New York City – Joy Levitt, executive director of the Jewish Community Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, remembers her first conversation with Daisy Khan around 2005, years before Ms. Khan’s idea for a Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan morphed into a controversy about Sept. 11, Islam and freedom of religion.
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“Strollers,” said Ms. Levitt, whom Ms. Khan had approached for advice on how to build an institution like the Jewish center — with a swimming pool, art classes and joint projects with other religious groups. Ms. Levitt, a rabbi, urged Ms. Khan to focus on practical matters like a decent wedding hall and stroller parking.
“You can use all these big words like diversity and pluralism,” Ms. Levitt recalled telling Ms. Khan, noting that with the population of toddlers booming in Manhattan, “I’m down in the lobby dealing with the 500 strollers.”
Clearly, the idea that Ms. Khan and her partners would one day be accused of building a victory monument to terrorism did not come up — an oversight with consequences. The organizers built support among some Jewish and Christian groups, and even among some families of 9/11 victims, but did little to engage with likely opponents. More strikingly, they did not seek the advice of established Muslim organizations experienced in volatile post-9/11 passions and politics.
Read full story at The NY Times
Ha! now I heard everything.
There were earlier missteps. 9/11, 1993…
On 9/11 sweets were distributed in Detroit, Rammalah, Beirut, KarachiLahore and Indonesia.A current activist of Al Queida is an American born Muslim, the annihillation of Israel still is the primary goal of Musilims and if El-Al would fail in its search of passenger planes would be blown and Muslims would rejoice again and give out candy
The NY Grimes once again condescending to and scolding those of us who haven’t let go of common sense.
Howcome the NYSlimes never musters the courage to right such a warm and fuzzy article about let’s say….. Israel……… just wondering.
oh boy! those uptown liberal hebrew snobish sniveling self defaceing meatballs.what a bunch of swans.they never seem to get a life.