But in the Middle East — where the imam spearheading the plans is now touring on a U.S.-funded outreach mission — the proposed mosque and community center near the former World Trade Center towers is viewed in less stark tones…

From Kuwait, an Egyptian-born publisher Ahmed el-Adly posted on his Facebook site that Muslims’ image in the West has been ravaged time and again after 9/11 and other jihad-inspired attacks in London, Madrid and elsewhere. He wondered in the New York mosque proposal is the right goal at the right time.

“No need to rock the boat,” he said.