[CaseyFronczek]

from the ny daily news website


Mosque hysteria reached fevered pitch Sunday as angry protesters opposed to building an Islamic center near Ground Zero squared off with supporters of the project.

In mostly peaceful counter-demonstrations, hundreds braved the rain in Lower Manhattan to voice their position on the contentious project that has spiralled into a national political issue.

"It's very insensitive to the families," said retired firefighter Tim Brown who escaped the collapse of the Twin Towers. "This is not about religious freedom."

"All we are saying is don't build this mosque here at Ground Zero on our cemetery."

Supporters of the proposed mosque two blocks from the Trade Center site said blocking it would be a victory for terrorism.

"These people against it need to open their eyes and see how much hate this is bringing," said 28-year-old tour guide Victor Hernandez. "The terrorists win when we don't allow people their freedoms."

The day began with hundreds of anti-mosque protesters roaring into Lower Manhattan on motorcycles. Within hours both sides had gathered en masse.


The two groups were kept apart in penned-in protest sites two blocks way from each other - about 200 gathered in support of the project and 1,000 against.

A heavy police presence stood in between.

The Park Place block where the proposed center would be built in a former Burlington Coat Factory store was closed off with police barricades.

Opponents chanted "No mosque, no way!" and carried signs reading, "9-11-01: Never Forget," as Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" blared over loudspeakers.

Supporters carried signs reading, "America! When did it become OK to be a bigot!" and screamed "Hallowed ground, that's a lie!"

One group brought a life-sized mock missile with a dummy terrorist draped over top holding a sign that read: "Obama, your middle-name is Hussain [sic], we understand. Bloomberg, what's your excuse."

Mayor Bloomberg has stood in support of the mosque project.

Despite the distance between the sides, occasional sparring matches erupted as two crossed paths in between.

"The mosque shouldn't be here!" shouted Barry Bledsoe, 46, who drove from West Virginia with his 9-year-old son to attend the protest.

"We've got troops in Iraq and Afghanistan fighting for this!" a supporter shouted back.

Cops quickly separated the two.

"There is an un-Godly, unholy thing gonna go up two blocks away from this site. Absolutely not!" Bledsoe screamed as he walked away.

Later a scuffle broke out at the site of the pro-mosque protest a when a mosque opponent held up a sign that read, "I can draw Mohammed if you can build a mosque."

Rhetoric around the project has grown increasingly charged.

Opponents have accused the mosque's planners of anything from insensitivity to being terrorist sympathizers. Supporters say blocking the project would violate constitutional rights.

Gov. Paterson has attempted to broker a compromise offering the developers to swap the proposed site with state-owned land elsewhere.

Developers of the Park51 project said they were consulting with their stakeholders on how to proceed.

"We don't want to create conflict," Daisy Khan said on ABC's "This Week." "We will meet and we do what is right for everyone."

Her husband, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, the main proponent of the project, was traveling in the Middle East on a state department tour.

Rauf told a newspaper in Bahrain that constitutionally-protected freedoms in the U.S. reflect true Islamic values better in some Muslim countries.