Having an Iftar at the Ground Zero Mosque

By Dardan Lajqi

Mosque, 2 blocks away from Ground Zero has been already established and it’s now operating. Peter Abdullah, a student at NYU and also a Muslim New Yorker that was praying at that mosque said “Mosque only uses two floors, the first and the basement with a capacity of 700 people praying at the same time, while other 5 floors are completely abandoned.” He was really excited for the new building and he with all other people inside in the building were very friendly to me. But, outside of the building, people that passed by the mosque were scared or said differently they were hesitant to voice their opinion. Zef Palaj, a catholic Albanian doorman that works right at the next building, which is attached with the mosque when asked what he thinks about the mosque he said: “It`s not my business.” Besides him, almost everyone who pass by the street where the mosque is located throw out words such as: “This is really close” or “This is scary” or “They can’t build a mosque over here.”

Peter Abdullah expressed a different opinion about the location of the mosque. During Iftar he said “Location is perfect for an Islamic Cultural Center, because the goal of the new building is to tell everyone and especially the ones that believe that Islam is responsible for 9/11, that Islam is about peace and that the terrorist attack had nothing to do with Islam.” He continues saying that “People that live here and come here at Ground Zero have been influenced from the media and especially FOX TV channel to believe that terrorism is connected to Islam. Which indeed it’s not true that’s why we want a mosque right here so we can target the right people and tell them that we are not terrorist, but a peaceful religion.” Peter takes his Mom as an example, he says “My Mom is not Muslim and she doesn`t really practices any religion, but when I ask her whether Muslims are terrorist; she says yes, but if I keep asking her; she will say no, because deep down she knows that we aren`t terrorists. It`s just the media propagandas and influence in people.”

Mr. Sammy El-Gamal, the brother of Mr. Sharif El-Gamal the developer of the Park 51, had an Iftar over there too. He refused to give any opinion or anything else, even though imam said that he came over here to answer reporters’ questions. Mr. Sharif El-Gamal, in an article written by Dana Rubenstein published at Observer and called Meet the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Developer , said "I don't give up, I don't quit. It's just not in my DNA." So, no matter what New Yorkers really believe is bad or good, or no matter how much people are influenced from the media, the Islamic Cultural Center will be build.