Jewish activists support mosque near ground zero, say Muslims should have role in downtown NYC
By APThursday, August 5, 2010
Jewish activists support mosque near ground zero
NEW YORK — A group of Jewish activists and community leaders has rallied in support of a planned Islamic center near the World Trade Center site.
Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Philadelphia-based Shalom Center joined about 30 other religious leaders and Jewish activists Thursday at the spot where the Cordoba Initiative hopes to build a mosque, athletic center, culinary school and art studios.
Waskow says he thought it was appropriate for a Muslim institution to be present in lower Manhattan and condemned some criticism of the plan as “hatred.”
Some conservatives and other critics have opposed the center, saying it was provocative for a mosque to be built so close to a spot where Islamic terrorists killed thousands.
