HUNTSVILLE, AL—
One of Alabama's two U.S. Senators has entered the debate over a proposed mosque near Ground Zero, with local Muslims also keeping a close eye on the controversy.U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) challenged President Obama's recent statements over the mosque while visiting Huntsville Monday, calling on the project's supporters to rethink their position.
"I think it's a genuine, legitimate concern," said Sessions, when asked about the proposed mosque. "I'm uneasy about it, the American people are uneasy about it, and I really hope the people who are promoting this will reconsider...Yes, you have a Constitutional right to build a church or mosque in America in a place that's properly zoned. But I really think we need more leadership here from the people who'd like to build this mosque, and to create something that will be more accepted by the people of this country."
Most national polls show Americans rejecting the mosque's proposed location by a roughly 2-1 margin. If plans go through, it would sit just two blocks away from the site of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
A North Alabama Muslim spokesman told WHNT News 19 that his colleagues did not want to enter the debate as they viewed it as a strictly local issue. Dr. Nauman Qureshi serves as spokesperson for the Huntsville Islamic Center, and said Islam does have standards that address the mosque controversy.
"Just because they have the right doesn't mean they have to exercise that right," said Qureshi, when asked about the mosque's developers and backers. "If it hurts feelings, people in families who have not had closure yet, and that's going to enflame their feelings, then surely that's not Islam. We're not supposed to hurt our neighbor's feelings."
A recent report from the NYPD Bureau Of Community Affairs shows there are more than 100 mosques currently located in New York City.
