OUTPOURING: Opponents yesterday flood Park Place, the planned location of an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero (Brigitte Stelzer)
(AFP/Getty Images)
Rage-filled Ground Zero mosque foes and supporters yesterday hurled insults at each other, brandished taunting signs, and had to be cordoned off by cops at dueling rallies near the controversial site.
Shouting, “U-S-A, U-S-A!” behind police barricades, about 500 mosque foes clutched signs demanding, “No clubhouse for terrorists,” and featuring the word “SHARIA” — or Islamic law — written in red letters made to look like blood dripping.
An opposing group of about 150 mosque supporters was kept behind a second set of barricades a block away, shouting, “Fascists go home!” and waving signs declaring: “America!!! When did it become O.K. to be a bigot, a racist, again?”
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Despite cops’ efforts to keep the two groups separate, scuffles broke out several times.
An anti-mosque firefighter shoved Josh Wilies, a supporter of the project who was holding up a sign touting the First Amendment.
“We’re seeing hostility here,” a shaken Wilies, 26, said afterward. “This should be about free speech, not no speech.”
There were no arrests, police said.
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The anti-mosque crowd, which ramped up its invective as the day of rallying wore on, outlasted the pro-crowd by several hours.
“This is not abuse of freedom of religion . . . It’s a disgrace,” said Debra Burlingame, 56, head of the group 9/11 Families for a Strong America.
“Feisal Abdul Rauf is a soft-spoken, smart-talking, warm and fuzzy imam — that’s the way he’d like to be perceived,” she said, referring to the mosque’s leader.
“But he is a fraud . . . and we’re going to expose him to the American people.”
Gila Barzvi, of Queens, whose son, Guy, was killed in the World Trade Center, clutched a photo of her child and said, “This is sacred ground, and it’s where my son was buried.”
The mosque would be “like a knife in our hearts,” said the mom, a native Israeli.
Her friend Kobi Mor of San Francisco vowed that if the site is built, “we will bombard it.” He did not elaborate.
Opponents of the project began with a 9 a.m. motorcycle ride, led by several firefighters, to Ground Zero and then proceeded to an 11 a.m. rally around the corner from the Park Place site of the planned 13-story mosque and community center.
They were greeted by the project’s supporters, who were generally lower-key but just as firm in their views.
Evan Giller, 62, a piano technician from Upper East Side, said he felt that supporting the project was patriotic.
“I feel it’s necessary for Americans to speak out against bigotry and hatred that’s being spread by the people who oppose it,” he said.
Linda Novenski, 64, a preschool teacher from Woodside, Queens, agreed.
“Why are outside bigots whipping up anti-Muslim, anti-mosque feelings? This is not the feeling in New York. We welcome all religions,” she said.
Additional reporting by Frank Rosario and AP