New Yorkers say Ground Zero mosque inappropriate
By IANSFriday, September 24, 2010
NEW YORK - A majority of New Yorkers feel that a mosque and an Islamic centre at the site of the erstwhile World Trade Center was “wrong” and inappropriate and could have been shifted to some other place.
A poll conducted among 751 voters from around New York State during Sep 16-20 by the Quinnipiac University found that 57 percent said building a mosque so close to Ground Zero is “wrong”. Most voters think it was not “appropriate” to put a mosque close to Ground Zero, the New York Post reported Friday.
“There’s a party split: Republicans overwhelmingly say no, Democrats say yes,” Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, was quoted as saying.
Ninety percent Republicans rejected the idea that a mosque near Ground Zero is appropriate, while 50 percent of Democrats said a mosque at the location is ok.
Around 34 percent of Democrats said it is not appropriate, while 63 percent of people not allied to either group say it’s wrong.
But almost all New Yorkers agree that the US’ belief in freedom of religion gives Muslims the right to build the mosque, Carroll said.
Around 80 percent of New Yorkers believe the mosque’s backers have a legal right to build on the site they own near Ground Zero, while 15 percent said they don’t.
But 67 percent of those surveyed said the mosque should be moved voluntarily.
