Both sides of the Ground Zero Mosque Debate, or Obamamosque, as some have called it, squared off in duelling demonstrations yesterday.

The now-national debate centers on plans to build an Islamic center (i.e., mosque) at Ground Zero, the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks by al Qaeda, which killed 3,000 people.

The debate is not helping the Democratic party.  Republicans against the mosque are using it to attack Democratic President Barack Obama a little over two months ahead of midterm elections, where his party is fighting to keep their phony baloney jobs in Congress.

Opponents of the Cordoba Initiative, renamed Park51, say its proposed location is insensitive and fear it will be a haven for Muslim Extremists. Those who back it cite the right to religious freedom and a need to promote tolerance and understanding.

Hundreds of opponents on Sunday showed up chanting “No Mosque,” singing patriotic songs and waving photographs of violent attacks by Islamic extremists.

One sign read:

Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all the terrorists were Muslim.

Around the corner, supporters chanted:

We don’t care what bigots say, religious freedom is here to stay.

I thought it was supposed to be:  We don’t care what the people say, rock ‘n roll is here to stay.  Funny how the Libs love religious freedom, as long as it does not apply to Christianity.

Demonstrators tried to shout each other down, however, no violence or arrests were reported.  Uniformed police and rows of barricades kept many in the crowds apart. Police officials said extra forces were deployed but did not say how many officers were at the demonstration.

Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have given their support  to the right of Muslims to build the center near Ground Zero, while Republicans, including former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, oppose it.

Others suggest it be moved to a less controversial spot.

Ali Akram, a local doctor who supports the project, said:

The people who say the mosque is too close to Ground Zero, those are the same people that protest mosques in Brooklyn and Staten Island and Tennessee and Wisconsin and California. What radius will they go for? There’s no end to it.

A lot of those  in the crowd opposing the center were firefighters and construction workers, who carried signs reading:

This is Sacred Ground to New Yorkers.

One sign read:

Everything I Ever Needed to Know about Islam I Learned on 9/11.

Plans for the project that have been revealed to this point include a 13-story building to house an auditorium, swimming pool, meeting rooms as well as the prayer space. The structure is fairly plain and, so far, does not include a minaret, dome or other motifs often associated with mosques.

Some that are opposed to the mosque, err, cultural center, have taken legal action, seeking to void a ruling that would allow construction to proceed, while some construction workers have launched a Hard Hat Pledge, vowing not to work on the project.

Daisy Khan, wife of Cordoba Initiative Leader Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, compared opposition to the project to the persecution of Jews, in comments that could add to the controversy over the Cordoba Initiative Project (Park51).

Ms. Khan, who is spearheading the project with her husband, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, said:.

We are deeply concerned, because this is like a metastasized antisemitism.  It’s beyond Islamophobia. It’s hate of Muslims.

A Muslim comparing righteous indignation to antisemitism.  How…ironic.

She appeared on ABC News’s “This Week” on Sunday and vowed to push ahead with plans to build a 15-story complex two blocks from the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in lower Manhattan, saying there was “too much at stake.”

Yeah, Miss Daisy.  If they make you move the mosque, it won’t be an Islamic symbol of victory any longer.

Several politicians, including New York Governor David Paterson, have called for the project to be moved away from Ground Zero. On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) also suggested the mosque’s location should be changed:

McConnell said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday:

I hope the people of New York, who can actually make the decision, will take into account public opinion not only locally but around the country.

Ms. Khan said that they weren’t going to move it, but (like a cat playing with a mouse) she didn’t rule out the option.

Right now it’s not (being considered) until we consult with all our stakeholders.

Appearing with the head of the Jewish Community Center in New York, on which her project is modeled, she said a prayer space would only be part of a broader center:

There will be schools, you know, small education forums, conferences, and it’s basically become a place where ideas can be exchanged, but tolerance, mutual respect can also be extended.

The project’s backers are holding talks with the families of those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in an effort to calm the controversy around their project, Ms. Khan said.

The imam behind the project is described by Liberals as a moderate Muslim leader who has long called for reconciliation between religions. But comments that he has made before and after shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, prove that he is not as moderate as his supporters say.

On of the comments made by Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf was that, while the U.S. didn’t deserve what happened on 9/11, its policies were “an accessory to the crime.” Asked on Sunday about those comments, Ms. Khan said they had been part of a wider interview that addressed support by the Central Intelligence Agency for Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban in the 1980s – when the U.S. was fighting a proxy war against Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

That was a very weak explanation, Ms. Kahn.

For supposedly very learned people, Iman Rauf, his wife Daisy Khan, and the people behind The Cordoba Initiative (Park51), do not seem to be able to grasp the meaning of the word inappropriate.  That obtuseness alone presents a very clear and compelling argument that there is more to their desire to build the Ground Zero Mosque than they are revealing.