Building an Islamic Centre near the 9/11 site

Dear Editor,
Regarding the proposed Islamic Centre near the 9/11 site, Harry Gill writes that “consideration must be given to the feelings of the families.”
However, these families have wrongfully lumped together all the Muslims of the world with the hateful ideology of al-Qaeda.
Quite wrongly, they see an entire religion, not as individuals, but as a single threatening entity. There is a word for when you judge people based only on their religion and not their humanity: prejudice.
The feelings of such people do not have to be respected.  Their genuine loss does not justify their blind reaction against an entire people.
Mr. Gill also claims this centre would be a victory mosque to celebrate the attack. History shows this is wrong. Imam Rauf has been trying to get this centre built since before the Sept 11th attacks, once at a site 40 blocks away.
Further, the Muslim extremists in the Middle East do not like Imam Rauf and have already called him an American propagandist and condemned the proposed centre. Indeed, Imam Rauf is a Sufi. Sufism is a group that extremists like Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban regard as not even being Muslims.
Mr. Gill is right about one thing. This is not about rights, but what is right. And it is not right to tell someone what they can or cannot build on their own property because your feelings are hurt.
When this new centre opens, I suggest that Mr. Gill visit it. Maybe he will learn to see NY Muslims as individuals, who are mostly concerned with family, jobs and building a better America.
Imam Baksh