title: Park51

text: Park51 (originally named Cordoba House) is a development originally envisioned as a 13-story Islamic community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The developers hoped to promote an interfaith dialogue within the greater community. Due to its proposed location, two blocks from the World Trade Center site of the September 11 attacks, the proposed building was widely and controversially referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque".


title: Park51

text: The project would replace an existing 1850s Italianate building that was damaged in the attacks. The original design was by SOMA Architects principal Michel Abboud, who wrestled for months with the challenge of making the building fit naturally into its lower Manhattan surroundings. He felt it should have a contemporary design, but also look Islamic. His design included a 500-seat auditorium, theater, performing arts center, fitness center, swimming pool, basketball court, childcare area, bookstore, culinary school, art studio, food court, and a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks. It also included a prayer space for the Muslim community that would accommodate 1,000–2,000 people.


title: Park51

text: In late September 2011, a temporary Islamic center opened in renovated space at the Park51 location. In summer 2014, it was announced that there would instead be a 3-story museum with a prayer space, as well as condos, at 49-51 Park Place. The plans were changed again in September 2015 when the owner announced a 70-story luxury condominium building at the site. In May 2016, financing was secured for a 43-story condominium building with room for an Islamic cultural museum adjacent to it.


title: Park51

text: The condominium building, called 45 Park Place, started construction in 2017 and was nearly completed by 2019. Construction of the Islamic cultural space, slated to contain of space and measure tall at 51 Park Place, had not begun .


title: Park51

text: Plans to build what was then called "Cordoba House" were reported in "The New York Times" in December 2009, at a location that was already in use for Muslim worship. Early response to the project was not pronounced, and one libertarian commentator provided positive coverage.


title: Park51

text: The plans were reviewed by Manhattan Community Board 1 in May 2010, at which time they attracted some national media attention.


title: Park51

text: The project's organizers stated that it was intended to be "a platform for multi-faith dialogue, striving to promote inter-community peace, tolerance and understanding; locally in New York City, nationally in America, and globally." They said that it was modeled on the noted Manhattan Jewish Community Center at 76th Street and Amsterdam Ave. The proposal triggered an intense nationwide controversy. Protests were sparked by a campaign launched by conservative bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert B. Spencer, founders of the group, Stop Islamization of America, who dubbed the project the "Ground Zero mosque", and a national controversy ensued.


title: Park51

text: Some opponents argued that the building itself would serve as a "victory memorial" to Islam. Others objected to its proximity to the site of the September 11 attacks, its scale, sources of funding, or expressed concern that the project's name was intended as a reference to the 8th century Umayyad conquest of Visigothic Córdoba.


title: Park51

text: Supporters argued that arguments against the building are based on the notion that Islam, rather than Islamic radicals, was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The "New York Times" reported that Muslim religious facilities previously existed at the World Trade Center itself before the attacks. Supporters argued the First Amendment protects the rights of the developers. They furthered argued that two positive opportunities exist with the project proceeding and coming to fruition: one, for Muslims can demonstrate peaceful Islamic values; and two, for Americans to reassert their commitment to tolerance and diversity.


title: Park51

text: Opponents cited polls showing that most Americans, including most residents of New York State and New York City, though not most residents of Manhattan, opposed it. Most Americans in 2010 did, however, believe the Park51 developers had a legal right to proceed with the project.


title: Park51

text: The project was originally called Cordoba House, then renamed Park51, in reference to the street address on Park Place. Later, the Imam leading the project introduced some ambiguity by again referring to the project as "Cordoba House". The Park51 website then clarified that Park51 is the community center, while Cordoba House is the "interfaith and religious component of the center".


title: Park51

text: Cordoba Initiative said the name "Cordoba House" was meant to invoke 8th–11th century Córdoba, Spain, which they called a model of peaceful coexistence among Muslims, Christians, and Jews. According to "The Economist", the name was chosen because Muslims, Jews, and Christians created a center of learning in Córdoba together. The name was criticized; for example, Newt Gingrich said that it was "a deliberately insulting term" that symbolizes the Muslim conquerors' victory over Christian Spaniards, and noted that the Muslims had converted a Cordoba church into the third largest mosque in the world. Similarly, Raymond Ibrahim, an outspoken critic of Islam and former associate director of the Middle East Forum, said the project and name were not "a gesture of peace and interfaith dialogue" but were "allusive of Islamic conquest and consolidation" and that Americans should realize that mosques are not "Muslim counterparts to Christian churches" but rather, "are symbols of domination and centers of radicalization". The opposition to Park51 believes that Islam builds mosques on "conquered territory" as symbols of "territory" and "conquest".


title: Park51

text: Park51 is often referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque". Since it is neither located directly on the former World Trade Center site, Ground Zero, nor primarily a mosque, some news media have advised against the use of this term. The Associated Press suggested several alternate terms including "mosque 2 blocks from WTC site", "Muslim (or Islamic) center near WTC site", "mosque near ground zero", and "mosque near WTC site". Cordoba Initiative says the building is not strictly a mosque. Anushay Hossain in "The Huffington Post" criticises the use of the name Ground Zero mosque, and says it is "Not a mosque but an Islamic Community Center". Jean Marbella in "The Baltimore Sun" says the building is closer to a YMCA center than a house of worship.


title: Park51

text: The stone-faced building, designed by Daniel D. Badger, was originally constructed for a shipping firm of a prominent New York shipping magnate. Its Italian palazzo style was a throwback to a prior time of European grandeur, and was intended to evoke images of economic might. The building is an example of the "store and loft" structures that were prevalent in the dry goods warehouse districts of Lower Manhattan.


title: Park51

text: The building was one of only a few stand-alone structures in southern Tribeca that were nominated – but never designated – as individual landmarks, during an effort in the 1980s to create a Tribeca historic district. In September 1989, the Commission had held public hearings and considered the building for landmark status, but it never acted on the matter, and the building was "calendared" ever since. By August 2010, city building records reflected that out of a group of 29 buildings that had been proposed for historic landmark designation in 1989, including 45–47 Park Place, twenty-three had been deemed landmarks and six were pending. The pending applications included 45–47 Park Place. At that point, New York City had more than 11,000 landmarked buildings.


title: Park51

text: Muslims had a presence in Lower Manhattan for many years prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks. At least two mosques existed near the World Trade Center, and several designated Muslim prayer rooms existed within the World Trade Center buildings.


title: Park51

text: During the September 11 attacks, the five story building at 45–47 Park Place, between West Broadway and Church Street, was severely damaged. When United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower of the World Trade Center, part of the plane's landing gear, engine and fuselage came out the north side of the tower and crashed through the roof of 45–47 Park Place, and through two of its floors. The plane parts destroyed three floor beams, and severely compromised the building's internal structure. The damage was not immediately noticed during an exterior assessment. It was later discovered during an interior assessment. In April 2013, the New York Police Department announced that surveyors inspecting the building had discovered a wide piece, long airplane part complete with Boeing identification number wedged in an wide alley between 51 Park and 50 Murray Street. Initially officials thought it was part of the landing gear but Boeing confirmed it was the trailing edge flap actuation support structure of an airplane flap from a Boeing 767, the type of jet which hit both towers. A photograph of the piece initially showed a rope around it. Police said the rope was used by an officer who lassoed it to see the identification number. Boeing could not say which specific plane it was from.


title: Park51

text: The 45–47 Park Place building, located about two blocks () north of the World Trade Center site, was owned by Stephen Pomerantz and his wife Kukiko Mitani and leased to the Burlington Coat Factory. For years, Mitani attempted to sell the building, at one point asking for $18 million. It lay abandoned until its purchase in July 2009. For several months thereafter, the building was used as an overflow prayer space for up to 450 Muslims, with services led by Feisal Abdul Rauf, an Imam based at the al-Farah mosque in nearby TriBeCa.


title: Park51

text: In July 2009, the real estate company and developer Soho Properties purchased the building and property at 45–47 Park Place for $4.85 million in cash. Soho Properties' Chairman and CEO, Sharif El-Gamal, initially planned to build a condominium complex at the site, but was convinced by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's idea for a community center with a prayer space. El-Gamal's partner is Nour Mousa, the nephew of Amr Moussa, the Secretary General of the Arab League.


title: Park51

text: The investors in the transaction were the Cordoba Initiative, a tax-exempt foundation with assets of $20,000, and the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA), also a non-profit organization. At the time, Rauf was founder, CEO, and Executive Director of Cordoba Initiative, and founder and CEO of ASMA, and his wife, Daisy Khan, was the ASMA Executive Director. In the Cordoba Initiative's first five years, from 2004–08, it raised less than $100,000. Both organizations were run out of the same New York office. The two foundations proposed to use the property as the site for a $100 million community center modeled after NYC's Jewish Community Centers and YMCAs. They were working on the project with El-Gamal, their co-developer.


title: Park51

text: The 49–51 Park Place half of the "45–51" parcel was still owned by the utility Con Edison (Con Ed). Soho Properties paid an additional $700,000 to assume a $33,000-a-year lease with Con Ed, for its adjacent attached former sub-station. The plan was to build the facility on the site of the two buildings, as the lease for 49–51 Park Place was expire in 2071. The two buildings were connected internally, with common walls having been taken down. El-Gamal informed Con Ed in February 2010 that he wanted to exercise his purchase option on the lease. Although the price was reportedly estimated at $10–$20 million, El-Gamal said the cost "is not an issue". The sale was to be reviewed by the New York Public Service Commission, where it might face a vote by a five-member board controlled by the New York governor's office.


title: Park51

text: The specific location of the planned facility, "where a piece of the wreckage fell", so close to the World Trade Center, was a primary selling point for the Muslims who bought the building. Rauf said it "sends the opposite statement to what happened on 9/11" and "We want to push back against the extremists."


title: Park51

text: While the media widely described the center as a mosque, and the protests were against the mosque, the Initiative's official blog portrayed it as a community center with prayer space, making comparisons to the YMCA or Jewish Community Center. The Initiative said that some services planned for Park51 such as the restaurant and performance center, disqualify it from being a mosque. Daisy Khan, Imam Rauf's wife and partner, in August 2010 also said:


title: Park51

text: The official website for the facility had said it would include "a mosque, intended to be run separately from Park51 but open to and accessible to all members, visitors and our New York community". By September 2010, the word mosque had been replaced with "prayer space". In an interview in July 2010, lead developer of the project Sharif el-Gamal had supported the inclusion of a mosque as needed by the New York Muslim community.


title: Park51

text: The Muslim prayer space is planned to occupy two floors of the 13 story building. Besides the prayer space, the Initiative's plan includes a 500-seat auditorium, theater, performing arts center, fitness center, swimming pool, basketball court, childcare services, art exhibitions, bookstore, culinary school, and a food court serving halal dishes.


title: Park51

text: El-Gamal said he wanted the building to be energy-efficient and transparent, most likely with a glass façade. The project envisions the demolition of two buildings at 45–47 Park Place and Broadway which were damaged on 9/11. They would be replaced by a glass and steel structure with a new address, 45–51 Park Place. A number of commentators stated that the builders planned either the groundbreaking or opening date to coincide with anniversaries of the September 11 attacks. Khan said in a July 2010 conversation with Media Matters for America that such assertions were "absolutely false" and that the construction timeline had not been determined; furthermore, those making such assertions have no proof of their claims. However, in a May 2010 Associated Press interview Khan said that the Initiative may plan for groundbreaking to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the attacks.


title: Park51

text: Khan also said that it was anticipated that 1,000 to 2,000 Muslims would pray at the prayer center every Friday, once it was completed.


title: Park51

text: Khan said the project is intended to foster better relations between Islam and Americans. Explaining the choice of location, she said, "We decided we wanted to look at the legacy of 9/11 and do something positive." She added that her group represents moderate Muslims who want "to reverse the trend of extremism and the kind of ideology that the extremists are spreading". Pointing to the fact that ordinary Muslims have been killed by Muslim extremists all over the world, Khan also said about the center, "For us it is a symbol ... that will give voice to the silent majority of Muslims who suffer at the hands of extremists. A center will show that Muslims will be part of rebuilding Lower Manhattan."


title: Park51

text: On May 25, 2010, the local community board backed part of the plans for Cordoba House to be built on the site in a non-binding advisory vote of 29-to-1, with 10 abstentions. The endorsement related only to "the important community facilities [the project] will provide", and the resolution indicated that the board "takes no position regarding the religious aspects or any religious facilities associated with either the Cordoba Initiative or the Cordoba House Project". The board's chairwoman, Julie Menin, supported deletion of references to the building as a mosque and interfaith center that were in an earlier draft of the resolution, saying: "I personally was uncomfortable with the language that talked about the religious institution. I believe it's not the purview of a city agency to be weighing in on the siting of any religious institution, be it a mosque, synagogue, or church."


title: Park51

text: The meeting where the vote was held was contentious. Some of the speakers supporting the project were Muslims who lost family members in the attacks, and were booed by protesters. Some non-Muslim relatives of 9/11 victims also spoke in support, but other family members objected to the project, claiming the location is insensitive.


title: Park51

text: As the controversy grew New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission agreed to reconsider the 1980s landmark application which it had not acted on previously. On August 3, 2010, it voted 9–0 against granting landmark status and historic protection to the building. That cleared the way for it to be demolished, and the new Cordoba House to be built in its place.


title: Park51

text: The following day, Timothy Brown, a firefighter who survived 9/11, filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan asking the court to nullify the Commission's decision. He praised 45–47 Park Place, quoting the Commission's own description of it as "a fine example of the Italian Renaissance-inspired palazzi" that flourished in the mid-19th century in the area. The suit was filed on his behalf by the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative public interest firm.


title: Park51

text: On July 10, 2011, Justice Paul G. Feinman of the New York State Supreme Court dismissed Brown's case, writing that the firefighter was "an individual with a strong interest in preservation of the building", but added that he lacked any special legal standing regarding its fate. Adam Leitman Bailey, the lawyer who represented the Islamic center's developer pro bono, called the decision "a victory for America" and said, "Despite the tempest of religious hatred, the judge flexed our Constitution's muscles enforcing the very bedrock of our democracy." Jack Lester, a lawyer for Brown, said, "We believe the brave men and women who risked their lives have standing to preserve the monuments and historic buildings at ground zero."


title: Park51

text: On September 21, 2011, Park51 was opened to the public as of renovated space in the Burlington Coat Factory building hoping to replace the building "in several years time". Visitors were able to view 160 portraits of immigrant children living in New York during the exhibit called "NYChildren", and a modest carpeted prayer room is located in the lower level.


title: Park51

text: In August 2011, "The New York Times" reported that Sharif El-Gamal, the project's developer, was quietly proceeding with efforts to move Park51 forward, embracing a "slower, more deliberate and more realistic approach" than before. However, in April 2014, Sharif El-Gamal announced his plans to demolish the current building and replace it with a three-story museum of Islamic culture. He hired French architect Jean Nouvel.


title: Park51

text: In late August 2014, the "Times" announced that the original mosque plans would not proceed. Instead, a three-story Islamic museum with a prayer space and condos would be built at 49-51 Park Place. At the time, the proposal for the updated mosque was the location of a Con Edison building, though Con Edison subsequently sold the structure. The buildings on the two lots have not been torn down yet, however.


title: Park51

text: In September 2015, it was reported by Bloomberg that the owner of the site now instead planned to build a , 70-story luxury condominium building at the site to take advantage of the growing residential real estate market in lower Manhattan. In addition to the 70-story condo at 45 Park Place, El-Gamal planned a three-story Islamic museum at 51 Park Place.


title: Park51

text: On May 19, 2016, Sharif El-Gamal secured Sharia-compliant financing for 45 Park Place, which was now a 43-story, building. A $174 million loan was secured from a consortium let by Malayan Banking Bhd., and an additional $45 million in financing came from Saudi Arabia. When the project was approved in 2017, it included some of Manhattan's most expensive condominiums, with prices ranging from $1.92 million for a one-bedroom unit to $39-41 million for each of the two duplex penthouses. According to "The New York Times," El-Gamal said that he hoped the building's features, such as ceilings and full-height windows, would attract tenants. The apartment building was close to topping out by early 2019. In April 2019, a month before the scheduled topping-out, "The Real Deal" reported that El-Gamal had $10 million in unpaid bills.


title: Park51

text: Meanwhile, El-Gamal submitted his revised plans for the Islamic cultural space at 51 Park Place in 2017, in conjunction with the development of 45 Park Place. The cultural center would be a space measuring tall. The space had yet to start construction .


title: Park51

text: Prominent opponents and supporters of the project were found among the families of the 9/11 victims, the American and worldwide Muslim communities, and local and national politicians, making it a divisive political campaign issue in the 2010 midterm elections. The controversy over the project coincided with unexpected protests of mosque projects in other states, leading to concerns that relations between Muslims and non-Muslims within the US were deteriorating.


title: Park51

text: Donald Trump made an offer to purchase the Park51 property for $6 million to stop its construction, saying that "I am making this offer as a resident of New York and citizen of the United States, not because I think the location is a spectacular one (because it is not), but because it will end a very serious, inflammatory, and highly divisive situation that is destined, in my opinion, to only get worse".


title: Park51

text: Imam Abdul Rauf promised to identify all financial backers of Park51. Developer Sharif El-Gamal had stated that they will refuse money from groups such as the government of Iran and Hamas as well as any other "organizations that have un-American values". "The New York Post" stated that initially Imam Abdul Rauf said the project would be funded entirely by the Muslim American community, though later he told London-based Arabic-language newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat" that he would seek funding from Muslim and Arab nations. The latter story was also reported by NBC.


title: Park51

text: Claudia Rosett, a journalist with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a weekly columnist for "Forbes", questioned the source of the funding for the project. Some U.S. politicians such as Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, an Independent Democrat, and Republicans Peter King and Rick Lazio, asked for an investigation of the group's finances, especially its foreign funding, despite the fact that fundraising for the project had not yet begun. King said: "The people who are involved in the construction of the mosque are refusing to say where their [$100 million] funding is going to come from." Lazio said: "Let's have transparency. If they're foreign governments, we ought to know about it. If they're radical organizations, we ought to know about it."


title: Park51

text: Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, called for transparency in the funding of the project, suggesting foreign sources could imply an ulterior agenda. Reza Aslan responded to Dr. Jasser's demand by saying that it was "absurd" to assume that overseas funding must necessarily involve extremism. He also said that it would be acceptable to demand mosques to be transparent about funding if the same was also demanded of a Catholic church or a Jewish temple.


title: Park51

text: Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "Where does [the money] come from?' I don't know. Do you really want every time they pass the basket in your church, and you throw a buck in, they run over and say, ' ... where do you come from? ... Where did you get this money?' No." The TV news anchor Rick Sanchez said: "...if you start going into who is giving money to whom ... you have to go to my church. You have got to go to Rome and start asking where the money is going into Rome. And you have to go to the Mormons and ask them, well, what are they doing with their money?"


title: Park51

text: Vogel and Russonello cite claims that donations "totaling $900,000, that the government of Qatar and a foundation run by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal have made to nonprofits or projects headed by Feisal Abdul Rauf" are involved. They further explore the funding of the project's opponents.


title: Park51

text: On the side of opponents to the project, fundings come from the Fairbrook Foundation, the umbrella organization of pro-Israel activists Aubrey & Joyce Chernick.


title: Park51

text: Abdul Rauf, a Kuwaiti-American Sufi Muslim, was the chief proponent of the project until he was replaced in January 2011. Some U.S. politicians and others voiced concerns about his views. Others, including "The Economist", have described him as "a well-meaning American cleric who has spent years trying to promote interfaith understanding".


title: Park51

text: In an interview on September 8, 2010, Abdul Rauf was asked if he would have done anything differently had he known the controversy would erupt. His answer: "If I knew this would happen, this would cause this kind of pain, I wouldn't have done it. My life has been devoted to peacemaking."


title: Park51

text: Counterterrorism analysts have noted that the developing controversy over Park51 has provided a "recruitment opportunity" for radical Islamist groups. According to Evan Kohlmann, the senior partner in the New York-based security firm Flashpoint Global Partners, "[t]he reaction is, at least on the part of extremists, fairly gleeful – that America is playing into our hands, that America is revealing its ugly face, and that even if it doesn't further radicalize people in the Middle East, there's no doubt that it will radicalize a kind of a key constituency that al-Qaida and other extremists are seeking to covet, seeking to court, which is the small number of homegrown extremists here in the United States".


title: Park51

text: "Newsweek" quotes a Taliban operative as explicitly connecting increased opposition to the project with increased support for the Taliban's cause. "By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor," the Taliban operative stated. "It's providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support."


title: Park51

text: In 2012, filmmaker David Osit produced a documentary about the Park51 controversy, specifically following the story through the experiences of developer Sharif El-Gamal. The film aired on PBS in the fall of 2013.


title: Park51

text: Polls showed that the majority of Americans, New York State residents, and New York City residents opposed building the center near Ground Zero, although a plurality of Manhattanites supported construction. In July 2010, the majority of Americans were opposed to the Islamic center. By a margin of 54–20%, American adults were opposed to a mosque being built near Ground Zero, a national Rasmussen Reports poll found that month.


title: Park51

text: Furthermore, according to an August 10–11 Fox News poll, 64% of Americans (a majority of each of Democrats (56–38%), Republicans (76–17%), and Independents (53–41%)) thought it would be wrong to build a mosque and Islamic cultural center so close to Ground Zero, and 30% felt it would be appropriate.


title: Park51

text: A CNN poll conducted August 6–10, 2010, found that Americans opposed the Park51 project by a margin of 68–29%. A majority of each of Democrats (54–34%), Republicans (82–17%), and Independents (70–24%) were opposed. An Economist/YouGov national poll taken the week of August 19, 2010 confirmed these findings. Overall, this poll found that Americans opposed the Park51 project by a margin of 57.9–17.5%, with 24.5% undecided on the question. Democrats (41.0–28.0%), Republicans (88.3–1.7%) and Independents (57.6–21.3%) were opposed to the project according to this poll.


title: Park51

text: In addition, by a margin of 52–31% New York City voters opposed the construction, according to a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll carried out in June 2010. At the same time, 46% of Manhattanites supported it, while 36% opposed it. Opposition was strongest in Staten Island, where 73% opposed it while only 14% supported it. A higher percentage of Republicans (82%) than Democrats (45%) opposed the plan.


title: Park51

text: A Marist Poll taken July 28 – August 5, 2010 showed a similar city-wide margin of registered voters against it (53–34%, with 13% unsure), although those in Manhattan supported it, reversing the figures: 53% to 31%, with 16% unsure. An updated Marist poll in September 2010 showed that support for Park51 had grown, with 41% in favor and 51% opposed. Support among African Americans, liberals, Democrats, and residents of the Bronx had increased. Manhattanites remained supportive.


title: Park51

text: Statewide, by a margin of 61–26% New Yorkers opposed the community center's construction at that location, according to another poll in August 2010, by Siena Research Institute, whose poll question wording was criticized by a writer at "Slate" magazine. A majority of both Republicans (81%) and Democrats (55%) were opposed to it, as were conservatives (85%), moderates (55%), and liberals (52%). Among New York City residents, a margin of 56–33% opposed it.


title: Park51

text: Some polls tried to gauge public opinion of Muslims' right to build Park51 near ground zero. The Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll of New York State residents released August 31, 2010 found a 54–40 percent majority of voters agreeing 'that because of American freedom of religion, Muslims have the right to build the mosque near Ground Zero'. A Fox News national poll taken August 10–11, 2010 found that 61% felt that the project developers had a right to build a mosque there (a majority of Democrats (63–32%), Republicans (57–36%), and Independents (69–29%)). The Economist/YouGov poll taken the week of August 19, 2010 concurred that Democrats (57.5–24.9%) and Independents (62.3–25.2%) believed Muslims had a "constitutional right" to build a mosque at the site, but found that Republicans (31.8–53.2%) did not believe that Muslims had such a right. The poll found that 50.2%, overall, supported the constitutional right to build at the site, 32.7% were opposed and 17.1% had no opinion.


title: Park51

text: The Economist/YouGov poll also noted that 52% of Americans believe that "Muslims should be able to build mosques in the United States wherever other religions can build houses of worship", as opposed to 34% who believe that "there are some places in the United States where it is not appropriate to build mosques, though it would be appropriate to build other houses of worship" and 14% who believe "mosques should not be permitted anywhere in the United States".


title: Park51

text: The prospect of building a mosque close to Ground Zero was offensive to some opponents of the construction project, since the hijackers in the September 11, 2001 attacks identified as Muslim. Some opponents suggested that Park51 was a "victory marker for Islamic extremists".


title: Park51

text: Some relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks said they found the proposal offensive because the perpetrators who committed the attacks did so in the name of Islam. A number said that it was not an issue of freedom of religion, property rights, or racism, but rather one of sensitivity to the families of those killed, in choosing the specific location of the center.


title: Park51

text: A group of victims' relatives, 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America, called the proposal "a gross insult to the memory of those who were killed on that terrible day". Debra Burlingame, a co-founder of the group whose brother died in the attacks, said:


title: Park51

text: This is a place which is from where almost 3,000 people were torn to pieces by Islamic extremists ... it is incredibly insensitive and audacious ... for them to build a mosque ... so that they could be in proximity to where that atrocity happened ... The idea that you would establish a religious institution that embraces the very "shariah" law that terrorists point to as their justification for what they did ... to build that where almost 3,000 people died, that is an obscenity to me.


title: Park51

text: Sally Regenhard, whose son was a firefighter who was killed in the attacks, and who has testified before Congress on 9/11, said that the center would be "sacrilege on sacred ground", and that "People are being accused of being anti-Muslim and racist, but this is simply a matter of sensitivity." Former NY Fire Department Deputy Chief Jim Riches, whose son Jim was killed, said: "I don't want to have to go down to a memorial where my son died on 9/11, and look at a mosque," adding "this is all about location, location, location. It's not about religious freedom ... be sensitive to the families." Michael Burke, whose brother died, wrote: "Freedom of religion or expression and private property rights are not the issues ... Decency is; right and wrong is ... [M]any believe that their "rights" supersede all other considerations, like what is respectful, considerate, and decent. A mosque ... steps from Ground Zero in a building damaged in the attacks is ... astoundingly insensitive".


title: Park51

text: C. Lee Hanson, whose son, daughter-in-law, and baby granddaughter were killed, felt that building a tribute to Islam so close to the World Trade Center site would be insensitive: "The pain never goes away. When I look over there and I see a mosque, it's going to hurt. Build it someplace else." Rosemary Cain, whose son was killed, called the project a "slap in the face", and said "I think it's despicable. That's sacred ground", and "I don't want a mosque on my son's grave". Nancy Nee, whose brother was killed, said: "It's almost like a trophy. The whole thing just reeks of arrogance at this point."


title: Park51

text: Evelyn Pettigano, who lost a sister, said: "I don't like it. I'm not prejudiced ... It's too close to the area where our family members were murdered." Dov Shefi, whose son Haggai was killed, said: "the establishment of a mosque in this place ... is like bringing a pig into the Holy Temple. It is inconceivable that in all the city of New York, this site was specifically chosen." Cindy McGinty, whose husband was killed, said she hoped that officials would keep an eye on the funding source for the project, adding: "Why did they pick this spot? Why aren't they being more sensitive? I don't trust it." Barry Zelman, whose brother was killed, said: "We can say all Muslims did not do this, which is true. But they [terrorists] did it in the name of that religion. You wouldn't have a German cultural center on top of a death camp."


title: Park51

text: Rosaleen Tallon-DaRos, whose brother died, urged that the mosque not be put on that site, as did Tim Brown, a New York City firefighter who survived the attack. Maureen Basnicki, a Canadian whose husband Ken died, questioned the message of the mosque and said that "this all adds hurt and insult to our injuries."


title: Park51

text: The building of an Islamic community center near Ground Zero has been criticized by some Muslims. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community does not directly oppose the building of a mosque near ground zero but views that the sentiments of non-Muslims should not be unduly hurt. They state that there are other places where mosques can be built and they do not see why that particular location has been chosen. The head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Masroor Ahmad in London, stated that:


title: Park51

text: If a mosque is built at the proposed site, then the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community would like to see churches, synagogues, Hindu places of worship and places of worship of all other religions also built near Ground Zero. That would be a good example of how from an act of evil and terror has emerged unity and peace.


title: Park51

text: Muslim neoconservative journalist Lulu Schwartz (then known as Stephen Schwartz), Executive Director of the non-profit Center for Islamic Pluralism, said that building the center two blocks from Ground Zero was inconsistent with the Sufi philosophy of simplicity of faith and sensitivity towards others and disregarded the security of American Muslims. Another criticism concerned what Schwartz described as Abdul Rauf's radical and suspect associations.


title: Park51

text: Another founding member of the Center for Islamic Pluralism, Zuhdi Jasser, who is also the founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a group of Muslim professionals in the Phoenix Valley of Arizona, strongly opposed the project, saying:


title: Park51

text: For us, a mosque was always a place to pray ... not a way to make an ostentatious architectural statement. "Ground Zero" shouldn't be about promoting Islam. It's the place where war was declared on us as Americans." ... American freedom of religion is a right, but ... it is not right to make one's religion a global political statement with a towering Islamic edifice that casts a shadow over the memorials of Ground Zero. ... Islamists in 'moderate' disguise are still Islamists. In their own more subtle ways, the WTC mosque organizers end up serving the same aims (as) separatist and supremacist wings of political Islam.


title: Park51

text: Neda Bolourchi, a Muslim whose mother died in 9/11, said: "I fear it would become a symbol of victory for militant Muslims around the world."


title: Park51

text: New York currently boasts at least 30 mosques so it's not as if there is pressing need to find space for worshipers. [W]e Muslims know ... [this] mosque is meant to be a deliberate provocation to thumb our noses at the infidel. The proposal has been made in bad faith, ... as "Fitna", meaning "mischief-making" that is clearly forbidden in the Koran. ... As Muslims we are dismayed that our co-religionists have such little consideration for their fellow citizens, and wish to rub salt in their wounds and pretend they are applying a balm to soothe the pain.


title: Park51

text: Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, while noting that blaming all Muslims for 9/11 was "ridiculous", said:


title: Park51

text: Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid, general manager of Al-Arabiya television, also criticized the project in a column titled "A House of Worship or a Symbol of Destruction?" in the Arab daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat, saying:


title: Park51

text: Muslims do not aspire for a mosque next to the September 11 cemetery ... the mosque is not an issue for Muslims, and they have not heard of it until the shouting became loud between the supporters and the objectors, which is mostly an argument between non-Muslim US citizens!


title: Park51

text: Rima Fakih, the first Muslim-American crowned Miss USA as Miss USA 2010, opposed the project on the grounds of it being insensitive to families of 9/11 victims, telling "Inside Edition":


title: Park51

text: I totally agree with President Obama with the statement on the constitutional rights of freedom of religion. [But] it shouldn't be so close to the World Trade Center. We should be more concerned with the tragedy than religion.


title: Park51

text: A number of American politicians spoke out against the Park51 project. Arizona Senator John McCain, the Republicans' 2008 presidential nominee, said that it "would harm relations, rather than help", while his running mate Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, wrote on Twitter that "Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate" . Other critics included Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential candidate; Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson; Maine Senator Olympia Snowe; Idaho Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo; Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson; and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. North Carolina congressional candidate Ilario Pantano said, "It is about ... territorial conquest. This mosque is a Martyr–Marker honoring the terrorists".


title: Park51

text: Former House Speaker Republican Newt Gingrich said: "It's not about religion and is clearly an aggressive act that is offensive." Commenting on the project's name, he wrote:


title: Park51

text: "Cordoba House" is a deliberately insulting term. It refers to Cordoba, Spain – the capital of Muslim conquerors, who symbolized their victory over the Christian Spaniards by transforming a church there into the world's third-largest mosque complex ... every Islamist in the world recognizes Cordoba as a symbol of Islamic conquest.Newt Gingrich would say "There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia."


title: Park51

text: Gingrich also decried the proposed Islamic center as a symbol of Muslim "triumphalism," and said that building the center near the site of the 9/11 attacks "would be like putting a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust Museum." Commenting on what Gingrich said, "The Economist" claimed that "Like Mr bin Laden, Mr Gingrich is apparently still relitigating the victories and defeats of religious wars fought in Europe and the Middle East centuries ago. He should rejoin the modern world, before he does real harm."


title: Park51

text: New York Republicans who criticized the plan included former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who called it a "desecration; Nobody would allow something like that at Pearl Harbor ... Let's have some respect for who died there and why they died there." Congressman Peter King, then the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, called it "offensive to so many people." Other opponents included former New York Governor George Pataki and former Congressman Rick Lazio. Gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino said, "The vast majority of New Yorkers and Americans have rejected their idea. If a bridge was their intent, why jam it down our throats? Why does it have to be right there?" He said that if he were elected Governor of New York, he would use the power of eminent domain to stop construction of the center and instead build a war memorial in its place.


title: Park51

text: New York Republican Congressional candidate George Demos also objected. He said that the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the only religious structure destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, should be rebuilt before moving forward on building an Islamic center in the area, and called for an investigation into the project's financing.


title: Park51

text: New York City Council Member Dan Halloran became the first elected official in New York City to publicly criticize the project, "If we want a nation of peace," said city councilman Dan Halloran, whose cousin died on 9/11, "then peace comes with understanding. And they need to understand that this is sacred ground to New Yorkers."


title: Park51

text: If the Japanese decided to open a cultural center across from Pearl Harbor, that would be insensitive. If the Germans opened a Bach choral society across from Auschwitz, even after all these years, that would be an insensitive setting. I have absolutely nothing against Islam. I just think: Why there?


title: Park51

text: A Republican political action committee, the National Republican Trust Political Action Committee, a Washington-based organization, created a television commercial attacking the proposal, saying "we Americans will be heard".


title: Park51

text: Democratic Independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman indicated that he felt the project should be halted, pending further evaluation of its impact on the families and friends of 9/11 victims, project's sponsors' intentions, and their sources of funding.


title: Park51

text: New York Democratic Assemblyman of District 92 and Attorney-General-candidate Richard Brodsky said it was, "offensive to me ... raises concerns and bad memories and needs to be dealt with on a human level. The murder wasn't an Islamic crime, but it was a crime committed in the name of Islam by people most Muslims reject."


title: Park51

text: Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada said, "it is time to bring people together, not a time for polarization, and I think it would be better off for everyone if it were built somewhere else." Jim Manley, a spokesperson for Reid earlier had said, "The First Amendment protects freedom of religion ... Senator Reid respects that, but thinks that the mosque should be built some place else."


title: Park51

text: Democratic National Committee chairman, former Democratic Presidential Candidate, and 79th Governor of Vermont Howard Dean called the project "a real affront to people who lost their lives" and wrote "the builders have to be willing to go beyond what is their right and be willing to talk about feelings whether the feelings are 'justified' or not." Dean also argues that most people opposed "are not right-wing hate mongers".


title: Park51

text: We have seen very clearly in the past weeks that building a mosque two blocks from ground zero will not promote necessary interfaith dialogue, but will continue to fracture the faiths and citizens of our city and this country. As such, I am opposed to the construction of the Cordoba Center at the currently-proposed location and urge all parties to work with local community leaders to find a more appropriate site.


title: Park51

text: Democratic Representative Steve Israel of the 2nd District in New York said in Newsday, "While they have a constitutional right to build the mosque, it would be better if they had demonstrated more sensitivity to the families of 9/11 victims. I urge them to do so before proceeding further."


title: Park51

text: Democratic Representative Tim Bishop of New York's 1st District also disagrees with the location, "As a New Yorker, I believe Ground Zero is sacred ground and should unite us. If the group seeking to build the mosque is sincere in its efforts to bring people together, I would urge them to seek an alternative location which is less divisive. I dispute the wisdom of building at that location, not the constitutional right."


title: Park51

text: New York City fireman Tim Brown opposed the project, saying: "A mosque ... that's using foreign money from countries with "shariah" law is unacceptable, especially in this neighborhood". Brown allied with the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), a conservative law firm founded by Pat Robertson that champions the rights of Christians to build and worship freely. Brown sought to pressure Abdul Rauf to disclose fully the project's funding sources. Peter Ferrara, General Counsel of the American Civil Rights Union (not to be confused with the ACLU), observed: "The Cordoba Mosque was the third largest mosque complex in the world ... built on the site of a former Christian church, to commemorate the Muslim conquest of Spain. This perpetuated a cultural Muslim practice of building mosques on the sites of historic conquests."


title: Park51

text: More than 20,000 people signed an online petition for the Committee to Stop the Ground Zero Mosque, and unsuccessfully lobbied the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to give the location landmark status, which would have added a major hurdle to construction.


title: Park51

text: Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said "putting a mosque ... very close to Ground Zero is unacceptable. ... Even though the vast majority of Muslims ... condemned their actions on Sept. 11, 2001, it still remains a fact that the people who perpetrated the 9/11 attack were Muslims and proclaimed they were doing what they were doing in the name of Islam." Bill Rench, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church which is located near the proposed mosque site, also spoke out against its construction.


title: Park51

text: The Zionist Organization of America opposes the construction of Park51 due to its location, and questions about Abdul Rauf. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, parent organization of the Museum of Tolerance Los Angeles and the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem, also opposes the location of the planned Park51. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) originally opposed building Park51 near the former World Trade Center and advocated for Park51 to be built in a different location. The ADL reversed this position in 2021, saying they "were wrong, plain and simple."


title: Park51

text: Speaking in his capacity as a "spokesperson for the conservative Tea Party political movement", Mark Williams called it a monument to the terror attacks. He characterized the proposed religious facilities at the site as a place which would be used for "terrorists to worship their monkey god". Williams would be expelled from the National Tea Party Federation two months after making this remark, for racially inflammatory remarks regarding a later and unrelated controversy.


title: Park51

text: Writing in the "National Review", political blogger Daniel Pipes stated his opposition to the construction of any Islamist institution anywhere although he did not object to a truly moderate Muslim institution in proximity to Ground Zero.


title: Park51

text: Notable British comedian and internet personality Pat Condell criticized the construction of Park51 in a video entitled "No mosque at Ground Zero" where he claimed that it was representative of Islamic triumphalism and that the United States was soon on the verge of Islamization and having its freedoms trimmed, as Europe has.


title: Park51

text: Similarly, political commentator Charles Krauthammer also criticized the construction, saying that it could potentially serve as a breeding ground for Islamic extremism.


title: Park51

text: On August 9, 2010, Greg Gutfeld stated that he planned on constructing New York City's first Islamic-friendly gay bar next to the proposed center. He stated that "As an American, I believe they have every right to build the mosque. ... Which is, why, in the spirit of outreach, I've decided to do the same thing." He insisted that "this is not a joke," and further stated that the project was "an effort to break down barriers and reduce deadly homophobia in the Islamic world."


title: Park51

text: Project supporters have argued that the Park51 building would not be visible from the World Trade Center site, and that some victims and victims' families have expressed support for the Park51 project, as well as acknowledging the fact that victims of the 9/11 attacks also included Muslims.


title: Park51

text: Some relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks expressed support for the project. Colleen Kelley, who lost her brother William on 9/11, says, the "irony in the debate over the section of the building that would house a mosque is that one might assume that God (the same God to Jews-Christians-Muslims) would be pleased with any type of effort that involves prayer and service to others."


title: Park51

text: Orlando Rodriguez and Phyllis Schaefer Rodriguez, whose son died in the attack, say they "support the building of the Islamic community center in lower Manhattan" and "feel that it would honor our son and other victims".


title: Park51

text: Herb Ouida, whose son Todd died, said: "To say that we're going to condemn a religion and castigate a billion people in the world because they're Muslims, to say that they shouldn't have the ability to pray near the World Trade Center – I don't think that's going to bring people together and cross the divide."


title: Park51

text: Marvin Bethea, a former EMS worker who was forced to retire in 2004 because of breathing problems caused by working at the 9/11 site, believes racism is a factor in the controversy, He said "even though my life has changed, I don't hate the Muslims. Especially being a black man, I know what it's like to be discriminated against. I've lived with that."


title: Park51

text: Donna O'Connor, whose pregnant daughter died on 9/11, expressed the opinion that "This building will serve as an emblem for the rest of the world that Americans ... recognize that the evil acts of a few must never damn the innocent."


title: Park51

text: Ted Olson, former Solicitor General in the George W. Bush administration, whose wife, television commentator Barbara Olson, died in the plane that crashed into the Pentagon, has expressed support for the rights of the Park51 organizers to construct the new site. In remarks on MSNBC, Olson said "we don't want to turn an act of hate against us by extremists into an act of intolerance for people of religious faith."


title: Park51

text: Bruce Wallace, whose nephew died as he rushed in to help the victims, says "the media seems eager to trumpet the feelings of those hurt by the idea of the center. They mostly ignore my feelings and those, like me, who feel the center is an important step for Americans."


title: Park51

text: Judith Keane, whose husband was killed on 9/11, says "To punish a group of Americans who live in peace for the acts of a few is wrong. The worst atrocities in history found their base in fear of those who were different."


title: Park51

text: Talat Hamdani, whose son was a first responder in the rescue effort and died in 9/11, co-wrote an article supporting the center in the interest of pluralism. She has also criticized the argument about sensitivity arguing that it was more about the legality of the situation and "our rights as Americans. We are protected under the Constitution. There is freedom of religion." Implying that the ban could be the thin edge of the wedge she said "You know, if it's one faith today, it's going to be another faith tomorrow. That is scary. And to scapegoat the Muslims for the acts of a foreign terrorist, that is – that is hatred." She went on "... if that argument is valid, then, by that token, Timothy McVeigh's actions also makes all Christians terrorists. So, that is wrong."


title: Park51

text: The anti-war group September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, released a statement in support of the center, saying "we believe that welcoming the Center, which is intended to promote interfaith tolerance and respect, is consistent with fundamental American values of freedom and justice for all," adding it will be "an emblem for the rest of the world that Americans stand against violence, intolerance, and overt acts of racism and that we recognize that the evil acts of a few must never damn the innocent".


title: Park51

text: Terry Rockefeller, whose sister was killed, said: "this doesn't insult her at all. This celebrates the city she loved living in. It is what makes America what we are."


title: Park51

text: Sue Rosenblum, of Coral Springs, Florida, whose son Josh was killed in the WTC attacks on 9/11, said in reference to the planned center: "What are we teaching if we say you can't build here? That it's OK to hate? This is a country based on freedom of religion."


title: Park51

text: On August 13, 2010, in a speech at the annual White House Iftar dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, President Barack Obama acknowledged the right of Muslims to build the Islamic center. Obama said, "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances." Obama clarified the next day that he was only speaking of legal rights and "was not commenting ... on the "wisdom" of making the decision to put a mosque there".


title: Park51

text: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg strongly endorsed the project, saying that Ground Zero was a "very appropriate place" for a mosque, because it "tells the world" that the U.S. has freedom of religion for everyone. Responding to opposition, he said:


title: Park51

text: The government should never, never be in the business of telling people how they should pray, or where they can pray. We want to make sure that everybody from around the world feels comfortable coming here, living here, and praying the way they want to pray.


title: Park51

text: "Democracy is stronger than this," he added. Remarking on opposition to the center's location, he said: "To cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists. We should not stand for that." Responding to a question about the pain the project was causing some family members, he said:


title: Park51

text: I don't see an enormous number of people. I was at a fundraiser ... maybe 50 ... people who had lost [family] members. 100% in that room kept saying, 'please keep it up, keep it up'. ... our relatives would have wanted this country, and this city, to follow and actually practice what we preach.


title: Park51

text: Bloomberg was asked if he was satisfied that "he is indeed a man of peace given his background where he's supposedly supported Hamas, blamed the U.S. for 9/11 attacks?" The mayor responded:


title: Park51

text: My job is not to vet clergy in this city. ... Everybody has a right to their opinions. You don't have to worship there. ... this country is not built around ... only those ... clergy people that we agree with. ... . It's built around freedom. That's the wonderful thing about the First Amendment – you can say anything you want.


title: Park51

text: Community Board 1 Financial Committee Chairman Edward "Ro" Sheffe opined: "it will be a wonderful asset to the community." New York City Councilwoman Margaret Chin said: "The center is something the community needs".


title: Park51

text: Additional New York politicians supported the proposal. These included Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, who said "I'll do everything I can to make sure this mosque does get opened", and U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler, who stated that "the government has no business deciding". Other supporters included New York State Senator Daniel Squadron, New York City Comptroller John Liu, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.


title: Park51

text: Nadler remarked that "a mosque in the Pentagon ... hasn't drawn any criticism", despite the Pentagon also being a target of the 9/11 attacks. What is referred to as the "Pentagon mosque" is, more precisely, a non-denominational chapel which was built and dedicated in 2002 in honor of Pentagon employees and passengers of American Airlines Flight 77 who died in the September 11 attack. Daily Muslim prayer sessions are held there weekday afternoons, and weekly Muslim services are led by an imam from a local mosque every Friday, which means the room can be considered a "mussallaah", a sacred space where Muslims "consistently perform their mid-day prayer when they do not have access to a mosque". This Muslim use of the Pentagon facility has drawn no complaints.


title: Park51

text: Orrin Hatch, a Republican Senator from Utah, voiced support of the project on religious freedom grounds. Hatch is a Mormon and cited an instance where a neighborhood tried to prevent a Mormon temple from being built.


title: Park51

text: Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex.) published a statement of support on August 20, 2010 to his campaign website defending the Cordoba House's planned Islamic community center. Congressman Paul attributed the controversy over the community center to Islamophobia and neo-conservatives who disregard their commitment to the First Amendment and property rights to agitate voters.


title: Park51

text: Representative Keith Ellison, the U.S.'s first Muslim congressman, supported the center's location on the basis of the First Amendment and religious tolerance, and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick also voiced support, saying: "The sooner we separate the peaceful teaching of Islam from the behavior of terrorists, the better for all of us."


title: Park51

text: Mark McKinnon, a former advisor to Republican President George W. Bush, criticized Republican opposition to the project: "And here we are, reinforcing al Qaeda's message that we're at war with Muslims." Another former Bush aide, speechwriter and policy advisor Michael Gerson, agreed that prohibiting the center would "undermine the war on terrorism":


title: Park51

text: The militants hope, above all else, to provoke conflict between the West and Islam – to graft their totalitarian political manias onto a broader movement of Muslim solidarity. America hopes to draw a line that isolates the politically violent and those who tolerate political violence – creating solidarity with Muslim opponents and victims of radicalism.


title: Park51

text: Mahmoud al-Zahar, a founding member and leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said of the planned Cordoba House: "We have to build everywhere," and "In every area we have, (as) Muslim(s), we have to pray, and this mosque is the only site of prayer." Zahar also said "We have to build the mosque, as you are allowed to build the church and Israelis are building their holy places."


title: Park51

text: Former US President Bill Clinton also supported Park51, after noting that many Muslims were also killed on September 11. He suggested that the developers could have avoided controversy if they dedicated the center to the Muslim victims of the attacks.


title: Park51

text: Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura gave his support to Park51, arguing that the First Amendment allows for a mosque to be built near Ground Zero. Ventura also argued that denying the right for a mosque to be built near Ground Zero would be similar to removing churches from Oklahoma City, where the Oklahoma City bombing occurred (the deadliest act of terrorism in the United States prior to 9/11), if Timothy McVeigh, the man who perpetrated the attack, was a Christian. Ventura also demanded that opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque should be ignored because "people need to remember, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights should be written in stone. You cannot subject them to the popularity. They are there to protect unpopular things, like the First Amendment. The First Amendment is to protect unpopular speech simply because popular speech doesn't need to be protected. It's as simple as that. And you can't, you know, bend the Constitution to the blowing winds of whatever polls might say, otherwise it's a worthless, useless document which in many ways they're turning it to that anyway."


title: Park51

text: Ibrahim Hooper, Communications Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), charged that the controversy was "manufactured" by "bigots". He also asserted that only a vocal minority was complaining. And Nihad Awad, CAIR's Executive Director, said that the opinion of Republican Congressman Peter King "should not be considered, because his ideas are extreme". Fareed Zakaria, "Newsweek" journalist and CNN host, also strongly supported the project, and returned a prestigious award he received in 2005 from the Anti-Defamation League, saying he was "personally and deeply saddened" by their opposition towards the project. He wrote: "...Rauf, is a moderate Muslim clergyman. He has said one or two things about American foreign policy that strike me as overly critical – but it's stuff you could read on "The Huffington Post" any day. On Islam, his main subject, Abdul Rauf's views are clear: he routinely denounces all terrorism – as he did again last week, publicly."


title: Park51

text: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a U.S. Jewish civil rights group that had spoken out against anti-Muslim bigotry, denounced what it saw as bigoted attacks on the project. Its head opined that some of those who oppose the project are "bigots", and that the plan's proponents may have every right to build the center at that location. Nevertheless, the group recommended selecting a different location, and appealed to the builders to consider the sensitivities of the victims' families, saying that building the community center at that site would unnecessarily cause more pain for families of some victims of 9/11. As a consequence of their statement, Fareed Zakaria, the winner of the ADL's 2005 Hubert Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize has returned the prize and the prize money.


title: Park51

text: The New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union supported it as well, citing principles of religious freedom. The Interfaith Alliance also supported the project, while indicating that it agreed with the need for transparency as to who is funding the project.


title: Park51

text: A petition circulated by the liberal political action committee Votevets.org garnered 14,000 signatures in support of the center, including 450 war veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and 4,000 veterans from wars from other eras.


title: Park51

text: Mark R. Cohen, professor of Jewish Civilization in the Near East in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, opined that "The presence of ... mosques like the one planned near Ground Zero, which will be an educational center as well as a place of prayer, is one good way of transcending ... ignorance."


title: Park51

text: Rabbi Geoffrey Dennis, of the University of North Texas Jewish Studies Program said that when it comes to the issue of freedom to practice religion in a private sphere, such as on a piece of private property in Lower Manhattan, freedom of religion is virtually inviolate.


title: Park51

text: Boston University Department of Religion professor Stephen Prothero spoke out against the arguments that Cordoba House should not be built near Ground Zero.


title: Park51

text: Padraic O'Hare, professor of Religious and Theological Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations at Merrimack College, argued that prayer leads to peace: "Build a Muslim house of prayer near Ground Zero? ... Hand me the shovel."


title: Park51

text: During a CNN interview, Reza Aslan, a professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, defended Imam Abdul Rauf as "cited by government's sources in the United States as one of America's most pluralistic peace promoting religious leaders in the country". He defended the center as an "American-Muslim" center similar to the Jewish center built close to it.


title: Park51

text: During the 2010 US Open tennis tournament Pakistan's Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi said, "For me, as a Muslim, that's what makes America the greatest country in the world – freedom of religion, freedom of speech. If the mosque is built, I think it's a huge gesture to all the Muslim community out there in the world. I would really appreciate it."


The 1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, representing the United States. The USA's senior men's team, was led by coach Bob Knight, who was also the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers at the time. The team won the tournament's gold medal. It was the last amateur level U.S.A. team to win an Olympic gold medal in men's basketball. The team was considered to be one of the strongest in U.S.A.'s history at that time, as it featured four of the five 1984 consensus first team All-Americans, in Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Wayman Tisdale, and Sam Perkins.


title: 1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team

text: Due to the 1984 Summer Olympic Games boycott, which was led by the Soviet Union and involved 14 Eastern Bloc countries and allies, the Soviet Union national team and the Hungarian national team withdrew from the tournament. However, the 1980 Summer Olympic Games gold medalists, Yugoslavia, defied the boycott to play at the tournament, and ultimately won the bronze medal.


text: Trials for the team were held in April 1984 at Knight's regular base of operations at Indiana's campus in Bloomington. Seventy players attended the trials. Kentucky post players Sam Bowie and Melvin Turpin chose to skip the trials, in order to concentrate on the upcoming 1984 NBA draft, and Keith Lee of Memphis State, Len Bias of Maryland and Kenny Smith of North Carolina, ultimately pulled out as well. Knight led the trials with assistant coaches George Raveling, Don Donoher and C. M. Newton, whittling the prospects down to twenty, by the end of the first week of the trials.


text: During the trials, Auburn junior Charles Barkley impressed with his performance - most observers felt he and North Carolina shooting guard Michael Jordan were the two top performers. However, Barkley's and Knight's strong personalities did not mesh, and Barkley was one of the last cuts from the roster. Released along with Barkley, in the penultimate cut from 20 to 16 players in May, were John Stockton of Gonzaga, Terry Porter of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and Maurice Martin of Saint Joseph's.


text: Knight's final cut to twelve players came in June, and the final four let go were Tim McCormick of Michigan, Lancaster Gordon of Louisville, Johnny Dawkins of Duke and Barkley's Auburn teammate Chuck Person (Dawkins and Person served as alternates for the team). The most controversial selection was Knight's own Indiana player, Steve Alford, who was the team's youngest member at 19 and not expected by most to make the team.


text: Prior to the Olympics, the team played eight games against NBA All-Star teams including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre and won all eight.


text: The team went 8–0 in the Olympic tournament, averaging 95.4 points per game, and holding their opponents to 63.3. Four players averaged double-figures in scoring: Michael Jordan (17.1), Chris Mullin (11.6), Patrick Ewing (11.0) and Steve Alford (10.3). Wayman Tisdale led the team in rebounding (5.9 per game), while Leon Wood led the team in assists (7.9 per game).


text: The 1984 Summer Olympics was a coming-out party for Michael Jordan, who led the U. S. team in scoring and dazzled the worldwide viewing audience with his athleticism and speed, including during the sweep of the NBA All-Stars before the Olympics. In addition to Jordan, the team featured two other future Hall of Fame members in Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin (both of whom would later reunite with Jordan, as a part of the 1992 Dream Team). Jordan recalled that while this Olympic experience was exciting, it had also been trying because of Knight: "I don't know if I would have done it if I knew what Knight was going to be like."


text: The Olympics and trials helped the draft stock of several players. Vern Fleming and Jeff Turner parlayed their Olympic exposure into first-round spots in the 1984 NBA draft, while several players that were cut from the team, either received strong recommendations from Knight (future Hall of Fame member John Stockton and Tim McCormick), or benefited from exposure from the trials (Charles Barkley and Lancaster Gordon).


title: Vasco Rossi

text: Vasco Rossi (born 7 February 1952), also known mononymously as Vasco or with the nickname Il Blasco, is an Italian singer-songwriter and poet. During his career, he has published 30 albums (not including unofficial releases) and has written over 250 songs, as well as lyrics for other artists.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: Rossi calls himself a "provocautore" (an Italian portmanteau for "provoking author") as throughout his career he has been regularly criticized over his choice of lifestyle and the lyrics in his songs. With more than 35 millions of copies sold, he is one of the best-selling Italian singers. His Modena Park 2017 concert is the highest-attended ticketed concert of all time.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: Vasco Rossi was born in Zocca, in the province of Modena (Emilia-Romagna). His father, Carlo Rossi, was a truck-driver, and his mother, Novella, a housewife. It was his mother herself who decided to enroll him in singing school when he was a little boy, a choice that must have seemed rather peculiar within the mentality of a small village in the Apennines like Zocca. Nonetheless, Rossi fell in love with music and at the age of 14 began playing with his first band.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: Rossi and his family moved to Bologna, Italy, where he studied accounting in high school. Upon graduating he opened a music club, Punto Club, and enrolled in university at the faculty of Economics and Business. In the meantime he supported himself by working as a DJ and founding, along with friends, one of the first private radio stations in Italy, "Punto Radio", with which he began slowly and timidly showcasing his own songs.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: Encouraged by his friend Gaetano Curreri (now leading member of Italian rock band Stadio), Rossi released his first EP on 13 June 1977, which included the songs "" (Jenny is crazy) and "Silvia", and a full-length album in 1978, ' ("What do you think a song is"). In 1979, he released a second album, ' ("We're not at all the Americans"), which included, "Albachiara" ("Cleardawn"), one of his biggest hits, a ballad considered emblematic of Rossi's poetic style. His most controversial album, "Colpa d'Alfredo" ("Alfredo's fault") followed in 1980; its title-track was censored from the radio and let loose bitter criticism because it contained some lyrics referring to women considered too explicit at that time. The controversy actually increased Rossi's popularity, and he quickly saw himself famous on a national level, particularly after performing live on "Domenica In", a popular Italian television program. The performance did not particularly please journalist Nantas Salvalaggio, who published a scathing article against Rossi calling him a drug addict. Rossi argued that Salvalaggio evidently did not understand his music and remarked how easy it is to criticize a still unknown artist who cannot defend himself.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In 1981, the album "Siamo solo noi" ("It's only us") was released. The title track, another signature song of his, would become commonly recognized as a generational hymn.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In 1982, Rossi took part for the first time in the Sanremo Music Festival, performing the song "Vado al massimo" ("I'm taking it to the max"). Here, he once again found himself under harsh criticism, and came in last place in the festival. In April of the same year the album "Vado al Massimo" was released. The following year, he reappeared at the Sanremo Music Festival, this time performing "Vita spericolata" (Daredevil Life), probably his most popular song, and finishing in second-to-last place due to his apparent state of intoxication. The following album, "Bollicine" ("Little Bubbles"), published in 1983, was his sixth in seven years, and was the album that consecrated him definitively as an idol of the new generation and an icon of Italian rock. The title track, whose lyrics are about Coke (but also demonstrate a clear assonance with cocaine), won the Festivalbar '83, and his tour that year was an enormous success.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: To celebrate this positive period in his career, Rossi released his first live recording in 1984, "Va bene, va bene così" ("It's alright, it's alright this way"). In April, however, he was arrested on charges of drug possession. He was immediately granted provisional release from jail, but subsequently sentenced to 2 years and eight months of probation. Shortly thereafter he released his next album, "Cosa succede in città" ("What's going on in the city"), which became one of his weakest critically and did not reach past sales.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In 1987 Vasco Rossi's ninth album, "C'è chi dice no" ("There Are Some Who Say No"), was released; the ever-increasing numbers of fans showing up to his concerts forced him to quit performing in clubs and normal-sized venues and begin the era of something for which he is known to this day—playing in and selling out big arenas and stadiums.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: His tenth studio album, "Liberi liberi" ("[we are] Free, Free"), followed in 1989. It reached 800,000 sales in Italy. The success of his 1989 tour brought the release of the live album "Fronte del palco" (a pun on the Italian title of Marlon Brando's film "Waterfront" which was "Fronte del porto", and thus meaning "Stage Front") and the organization of two concerts in 1990, one at the San Siro stadium in Milan and the other at the Flaminio in Rome. Live album has sold over 300,000 units in Italy.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: Rossi's next album, "Gli spari sopra" ("The shots above"), released in 1993, went ten times platinum. The title track, which was a major hit, is a cover version of "Celebrate" by the Irish band An Emotional Fish. In 1994, he gave the unreleased "Senza Parole" ("Without Words") as a gift to members of his official fan-club.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In 1995, Rossi was again the star at San Siro with a double concert, "Rock sotto l'assedio "("Rock under siege"), which protested the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Rossi invited a few Bosnian bands like Sikter, Lezi Majmune, and Protest to perform but was heavily criticized by the press because the proceeds weren't given to charity, despite the fact they were never meant to be.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In 1996, Rossi recorded a new studio album, "Nessun Pericolo... Per Te" ("No Danger... For You"), featuring the songs "Sally" and "Gli angeli" ("The Angels"), (the video of the latter was directed by Roman Polanski).


title: Vasco Rossi

text: The drum of the song "Anche se" ("Even If") later called "Praticamente perfetto" ("Practically Perfect") was recorded by Taylor Hawkins.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: The song was later included in the album "Nessun Pericolo... Per Te" ("No Danger... For You") in 1996.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In 1998, Rossi rediscovered his singer-songwriter side, recording and releasing the album "Canzoni per me" ("Songs for me") with a softer and less "rock" sound, even remaking never-published songs written at the beginning of his career. The nature of the songs, however, did not impede Rossi from winning his second Festivalbar with the song, "L'una per te"; the name of this song, and the whole lyrics, is a word pun between the words "Luna" ("Moon") and "L'una" ("The one"). Given the low propensity of these songs to fit in his live show with the songs his fans had up to that time become accustomed to, he decided to hold just one concert in 1998, accepting the offer to be a guest star on the first evening of the new Heineken Jammin' Festival in Imola, Italy. The evening is immortalized in both video and in the 1999 live album "Rewind". A few days into the tour, Rossi's inseparable friend, as well as guitarist and writer/cowriter of many songs and lyrics, Massimo Riva, died unexpectedly. He would be remembered and celebrated by Rossi and fans in nearly every concert that followed.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In 2001, "Stupido Hotel" ("Stupid Hotel"), was released, and Rossi won his third Festivalbar, this time with the song "Siamo Soli" ("We are alone"). In 2002 Rossi released his first official recording of remastered songs in their original version, "Tracks", which was followed by three sold-out performances at San Siro Stadium in Milan. His album "Buoni o cattivi" ("Good or Bad Ones") was the most successful album in Italy in 2004.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: On 9 September 2005, Rossi released the double DVD "È solo un Rock'n'Roll show" ("It's Only a Rock'n’Roll Show") with Andrea Lehotská, launching the concept of the 'movieclip,' in which all the songs from "Buoni o cattivi" ("Good or Bad [guys]")' are used in a two-hour music video. Three months later, "Buoni o cattivi live anthology 04.05" was released, a comprehensive box set comprising a double CD and a triple DVD, recorded live from the record-setting "Buoni o cattivi tour" of 2004 and 2005. In December 2005 he returned to his home town of Zocca, where his childhood friends and the rest of the community organized a tribute in his honor, including a photo display and other celebrations.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In 2007, he released the "Vasco Extended Play", that contains the hit single "Basta Poco" ("A Little Is Enough"). The EP topped the Italian FIMI Charts for 21 Weeks, making that the Italian best-selling single of 2007.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: On 4 May 2010, the newspaper "Corriere della Sera" reported Vasco Rossi as saying the American and British governments had been responsible for preventing him and other Italian musicians from becoming known in those countries. "Just as Bob Dylan was banned from playing in China, for 20 years I was barred from London. ... It's one of the many 'presents' that America left us after World War II. To favour the sale of American and British music to Italy and discourage the export of our talents abroad."


title: Vasco Rossi

text: On 4 November he released a new album, "Sono innocente" (I'm innocent). The disc was preceded by the single "Come vorrei" (How I would like to). During the recording session for the new album, Vasco wrote the lyrics to a song musically written by Dave Grohl, entitled "Sognare ancora" (Dreaming Again). This particular song was included in a compilation for Dave Grohl's music project.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In June 2011 Rossi announced he would be retiring from touring and live work although would continue to work in the music business.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: In January 2013 Rossi withdrew his resignation and announced a new tour in Turin and Bologna, followed by tours: Vasco Live Kom '014, Vasco Live Kom '015, Vasco Live Kom '016, and the huge concert to celebrate his 40 years of career, on 1 July 2017, held in Modena and called Modena Park. The Modena Park 2017 is currently the largest concert with over 225,000 tickets sold, breaking other world records.


title: Vasco Rossi

text: During 2011, Vasco's lawyers threatened to undertake legal action against popular Italian satire website "Nonciclopedia", the Italian version of "Uncyclopedia", arguing that the rock star was offended by the content of the page. On 3 October 2011, the website shut down after repeated inquiries from the police to the site's admins. The news promptly spread across the web via thousands of tweets, blogposts and to some Italian newspapers.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident was a scuba diving incident in 1973 at a flooded sinkhole known as "The Shaft" near Mount Gambier in South Australia. The incident claimed the lives of four recreational scuba divers: siblings Stephen and Christine M. Millott, Gordon G. Roberts, and John H. Bockerman. The four divers explored beyond their own planned limits, without the use of a guideline, and subsequently became lost, eventually exhausting their breathing air and drowning. As of May 2015, they are the only known fatalities at the site. Four other divers from the same group survived.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The bodies were all recovered over the next year, and the incident was influential in the restriction of access to cave diving venues in Australia, the formation of the Cave Divers Association of Australia later that year, and the development of the South Australian Police Underwater Recovery Squad.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The entrance to the sinkhole known as "The Shaft" was discovered in 1938 in a field known as Thompson's Paddock, on a farm near Allendale East, a few kilometres south of Mount Gambier, when one of a team of horses stumbled over a small hole about a across, which proved to be a solution shaft opening into a large sinkhole. The hole was later opened up to about diameter for exploration access. In the mid-1960s a local diver climbed down the rain-enlarged opening into the cave’s wide lake chamber and made the first descent to a depth of about .


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The cave is one of several deep solution features in porous limestone in this part of south Australia. The main chamber is about long and wide. Water level is about below ground level, and the hole is considerably wider at this point. A rock pile directly under the surface opening rises to a minimum depth of about . A tunnel extends to the northwest to a depth of about , and another to the east reaches a maximum depth of . Because of the size of the hole and the height of the drop, divers and equipment are lowered into the chamber separately using a hoist system.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The name is claimed to be derived from the bright shaft of sunlight which penetrates through the entrance to the depths on a sunny day.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The first reasonably accurate map of the cavern was made in 1984 after the newly-formed CDAA Research Group made mapping and photographic dives showing the chamber to be roughly oval in shape. There was another exploration in June 1992, but the deepest sections were surveyed and mapped in 2002/03. The eastern tunnel is obstructed by restrictions at about and continues downwards to before becoming horizontal, and further access is blocked by a rock pile.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: On 26 May 1973, a group of nine divers arrived at Mount Gambier in South Australia with the intention of cave diving at "The Shaft," a wide sinkhole opening leading to a large underwater cavern, famous among divers for its clear water and interesting internal structure. John H. Bockerman, Peter S. Burr, Christine M. Millott, Glen Millott, Stephen Millott, Larry Reynolds, Gordon G. Roberts, and Robert J. Smith were the eight divers intending to venture into the cave; a ninth group member, Joan Harper, had decided she wouldn't be diving, and would instead remain beside the sinkhole, preparing hot soup and assisting the group in other ways.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The day prior to the accident, the group signed the guestbook at the farmhouse of B.V. Ashby, and completed a successful dive at the sinkhole, extending a shot line approximately into the water and reaching the primary point of interest known as the "rock pile", a central pile of limestone rubble about 40 meters directly below the sinkhole entrance. They briefly explored the perimeter of the rock pile before surfacing. With their shot line already in place, the group planned to return the next morning and continue exploring the cavern.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The group arrived at the sinkhole on the morning of 28 May after refilling their cylinders at Mount Gambier, and quickly descended to the rock pile. Reports from the divers indicate that they had not planned to explore beyond "the edge", a narrow and downward-sloping continuation of the cave on one side of the main chamber, far from the natural light shaft provided by the sinkhole opening. The rock pile was generally considered the boundary for safe recreational diving; the surrounding cavern was dark, unexplored, covered in loose silt and limestone rubble, and continued downward to depths where the effects of nitrogen narcosis become extreme if the breathing gas is not diluted by helium. Even at the depths of the rock pile perimeter, the effects of narcosis would have been significant, which may have already been impacting the judgement of the divers.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: While the initial descent went smoothly, the eight divers neglected several recognised safety procedures early in the dive. The shot line did not extend all the way to the cavern floor, and was not equipped with extra air tanks, nor were the divers prepared with adequate air management strategies. The group had not established specific diving partners, and they did not use any form of safety guide line; Glen Millott later stated they did not use safety lines because eight separate lines in such a confined space would have created a dangerous situation for the divers. Robert Smith, who had dived at the sinkhole on eight previous occasions and established most of the dive plan, was not expecting the other members of the group to venture as far into the cave as they did.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: Separate accounts from the four surviving divers were pieced together with the help of former Chief Superintendent Wallace B. Budd to establish a timeline of what happened to the four victims. At the perimeter of the rock pile, Smith began to feel the effects of nitrogen narcosis. His depth gauge read approximately . An experienced diver, familiar with the symptoms of narcosis, Smith signaled to his group that he was returning to the top of the rock pile. The group signaled that they were going to continue exploring. Smith stayed by the rock pile, circling it for around 8 minutes while searching for animal bones. He then saw the torch of Glen Millott returning from the direction the others had gone. Glen Millott had been monitoring his air, and knew that he was out of time; he had attempted to tap Christine Millott on the arm and remind her that her time was also up, but the two were separated before he could. Smith and Glen Millott met and surfaced together to find that Larry Reynolds had already returned from his dive. Half a minute later, Peter Burr surfaced with almost no air left in his tank.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: Knowing the others would have similarly low air supplies, Glen Millott quickly put on a spare tank and returned to the water. He descended to a depth of , where the cliff began to drop off. At the edge, he found Stephen Millott's torch and camera. Significant amounts of silt had been disturbed, and the visibility had reduced to nearly zero. Glen Millott had no choice but to decompress and return to the surface. By the time he surfaced, an ambulance had arrived at the sinkhole. Peter Burr returned to the cavern for one more look, but found nobody. By that point, the group was aware that they were looking for bodies, and not survivors.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: At the end of the planned dive, upon turning around to return to the surface, the surviving divers saw Christine Millott and Gordon Roberts attempt to ascend quickly back to the rock pile. However, instead of ascending along the slope they went down, they swam straight up, possibly because they were worried their air would be exhausted soon. The two divers swam directly upward into a dome in the ceiling which had no exit. Reynolds reported seeing their torches frantically searching for an exit before Roberts signaled back that they were lost. According to Reynolds, Christine Millott and Gordon Roberts looked "frightened." This was the last time the two were seen. Likely suffering from nitrogen narcosis, and surrounded in silt allowing minimal visibility, the two failed to find an exit. They exhausted their air supply and drowned; their bodies were later found together below the ceiling dome they had failed to escape. Reports suggest that Christine Millott and Gordon Roberts may have been holding each other, as they knew their death was imminent. Their bodies were found together.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: Further down and around the same time, one surviving diver says they witnessed a member of their group swimming strongly downward further into the cave. This was John Bockerman, who was likely under the effects of severe nitrogen narcosis, and may have been unaware that he was swimming to his death. His body was located about further from where he was last seen, and was at the greatest depth of the four victims.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The fourth casualty, Stephen Millott, may have been seen lost beneath the cave ceiling shortly before the surviving divers surfaced. Although his torch and camera were found deep at the base of the rock pile, his body was found under an overhang at a depth of only . Compared with the other victims, little is known about Stephen's final moments, but he was wearing a buoyancy vest, and to have been found under an overhang it is likely that he was buoyant at the time of death.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: A search of the cave by the police Underwater Recovery Squad to a depth of was initiated on 29 May 1973, the day after the accident. The search was brief, and no bodies were found. The team was aware that they were underprepared for a dive in such conditions, and the operation was described by Chief Inspector Wallace Budd of the South-Eastern Division police headquarters in Mount Gambier as a "learn as you go exercise." A second attempt was made on 30 May, again unsuccessful. The police search was ultimately postponed as the team sought Naval expertise on the dive, the training for which was expected to take several months.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The following January, the landowners permitted a television film crew, making a documentary on cave diving in the Lower South East, to enter the sinkhole. On 22 January 1974, after several days of diving in other caves in the area, the crew descended to a depth of and, using professional lighting equipment, illuminated the cave "like daylight." A technician looking in the direction of two of his teammates noticed what appeared to be a third person behind them. Further inspection revealed that it was a body in a wetsuit. The team turned the light away immediately and surfaced together to report their findings. According to the crew, the body was not filmed. On the morning of 23 January 1974, police arrived at the sinkhole and dove to a depth of , where they found a body floating under a ledge against the sloped cavern roof. The body was immediately towed out, and police divers continued searching to a depth of , finding nothing else. The body was initially only identifiable by the equipment it was wearing, and official identification required dental records. The body was found to be that of Stephen Millott.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The landowners, growing increasingly uncomfortable with the remaining three bodies stuck on their property, approached an amateur diving team from Melbourne to begin recovery efforts. However, the police diving team was finalising their recovery preparations around the same time.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: On 9 March 1974, R. G. Trayner and a team of divers entered "The Shaft" equipped with substantially improved diving gear. At a depth of , Trayner saw a body below him laying on its back. On further examination, he found a second body directly beneath it. These were the bodies of Christine Millott and Gordon Roberts. deeper, Trayner also located the body of John Bockerman beneath a rock ledge. He attempted to move the body into a more easily-recoverable position, but abandoned the effort knowing he did not have sufficient air.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The next day, the divers attempted to return and recover the bodies, but did not succeed, and the effort was called off after the water became too murky. Several more dives were attempted, but the bodies could not be relocated. Finally, on the third day of diving, the bodies were found, and Christine Millott and Gordon Roberts were recovered from a depth of on 11 March 1974. Attempts were made to recover Bockerman's body from a depth of the following morning, but the divers aborted the recovery because of the onset of nitrogen narcosis.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The divers were sent home for a month to recover from the extended efforts and to further train for the final body recovery, which was the most challenging because of its extreme depth and position. The final dive plan included one day of diving to secure location of the body using a guide line, a rest day for the divers to recover from potential narcotic effects, though narcotic effects are now known to dissipate immediately on ascending, with no after effects, and a third day to recover the body. The divers experienced significant narcosis during both days of diving, but their improved equipment and procedures ensured the operation went as planned, and John H. Bockerman's body was recovered from the cave on 9 April 1974, 11 months and 11 days after the accident.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: In the autopsy of Stephen Millott, the three possible modes of fatal injury considered were air embolism – a consequence of lung overpressure injury usually due to ascent while holding the breath – but the evidence of lung barotrauma would no longer have been detectable after such a long period, death as a consequence of breathing gas contamination, which was ruled out through tests of air remaining in the cylinder and lack of evidence of carbon monoxide in tissue samples, or death by drowning, which was supported by evidence of diatom residue in the lung tissue, indicating that there had been water entry before or possibly after death. Embolism was also found to be unlikely from the accounts of the survivors.


title: 1973 Mount Gambier cave diving accident

text: The coroner, Special Magistrate R.F.Stokes, concluded that the four divers overstayed their bottom time, ran out of air and died of hypoxia, the usual consequence of fatal drowning. A further finding was that although all the divers claimed to be experienced, and four of them were instructors, none of them were experienced sink-hole divers (cave divers), and that no appropriate safety precautions had been taken, referring specifically to the lack of a fail-safe return to surface system, staged emergency decompression cylinders, any recognised safety system (such as a buddy system), and that no-one clearly had responsibility for planning the dive and safety of the group.