AP10050603870A New York panel voted to clear the way this morning for the construction of a mosque a few blocks from the Ground Zero site in Manhattan.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission ruled that the 152-year-old building (pictured at right) at the planned site of the mosque is not a historical site, and can be demolished, reports The New York Post.
The Anti-Defamation League and high-profile Republicans like Sarah Palin and Former Speaker Newt Gingrich have expressed their opposition to the mosque, saying it is too close to the site of the 9-11 attacks. Gingrich said America is experiencing "an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization."
The Cordoba Initiative, the group planning to build the mosque, say on their website that they are dedicated to promoting understanding and tolerance between Muslims and non-Muslims in the United States. The proposed 13-story, $100 million project would include a swimming pool, gym, and performance space open to everyone, reports ABC News.
Cordoba Initiative leader Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf wrote in the Washington Post that his work as a religious leader is "precisely to make sure mosques are not recruiting grounds for radicals," and that "opportunistic rabble-rousing" against the mosque is fomented by a few politicians and media members who "deny the basic decency of the American people."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg supports Rauf and the project. "I think our young men and women overseas are fighting for exactly this — for the right of people to practice their religion and for government to not pick and choose which religions they support, which religions they don't," he said.
Public protests and opposition to mosques around the country are also on the rise, Muslim advocates and scholars told the Upshot.
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