Respect For Feelings

As a former national chairman of the Anti-Defamation League, I agree with National Director Abe Foxman’s observation that the World Trade Center site stands for many of us as a communal cemetery, and that the feelings of many Americans and others about the suitability of the location of the mosque should be respected.

It is not a matter of property rights, freedom of religion or tolerance. It is simply a matter of how many people think and feel.

If the contemplated structure were proposed as a Jewish synagogue or a Christian church only, the same feelings would be, and should be, given proper consideration.

Many people many not understand, or believe, that the circumstances prompting the mosque proposal are entirely free of possible self-promotion. A decent respect for feelings and opinions should be important in the balance of judgments that will decide the issue.

Manhattan