Loading ...Moore Raises $60,000 for Muslim Community Center
Just when one thought the controversy over the construction of a Muslim community center in New York had died down, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore announced that he has raised over $60,000 for its construction.
On the other side are unconfirmed rumors that some NY construction workers may refuse to work on the proposed community center.
Never one to shy away from controversy, Michael Moore has jumped into fundraising for the Muslim community center which has inflamed passions and protests on opposite ends of the globe, mainly in the Middle East and at the proposed site in New York.
Moore made an appeal to his supporters on the ninth anniversary of 9/11 for donations to the construction project, pledging to match contributions up to $10,000.
Less than 48 hours later, five times that amount had poured into the contribution coffers as hundreds of people from around the country heeded Moore’s call.
“Times are tough economically, and supporting our Muslim brothers and sisters is not a popular thing to do right now,” Moore said on his blog. “I am truly touched by your generosity — and people around the world will know that you, too, represent an America they rarely get to see.”
The proposed mosque, known as Park51, will include a swimming pool and a theater and is expected to cost more than $100 million.
“Blaming a whole group for the actions of just one of that group is anti-American,” Moore wrote. “Timothy McVeigh was Catholic. Should Oklahoma City prohibit the building of a Catholic Church near the site of the former federal building that McVeigh blew up?”
In a posting on his website and an interview on CNN, the liberal filmmaker upped the emotional ante on the controversy by saying: “Don’t build it near ground zero, he argued. Build it on ground zero.”
Moore framed his argument as a response to the furor the proposed mosque has ignited and what he calls the “bullying” of American Muslims.
The director insists that Islam was “stolen from the real Muslims” at the Twin Towers, and it should be given back to them on the same spot.
“There is a McDonald’s two blocks from Ground Zero. Trust me, McDonald’s has killed far more people than the terrorists,” Moore said.
“Let’s face it, all religions have their whackos….But we don’t judge whole religions on just the actions of their whackos.”
At the other extreme, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich recently likened the erection of a mosque near ground zero to the placing of a Nazi sign near the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
Many Americans agree with Moore about what he called the shameful bullying of American Muslims. They view it as un-American and unnecessary, given that there already is a mosque in that neighborhood and has been for 40 years.
Moore and Gingrich thus become liberal and conservative bookends.
As if that wasn’t enough, Woody Allen has spoken up in favor the proposed mosque and community center, condemning both sides for talking about the mosque.
“I’m for the building of the mosque,” Allen said. “I think that all the people weighing in on it except for the people that lost someone at Ground Zero” are “exploitative, fake, frauds. They’re using it for personal reasons and political reasons.”
Allen was at the premiere of his new film, “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger.”
Allen said the center would go a long way in building up tolerance and protecting America from another attack.
“If I could speak to people that lost relatives and loved ones, I would try and convince them, if I could, that to build the mosque goes a way towards seeing that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again,” Allen told Inside Edition. “And to intolerantly not build the mosque is just polarizing and leads to the kind of problems that rake up this type of conflict.”
The director is the latest in a line of celebrities to weigh in on the controversial plan. Before Michael Moore announced he was raising money for the project, Donald Trump put in a bid for the property and offered to help build it elsewhere.
On top of all this are unconfirmed rumors on conservative airwaves that construction workers may refuse to build the Park 51 Mosque.
The planned 13-story Park51 has exploded into a national debate after President Obama appeared to offer support for the project.
Despite all the hoopla, it is important to note that the Building Trades Employers’ Association has not yet taken a formal position on the project or a potential boycott by union workers.
Barbara Ferguson
Arab Times