The former mayor who helped lead the city through the tragic aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, came out in opposition of building a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero.
“This project is divisive,” Rudy Giuliani said on the “Today” show this morning as he commented for the first time on the debate that has swept the nation. “This project is creating tremendous pain for people who’ve already made the ultimate sacrifice. All you’re doing is creating more division, more anger, more hatred.”
NBC’s Matt Lauer reminded Giuliani of comments he made roughly 14 months after 9/11 in which he evoked freedom of religion as one of America’s founding principles, and asked how Giuliani reconciles his opposition to the mosque with his espousal of the idea that “no one’s going to interfere with you” because of that principle.
The one-time presidential candidate quickly acknowledged the developers have a constitutional right to build the mosque but deferred to the question, “Should they build it?”
“The question here is of sensitivity, of people’s feelings, and are you really what you pretend to be,” Giuliani said. “If you want to claim to be the healer, then you’re not on the side of the person who’s pushing those divisive issues.
“I was the first person on Sept. 11 to step forward in the heat of battle and say, ‘No group blame, do not blame Arabs, it’s a small group.’ But the reality is that, right now, if you are a healer you do not go through with this project. If you’re a warrior, you do.”
Giuliani also said he agreed with Gov. David Paterson, who proposed the mosque be built on a location not associated with the same sensitivities as the land near Ground Zero.
(Source: NBC New York)
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4 Responses
wow good for Giuliani, smart man!!! i just hope that it wont come to fruition.
That exactly is the point. These people claim that the reason for this mega-mosque is reaching out and repairing relations. If those would be their true intentions, they would’ve at least agreed to a meeting with Paterson. Declining to even sit down with someone who isn’t even an opponent, raises flags. They see the anger brewing, they read the news and hear the polls, they know public opinion is against. Nevertheless they’re going forward in full throttle. They are definitely not building it to bring the communities together as is evident from their moves and statements. They are a group that is seeking to stab Lower Manhattan once again.
interesting, his is exactly the President’s opinion
rt, the president doesn’t know where he stands. Telling one group that it has his full backing and then denying it in front of others. This is just like his statement for an undivided Jerusalem. He is playing political football and is voting present on yet another issue. A gifted speaker like him, with prepared scripts shown on a teleprompter shouldn’t need to clarify his stance through a spokesperson.