WASHINGTON—New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission was right not to designate the building at 45 Park Place, two blocks from Ground Zero, a historical landmark.

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The campaign against it is the negation of what America should be about: tolerance, private property and pluralism. Many of those criticizing the plan betrayed prejudice and hatred. But others made thoughtful arguments that need to be confronted in the context of the debate about the relationship between liberal democracy and Islam.

The sensitivities of the relatives of the victims were frequently invoked. They deserve the utmost consideration. But invoking them to block the plans of the building’s owners misses three points. First, a few dozen Muslims died at the World Trade Center on 9/11 too. Second, among the victims’ relatives there are those who favor and those who oppose Park51, as the center will be called. Last but not least, as Mayor Bloomberg has said, you cannot override someone’s property rights because of other people’s perceptions without undermining private property—and the courts were bound to safeguard that principle.

Apart from the victims’ sensitivities, the main argument against the center is that placing it near Ground Zero will hand a symbolic victory to al-Qaeda.

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One should not judge the merits of something primarily on the basis of whether the wrong people also support it. Many a good cause is honestly defended by the right people and, for tactical reasons, dishonestly backed by the wrong ones.

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But in this case, the premise that the wrong people will find cause for celebration rings hollow. Bin Laden and company hate any strand of Islam that stands for peaceful coexistence and liberal values—including the symbolism of Cordoba, a Spanish city fabled for its religious tolerance in the 10th and 11th centuries under Muslim rule.
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In the United States, there are about 700 Hindu and 2,000 Buddhist temples—a higher figure than the total number of mosques. The population of Muslims is inconclusively debated, with Muslim organizations offering high figures (between 8 million and 12 million) and scholarly studies speaking of no more than 2 million. But one seldom hears that these minorities represent a major social, political or security threat. Islam was associated with radicalism in the wake

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Which is not to say that in certain circles disaffected youth have not been impacted by preachers connected to foreign circles, or that a more radical teaching has not been present around some mosques. These people claim that American freedoms are a fig leaf for discrimination and abuse of power. The decision to allow the center proves them wrong yet again.