Today the Landmark Preservation Commission in New York City will decide if a 150 year old historic building can be torn down in order to build a 13 story mosque/community center. There have been indications in the press they will approve this move.
The primary front people and backers of the mosque are Kuwait-born Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife, Daisey Kahn, who have recently stopped calling it the Cordoba House, apparently, because that name is a constant reminder of the real Islamic conquest of Cordoba, Spain centuries ago. So in case you hadn't heard, it's now called Park51.
Rauf's father, Dr. Muhammad Abdul Rauf, moved to New York in the 60s, probably after President Johnson changed the immigration laws which allowed many more citizens from Middle East countries to immigrate here (coincidentally that's around the time when the Muslim Brotherhood first started some of their organizations here). Did you know another Islamic Cultural Center (NYT 1984) was also built in New York City with funds from Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Libya? Imam Feisal is on its board of trustees and his father was its first director. It has been reported Dr. Rauf was a Muslim Brotherhood member but I can't find confirmation of this, at this point. The Cultural Center's first shiekh, Muhammad Gemeaha, apparently said (NYT 11/4/01)''only the Jews'' were capable of destroying the World Trade Center and added that ''if it became known to the American people, they would have done to Jews what Hitler did.'' The interview with Gemeaha took place less than a week after he resigned (NYT 10/23/01)as Imam and suddenly moved to Egypt to live.
Yesterday, Kahn said they would include a memorial to the 9/11 victims which I think is the most insulting of all their promises. Gee, that makes everything all better - NOT!
In March, Imam Feisal was referenced or wrote an article on an Arabic website of the media department at Cario University titled “The Most Prominent Imam in New York: ‘I Do Not Believe in Religious Dialogue,’” according to Pajama Media! The page that linked to his statement has been removed.
Here's a link to a copy of a 60 Minute interview Rauf did on on Sept. 30 2001 that which is posted on Islam for Today:
...Bradley: it is the Islamic belief in the afterlife that could be an incentive to die in the name of Islam. According to the prophet Mohammed, the next life is paradise, offering forgiveness.Faisal: In the Islamic belief system, the next life is the primary life. The next life is more real, more intense, and more vivid.
...Bradley: And throughout the Muslim world, there is also strong opposition to America's foreign policy, particularly in the Middle East because of its support of Israel and economic sanctions against Iraq.
Faisal: it is a reaction against the US government politically, where we espouse principles of democracy and human rights, and where we ally ourselves with oppressive regimes in many of these countries.
Bradley: Are you in any way suggesting that we in the United States deserved what happened?
Faisal<: I wouldn't say that the United States deserved what happened, but united states policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.
Bradley: You say that we're an accessory? How?
Faisal: Because we have been accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. In fact, in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the USA.
Did you also know Imam Rauf's book on calling others to Islam was titled "Seruan Azan Dari Puing WTC Dakwah Islam di Jantung Amerika Pasca 9/11" in Malaysia? Translated?
"A call to prayer from the WTC debris - Islamic Da'wah in the heart of American post 9 / 11"
There are very serious reasons for concern about the Ground Zero Mosque/CordobaHouse/Park51 backers, the funding of it and their promises.
Update 8/3/10 10:10 AM CT: Landmark Preservation Commission denied landmark status to building
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Also see:
Planned Sign of Tolerance Bringing Division Instead NYT 7/14/10
"...On Sept. 11, the landing gear assembly of one of the planes used in the attack crashed through the roof of what was then a Burlington Coat Factory..."
Must read: More about Imam Feisal, leader of proposed Ground Zero mosque
A Muslim case against the mosque Stephen Schwartz executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism
Statement On Islamic Community Center Near Ground Zero (ADL)
"...In recommending that a different location be found for the Islamic Center, we are mindful that some legitimate questions have been raised about who is providing the funding to build it, and what connections, if any, its leaders might have with groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values..."
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