broker a new location for the mosque last week, however, El-Gamal has insisted the subject was not up for debate, stressing the proximity of the planned center to Ground Zero was not an issue.
"Park51 is a community center. It is two blocks north of the World Trade Center site,” El-Gamal told NY1. “In New York City, two blocks is a great distance. There are some buildings in New York that have their own zip codes. There is such a scarcity of space in New York, especially in Lower Manhattan. Keep in mind this is a small island, so we are nowhere near the World Trade Center site."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has become more and more strident in his support of Park 51. See
this Daily News story:
“We may not always agree with every one of our neighbors. That's life. And it's part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11, 2001.
“On that day, 3,000 people were killed because some murderous fanatics didn't want us to enjoy the freedoms to profess our own faiths, to speak our own minds, to follow our own dreams, and to live our own lives. Of all our precious freedoms, the most important may be the freedom to worship as we wish. And it is a freedom that even here -- in a city that is rooted in Dutch tolerance -- was hard-won over many years.
So what might a radical Moderate make of this issue?
I must address those whom I called "constant mourners".
I was in the area of the World trade center on September 11, 2001. I witnessed people jumping from those buildings to their ultimate ends. I witnessed the collapse of those two towers and the destruction of the buildings that surrounded them. I breathed the acrid air of Lower Manhattan for three months as the rubble on the site continued to burn until just before Christmas. At that time, I was in discussions with two entities that operated in those buildings and had they been concluded just a bit earlier, I might have been in one of those two buildings on that unforgettable morning. Those are my bona fides. I am fortunate that I did not know anyone who died on that day. But my words should have no greater or lesser weight than the words of those who did suffer a grievous loss.
To the "perpetual mourners" I understand that your grief is deep, and fresh, and personal. I can not tell you to "get over it" and to "move on". Only you can decide that. But I resent your imposing your grief on me. And I resent your desire to prevent me from living in the present. Yes, I was there and yes, I remember. But remembering does not mean living in a frozen moment in time. I prefer to look to the future.
Truth is something that ultimately is unknowable. Whether the various charges being thrown against the Park 51 developers are true is irrelevant. What is relevant is that the developers have followed all of the rules and regulations of the City of New York regarding site location. What is relevant is that the developers, too, are covered and protected by the concepts of our Constitution and Bill of Rights which guaranty freedom of worship. I find it ironic that those on the political right who so easily attack the Park 51 development, and by doing so trammel the First Amendment at the same time stand as vigorous guardians to the Second Amendment. A consistency of philosophy is not their strong point. I think in this case it is called "hypocrisy".
I, too, am sensitive to the emotional context of this situation. I was there.
So what is the solution?
I have a cartoon posted in my office. It shows a man at a crossroads with a directional sign for each road. One sign says "Legally Right". The other sign says "Morally Right". The carton perfectly frame this issue.
The Park 51 developers legally purchased the property. They followed all rules and regulations. It is not the government's position to protect the sensitivities of those who might be offended by the construction of this facility. The laws must be upheld, even for those with whom we might harbor differences. Perhaps especially for those we have differences, when they are in full compliance with laws.
Several years ago a group of nuns wanted to build a convent on or relatively close to the site of the infamous Auschwitz death camp. Outrage emanated from the Jewish community as this was considered an affront to the particularly Jewish connection to this horrible site. Pope John Paul II, sensitive to the needs of the Jewish community, prevailed upon the nuns to move the site of their proposed convent, reportedly telly them" What you plan to do is good, but if you were to move it, it would be better."
I believe that a position that would satisfy all is available. The Park 51 developers should say that they recognize their right to build the Cordoba House at 51 Park Place. But they also say that Cordoba House is planned to be a site of peace and harmony. It is clear that siting it on Park Place would cause it to inflame passions rather than to achieve its goals. They should say that they are willing to consider alternative sites several blocks away, such as north of Canal Street, so that all may enjoy Cordoba House it peace.
But you know that's not gonna happen.
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