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Berkley: 'Ground Zero' mosque protected by Constitution
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Rep. Shelley Berkley
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STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Shelley Berkley on Tuesday defended Muslims planning to build a mosque near ground zero in New York, saying they are protected by the Constitution and should not be driven off by "religious intolerance."
"Given the fact that my family and people in my religion have suffered so much from religious persecution, I cannot see how I can speak out against other minority religions in this country and their free exercise of their own religion," said Berkley, D-Nev., whose Jewish grandparents emigrated from Europe to escape the Holocaust.
Berkley became the only member of Nevada's congressional delegation to speak in favor of Cordoba House, the Islamic community center planned in a neighborhood two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack by radical Islamic fundamentalists.
"I've been down to the site of the terrorist attack in downtown Manhattan on a number of occasions," she said. "The proposed mosque, which is on private property, is a few blocks away. It is in the same area as tattoo parlors and souvenir shops and bars. How far away should this mosque be located that would satisfy people who are so upset about the location?" she said. "As long as it is zoned properly and funded properly, the government has no business interfering with this.
"Do I feel sensitivity for those families that suffered horrible losses and unspeakable crimes (in the Sept. 11 attack)? Of course," Berkley said. "Is this the best location on the planet for this mosque? Probably not.
"But doesn't the Constitution permit the free exercise of religious beliefs? How many synagogues have been burned to the ground with Jews in them because of religious intolerance?"
In some of the protests against the mosque, Berkley said she sensed echoes of Kristallnacht, the anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany that was a precursor of genocide. "So before we have a situation on our hands which is the complete antithesis of what the United States of America is all about, we better take a step back and start appreciating each other for our differences," she said.
Berkley said the matter was "handled terribly" by President Barack Obama, whose remarks at a Ramadan dinner on Friday that were seemingly supportive of the mosque triggered the controversy.
"The president of the United States had no business getting into this," she said. "This is an issue for the people of New York to determine. "
Berkley stopped short of criticizing Sen. Harry Reid, a fellow Nevadan who came out on Monday against the mosque . "He's entitled to his opinion," she said.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., also came out against the mosque. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said it was a New York matter and not one for her to consider.
Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.
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Shelley Berkley is a racist an majority human do not trust her as she is a racist deep down.
"The president of the United States had no business getting into this," she said. "This is an issue for the people of New York to determine. " (Rep. Shelley Berkley)
If this is how Rep. Berkely feels then why is she commenting about it? Doesn't she represent Nevada? At least the Pres. represents the United States of America. Also like her, he has an opinion also!
Jack.Webb as usual, you're being rather disingenuous. I am not familiar with *any* conservative saying that the owners of the property can't build anything they want on their own land. What they're saying, as you very well know, is that the owners are being if not deliberately provacative, then at the least are showing an extraordinary lack of sensativity and political acumen. Surely even a paid shill like you would agree with that assessment?
Everything should be considered not just the laws, rights, and protection of constitution. Building a statue of Osama Bin Laden there is also protected by the constitution/freedom of speech. Human factor should be very much considered such as sensitivities, etc. if unity, peace and understanding is the real motive of the planned mosque.
At this point opening the Mosque is going to do nothing but cause more hatred of muslims in general for their lack of common sense.
Sure I can also walk around in public pick my nose and eat my boogers, but im not gonna.
Ted Olson, former George W. Bush solicitor general, attorney behind the case against California's gay marriage ban, and husband of a woman who died aboard the plane that crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, said Wednesday that President Obama was right about his analysis of the "Ground Zero Mosque" as a constitutional right protected by the First Amendment.
Olson's wife, conservative commentator and lawyer Barbara Olson, perished on September 11 aboard American Airlines Flight 77, the plane that was hijacked and flown in the Pentagon.
Asked on MSNBC about his opinion on the plans to construct a 13-story Islamic community center two blocks away from Ground Zero, Olson gave a response that served as a rather high profile departure from what has become the conservative norm on the issue.
"Well it may not make me hap-- popular with some people, but I think, probably, the president was right about this," Olson told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. "I do believe that people of all religions have a right to build edifices, or structures, or places of religious worship or study where the community allows them to do it under zoning laws and that sort of thing, and that we don't want to turn an act of hate against us by extremists into an act of intolerance for people of religious faith. And I don't think it should be a political issue. It shouldn't be a Republican or Democratic issue, either. I believe Gov. Christie from New Jersey said it well, that this should not be in that political, partisan marketplace."
if this is an issue that is best left to the locals, and the president needs to stay out of it, why the hell do they care what is going on in Arizona??
hypocrites.
berkley is giving jews a bad name. maybe she should go to israel where the real jews are, and have her house bombed by mortar fire from islamic militants. maybe she shouldve joined the IDF, and seen what muslims are really like. but she supports a president who has given HAMAS, a terrorist organization, over $1.2 billion in aid for gaza since he took office.
nice one.
Comparing the protest against the mosque to Nazi Germany is such a stretch and the normal stupidity and nonsense from our liberal progressive democrats. We can only hope this fear mongering exaggeration-ist are voted out before the real Nazi’s (them) can indoctrinate our young any further with the constant victimization propaganda. The insensitive, intolerant and secretive are those pushing for the mosque.___________ Obviously there is more time needed for the healing to take place and anyone that believes a new huge mosque near ground zero is healing or tolerant is well, certainly mentally challenged. How stupid and silly our liberal democrats have become.
why don't we build a interdenominational faith center there where all religions can be represented and find common ground between people of faith instead of stirring the hate of past societies