Local strippers okay with mosque near Ground Zero

While a large number of Americans oppose the proposed Muslim community centre and mosque just two blocks away from Ground Zero the site of the fallen WTC Twin Towers employees of the strip clubs in the neighbourhood have no problem with it I dont know what the big deal is said Cassandra a stripper at New York Dolls as reported by The Wall Street Journal Its freedom of religion you know said Chris a stripper at Pussycat Lounge also close by who lost eight firefighter friends on 911 But she doesnt have particularly strong feelings towards the mosque The Journal reported The people who did it are not going to the mosque Its all good You have your synagogues and your churches And you have a mosque she said The presence of strip clubs and gambling joints in the vicinity which is a commercial hub in Manhattan has also punctured holes into the assertion that the area around the World Trade Centre should be treated as hallowed ground as suggested by former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and others Meanwhile Daisy Khan codeveloper of the Muslim centre along with her husband Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf described the opposition to the mosque as antiSemitism Its not even Islamophobia Its beyond Islamophobia Its hate of Muslims she said on ABCs This Week Both anti and pro mosque demonstrators took to the streets yesterday with the opponents having a larger crowd of around 500 people blasting songs like Bruce Springsteens Born in the USA Antimosque protestors also held placards with the words Sharia written in blood red letters The angst against the proposed Muslim community centre near Ground Zero has also led to demonstrations against mosques in other parts of the country Polls suggest that the majority of Americans inside and out of New York both Republican and Democrats are against such a mosque coming up Prominent Republicans like Sarah Palin Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich have already spoken out against the mosque as have Democrats like Senate majority leader Harry Reid However Kuwaitiborn Imam Rauf the developer of the 100 million Muslim community centre which will include the mosque insists that it is a centre for all New Yorkers and its purpose is to interweave Americas Muslim population into the mainstream society Rauf who is touring the Middle East right now as part of a State Department trip to promote goodwill told a Bahrain based newspaper that the US constitution was more in tune with Islamic principles than some laws and policies of Muslim nations the New York Post reported I see the Declaration of Independence as more compliant with the principles of Islam than what is available in many of the current Muslim countries he said