Last week, in an open letter to Feisal Abdul Rauf, TNR's Yossi Klein Halevi
proposed the following -- granting undue authority, in my opinion, to sensitivities of those who choose to be offended by an Islamic Center two blocks from Ground Zero:
I believe that you intend to create a center of Islamic moderation near Ground Zero. And it is precisely for that reason that I am turning to you with a plea to reconsider your plans to build the center in its current form. Instead, I urge you to consider turning the site into a center for interfaith encounter. Build the mosque—but do so together with a church and a synagogue and a center for common reflection for all three faiths and for those with no faith. Do this, Imam Feisal, not to surrender to your critics but to honor their pain, and, in the process, to honor Islam.
In an
op-ed in Today's Times, Imam Rauf seems to have acceded to that wish -- unless the brief formulation below is not quite what it seems, or the plan was always thus:
At Cordoba House, we envision shared space for community activities, like a swimming pool, classrooms and a play space for children. There will be separate prayer spaces for Muslims, Christians, Jews and men and women of other faiths. The center will also include a multifaith memorial dedicated to victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
