President supports building of mosque
Source: Agencies |
August 15, 2010, Sunday
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THE president of the United States, after skirting the controversy for weeks, is weighing in forcefully on the planned mosque near the site of the destroyed World Trade Center, saying a nation built on religious freedom must allow it.
"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country," Barack Obama told a crowd gathered at the White House on Friday evening to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
The White House had not previously taken a stand on the mosque, which would be part of a US$100 million Islamic community center two blocks from where nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked airliners slammed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Press secretary Robert Gibbs had said it was a local matter.
But it was already much more than that, sparking debate around the country as Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich announced their opposition. So did the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group.
Obama elevated it to a presidential issue on Friday without equivocation. While insisting that the place where the twin towers once stood was "hallowed ground," Obama said that the proper way to honor it was to apply American values.
Obama said: "Time and again, the American people have demonstrated that we can work through these issues, and stay true to our core values and emerge stronger for it. So it must be and will be today."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed Obama's words as a "clarion defense of the freedom of religion."
But Debra Burlingame, a spokeswoman for some victims' families and the sister of one of the pilots killed in the attacks, said: "Barack Obama has abandoned America at the place where America's heart was broken nine years ago, and where her true values were on display for all to see." Building the mosque at ground zero, she said, "is a deliberately provocative act that will precipitate more bloodshed in the name of Allah."
Obama's stance runs counter to the opinion polls. A CNN/Opinion Research poll found nearly 70 percent of Americans opposed the mosque.
"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country," Barack Obama told a crowd gathered at the White House on Friday evening to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
The White House had not previously taken a stand on the mosque, which would be part of a US$100 million Islamic community center two blocks from where nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked airliners slammed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Press secretary Robert Gibbs had said it was a local matter.
But it was already much more than that, sparking debate around the country as Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich announced their opposition. So did the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group.
Obama elevated it to a presidential issue on Friday without equivocation. While insisting that the place where the twin towers once stood was "hallowed ground," Obama said that the proper way to honor it was to apply American values.
Obama said: "Time and again, the American people have demonstrated that we can work through these issues, and stay true to our core values and emerge stronger for it. So it must be and will be today."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed Obama's words as a "clarion defense of the freedom of religion."
But Debra Burlingame, a spokeswoman for some victims' families and the sister of one of the pilots killed in the attacks, said: "Barack Obama has abandoned America at the place where America's heart was broken nine years ago, and where her true values were on display for all to see." Building the mosque at ground zero, she said, "is a deliberately provocative act that will precipitate more bloodshed in the name of Allah."
Obama's stance runs counter to the opinion polls. A CNN/Opinion Research poll found nearly 70 percent of Americans opposed the mosque.
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