@dulce bellum inexpertis
Why are you looking at just Saudi Arabia? Apart from that country every other arab and muslim country int he world have Churches and even Synagogues. Egypt, Syria and Jordan have historical churches. Infact, UAE, Bahrain even have hindu temples and Gurudwaras. The ambassador to the US for Bahrain is a Bahraini jewish female. Similarly Indonesia the largest muslim country in the world also has a large number of Churches.
Now about the Islamic centre that is actually around 2 blocks away from ground zero, it is not just a mosque but a community centre were a dialouge and understanding between American muslims can be spread. The organisations (American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA)) led by Daisy Khan (interestingly she is of Indian origin) are spending their own money to buy and develop the property. They went through the legal process of getting permission from the NY authorities and got an almost unanimous favorable vote alongwith he support of Mayor Bloomberg. People want muslims to standup and speak against extremism, well here are a group of american muslims who want to do just that. What could be better? It will not be a secretive society but a place where even non-Muslims like yourself can go and see what Muslims are all about.
The only reason why some people are feeling apprehensive or angry about this is because of the wrong impression that all muslims support the 9/11 attacks or that all muslims are to be blamed for the 9/11 attacks. Lets not forget that there were many muslims who also died that day. And that is why the Islamic centre is even more important, to dispel his false notion and to let everyone muslim or non-muslim to know that the culprits behind 9/11 have no support from the American muslim community and infact the muslim community in general
I brought KSA into contention because, majority of the hijackers involved were from KSA, but mainly, because these guys attacked my nation in the name of a religion, that has most prominence in KSA.
Also I would like to correct you, there are no hindu temples or church in UAE.
Yes, Indonesia is the country with maximum muslim population, just as India has many muslims, but as I said our fight is not against Muslims, and I think you have not gotten a hold of this yet.
ASMA is not spending its own money, they are raising money, where this money will come from we do not know, and that is something not in contention. Please stick to the post.
The NY authorities, gave the go ahead, because US is a free society, and under our constitution we can not reject them from doing this. My contention is not based on legal or political grounds, rather moral & ethical grounds. There's a big difference if you can see it.
This center, can very much ke erected further away, rather than in the vicinity of ground zero. Non Muslims can still go there to understand Islam better, the moderate voice of Islam can still be spread. Why does it have to be on the graveyard of 3000 people killed by extremists in the name of this very religion?