By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said he has been "awed" by the controversy surrounding his proposed mosque and community center near Ground Zero in a column for the New York Times.
The piece broke months of silence for Rauf, the spiritual leader of Park 51, as the project is called, and he vowed that the project would move forward.
“We have all been awed by how inflamed and emotional the issue of the proposed community center has become,” Rauf wrote. “The level of attention reflects the degree to which people care about the very American values under debate: recognition of the rights of others, tolerance and freedom of worship.”
The piece broke months of silence from Rauf. He promised to “clearly identify all of our financial backers.”
He also responded to plans to protest the mosque during Saturday’s 9/11 anniversary.
“Let us commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 by pausing to reflect and meditate and tone down the vitriol and rhetoric,” Rauf wrote. “I am very sensitive to the feelings of the families of victims of 9/11.”
Jim Riches, who lost his firefighter son in 9/11, told CBS he was "outraged" by the column.
“I think he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s got anti-American rhetoric all over it and now he’s trying to act like Mr. peace maker,” Riches said. “Well, I don’t buy it.”
The NYPD says it is prepared for Saturday, regardless of the circumstances.
“We have no reason to anticipate violence at these demonstrations, but obviously there’s the potential at any demonstration,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told CBS.
