Proposed mosque and Islamic Center
VIRGINIA BEACH -- A proposal to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York prompted a Va. Beach councilmember to write a letter of opposition to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"I heard from over 300 people all appalled with what was going on. What a slap in the face of every American, and everyone who served in the armed forces. We have too many Americans who have lost their lives to the global war on terrorism to let something like this go unnoticed," Bill DeSteph said Friday.
In his letter dated June 3, he wrote, "We, the citizens of the City of Virginia Beach and the Commonwealth of Virginia - birthplace of our great nation - are strongly opposed to the plan ... at the very site where Islamic jihadists destroyed the World Trade Center and took the lives of nearly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001."
He added, "We are deeply disturbed by the insensitivity exhibited by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his supporters to the families of the victims of the 9/11 jihadist attack."
Corboda House, a Muslim-led project, would be a 13-story mosque and Islamic cultural center to promote tolerance, reflecting the rich diversity of New York City, according to its Website. It would replace the former Burlington Coat Factory in lower Manhattan, which was damaged by airplane debris on Sept. 11, 2001. It's about three blocks from the World Trade Center site.
On the project Website, officials say the center is meant to promote integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion through arts and culture.
DeSteph said he's received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails and phone calls since sending his letter to Mayor Bloomberg.
"All of them state the same thing. 'Thank you for standing up for every American. Why have out other elected officials not written similar letters,' he stated.
DeSteph says he hasn't had a response from anyone in New York government.
