New York City ? Some Muslims who were initially indifferent about a proposed Islamic center near the World Trade Center site are now rallying around the plan, partly in response to a sense that their faith is under assault.

A summit of U.S. Muslim organizations is planned for today and Sunday in New York City to address both the project and a rise in anti-Muslim sentiments and rhetoric that has accompanied the debate over the project.

It has yet to be seen whether the group will emerge with a firm stand on the proposed community center, dubbed Park51. The primary purpose of the two-day meeting is to talk about ways to combat religious bigotry.

But Shaik Ubaid of the Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York, one of the groups organizing the gathering, said he has a growing sense that the project is being embraced by American Muslims and Muslim groups after some initial trepidation.