Palin calls planned mosque near ground zero a ‘provocation’

Sarah Palin took to Twitter Sunday to bash plans for an Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.

Palin tweeted: “Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real.”

An hour later she added: “Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing.”

The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate is attacking the planned Cordoba House, a project that has New York politicians lining up on both sides.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has defended the project. But GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio has attacked the proposal and this month called for state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) — his opponent in the race for governor — to probe the project’s backing.

Cuomo rebuffed the request, according to press reports, and backs the project.

“This country is about religious freedom. If there is a central premise to the founding for this nation, it is religious freedom and it is that government doesn’t pick religions,” Cuomo said this month.

Here’s how the Cordoba Initiative — a group that says its aim is to improve Muslim-West relations — describes the project:

“This proposed project is about promoting integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion through arts and culture. Cordoba House will provide a place where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, will find a center of learning, art and culture; and most importantly, a center guided by Islamic values in their truest form — compassion, generosity, and respect for all.”