Here in New York, competing rallies were held Sunday for and against the planned construction of an Islamic cultural center in Lower Manhattan, two blocks from Ground Zero. The New York Daily News reported one group of opponents brought a life-sized mock missile with a dummy terrorist draped over the top holding a sign that read, “Obama, your middle-name is Hussein, we understand. Bloomberg, what’s your excuse.” New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been a vocal backer of the project. Daisy Khan, one of the leading organizers behind the Islamic community center, appeared on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.

Daisy Khan: “We are deeply concerned, because this is like a metastasized anti-Semitism. That’s what we feel right now. It’s not even Islamophobia. It’s beyond Islamophobia: it’s hate of Muslims.”

At Sunday’s rally against the Islamic cultural center, protesters included John Cartier.

John Cartier: “I don’t believe that every Muslim is a terrorist, but I do know that every terrorist that was on the planes that killed my brother was a Muslim. And I just don’t feel that it’s morally right and ethically right to put a mosque here where my brother was killed.”

Benjamin Silverman took part in the competing rally to show support for the cultural center.

Benjamin Silverman: “We want to stand for the right of individuals to practice their religion where they choose, and we want to stand against what is rapidly becoming a climate of fear, hatred and Islamophobia.”