zTruth

NAIT argues unindicted co-conspirator designation in secret at 5th Circuit

Politico's Josh Gerstein wrote a curious article about an appeals case involving the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) which was argued before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans beginning yesterday.  But, the judge closed the proceedings to the public.

"...The legal battle stems from federal prosecutors’ decision in 2007 to place NAIT and two other prominent Islamic organizations, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Islamic Society of North America, on a publicly filed list of about 300 unindicted co-conspirators in a Dallas trial of a defunct Islamic charity accused of being a front for Hamas, the Holy Land Foundation.

...But the secrecy applied in the middle of the process, after briefs on the issue were filed publicly by both sides, seems like an effort to close the barn door after the horse has escaped.  The closed-door proceedings are also likely to fuel both the widespread suspicion about Islam that many Americans have expressed in recent polls triggered by the New York mosque controversy and the perception among many Muslims that they aren’t being dealt with fairly or forthrightly by the justice system.

...Expected to be on hand for today's closed-door arguments are Vijay Shanker and Elizabeth Shapiro of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, NAIT counsel Tim Maggio and Kevin Wisniewski, NAIT Executive Director Mujeeb Cheema and trustee Bassam Osman..."

Muslim soldier believes Muslims should not serve in U.S. military

Texan Pfc. Nasser Abdo, 20, filed in June for conscientious objector status because he claims his Islamic faith and the military don't mesh and that he has suffered from religious discrimination.  He's deployment to Afghanistan has been deferred.  Abdo complained while in basic training he was cut off from his Islamic community and that the Imam at Ft. Campbell were he is stationed doesn't know Islam like his own personal Islamic community. 

Abdo also believes Muslims should not be in the US. Military.

A Muslim is not allowed to participate in an Islamicly unjust war,"the Texan told ABCNews.com. "Any Muslim who knows his religion or maybe takes into account what his religion says can find out very clearly why he should not participate in the U.S. military.",

Abdo set up a website called freenasserabdo.org where he accepts donations to help him get out of the Army. 

GZM/Park51 developer Sharif el-Gamal exposed!

Sharif el-Gamal is the CEO and president of SoHo Properties which paid for the GZM building with nearly $5 million in cash.  The link above is to their password protected website.   So, where did this savory character get all that money especially since we have learned they have not paid the property taxes this year, at all?  Another partnership set up by Sharif is called 45 Park Place Partners. There is also 45 Park Place LH, LLC, too.   I think these partnerships were set up specifically for the GZM project, but am not 100% sure.  They both have the same address as SoHo Properties.

In recent days information about e-Gamal has surfaces you may want to review.  I'll try to keep it updated, too.

• June: GZM mosque developer, Sharif el-Gamal: "the House"  to hold 1,000 for prayer at Jumat!   Islamic Finder   It states their goal is for a full-fledged Islamic Center.

• Fox5 New York investigative report on GZM developer Sharif el-Gamal 

• GZM mossque developer Sharif El-Gamal has a history of run-ins w/ the law New York Daily  "Years before his latest real-estate project ignited an uproar, Sharif El-Gamal racked up at least seven run-ins with the law, including a bust for patronizing a prostitute.

• Ground Zero mosque developers owe $224000 in back property taxes ...

• Rift Imperils Ground Zero Mosque: 

  "...Court records from Florida to New York state reveal that Sharif and his younger brother, Samir "Sammy" El-Gamal, 35, a partner with him in his company SoHo Properties, both have a history replete with intersections with tax and debt issues, dating back to at least 1994 and continuing into this year. In one instance, Sharif told a court he didn't hit a tenant from whom his brother and he were trying to collect back rent. He said to police, the tenant's "face could have run into my hand."

• Major investor of SoHo Properties, Hisham Elzanaty,  gave $6,000 to HLF, Islamic charity later declared terrorist group.  Fox5 New York 9/2/10 video, too.  Claims money for orphans - yeah probably for the children of Hamas martys.

• Family that sold GZM site to developer El-Gamal invested with him 4 months later.  New York Post 9/7/10 

  One developer, Kevin Glodek, offered $18 million cash in 2007 but was rejected.

  While it isn't clear why the higher offer was turned down, it is evident that after the Pomerantz family accepted El-Gamal's lower offer, several of the family members were eager to do business

• Mosque developer has shoddy building record  New York Post 9/7/10

  The developer behind the planned Ground Zero mosque already has a lousy record with the city Buildings Department -- racking up $24,650 in fines for safety and construction violations at a Washington Heights apartment building that his firm owns.

• Ground Zero mosque moneyman, Hisham Elzanaty,  was sued for fraud by State Farm Insurance - New York Post 9/4/10

   

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick embraces Imam Abdullah Faarooq

Disturbing investigative report from Peace and Tolerance:

 

June: GZM mosque developer, Sharif el-Gamal: mosque to hold 1,000!

In June, Sharif el-Gamal, the developer of the GZM or someone in his place placed a listing for The House (Cordoba) on Islamic Finder.  It explained the site of the proposed GZM could hold up to 1,000 people to pray.  Now, they downplay it as just a pray space in a community center:

"...We are trying to establish a full fledged Islamic Center in the lower Manhattan, only 2 blocks from World Trade Center, New York City, NY. It is a neat and clean facility and can accomodate 1,000 people to pray in Jamat at one time."

Screen shot of Islamic Finder entry taken 8/25/10 at 4:00 PM CT:

H/T:  JordanSekulow

There's more at Ground Zero Mosque Developer: Mosque Could Accommodate 1,000 Worshippers (Weekly Standard)

Here's a pdf file of the website if the link stops working:

Download Islamicfinder_org_getitWorld_php_id=102115&lang=english

Holocaust survivor cursed out at GMZ protest by left-winger

This video caught one Alinkicized left-winger at his best (warning offensive language):

H/T FB friends

 

Fox5 New York investigative report on GZM developer Sharif el-Gamal

There's an interesting video report "No Answers from Developer of Mosque Near Ground Zero" about Sharif el-Gamal, the CEO and President of SoHo Properties who holds the title to the GZM/Park51 building.  He repeatedly dodged questions which, of course, raises even more questions.  The report includes an interview with someone who knows him who was fearful to appear on camera without being hidden.

The report showed el-Gamal had help on a loan on a more expensive property from Hisham Elzanaty.

A person with the same name as Hisham Elzanhaty is/was a defendant in a racketeer Influenced and corrupt case in New York filed in 2007.  I cannot confirm, at this time, if they are the same person.

Some U.S. textbooks rewrite history!

Did you know Jesus was a young Palestinian?  Or, that Muslims were in America before Columbus?  Watch the video.

Video:

In the New York Post today read HS test 'slams' Christianity, lauds Islam which shows how horribly slanted the Regents exam in this liberal state has become in its favoritism towards Islam and its denigration of Christianity:  "...The most troubling passage came from Daniel Roselle's "A World History: A Cultural Approach," observers said.

The passage reads: "Wherever they went, the Moslems [sic] brought with them their love of art, beauty and learning. From about the eighth to the eleventh century, their culture was superior in many ways to that of western Christendom..."

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Also see:

Public Schools Teach the ABCs of Islam (this is a companion article)

Arab World Studies Notebook lobs Muslim propaganda at teachers (e-mail letter of 8 October 2003 from The Textbook League's president, William J. Bennetta, to Stuart Elliott, of Wichita, Kansas)

Saudi Aramco World : Indexes : Subjects  ARAB WORLD AND ISLAMIC RESOURCESAND SCHOOL SERVICES. A Banquet for the Teacher, Vincent-Barwood, A., MJ 94: 14-19. Taking The Mystery Out of the Middle ...
www.saudiaramcoworld.com/index/Subjects.aspx
 

President Obama's approval rating with men at all time low

Well, well.

Obama's Approval Hits All-Time Low of 39 Percent Among Men, Says Gallup

Man arrested at Houston Airport Friday had jihadist material and lots of cash

A suspicious acting man was arrested Friday at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport.  Guess what they found?  Jihadist material and tons of cash!

"...Police identify the passenger as Vijay Kumar, a resident of Mumbai, India.

...Officers said they then found the brass knuckles, as well as several books and diagrams in his carry-on luggage, including one book titled, "New Voices of Islam," and another espionage publication called "Spycraft."

Officers said many of the books were written in Arabic, but they did notice English publications that refer to "jihad" and "infidels." They also found diagrams that purport to describe U.S. military weaponry, according to law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

FBI agents were called to the screening area where Kumar was being arrested.  Agents are trying to determine the contents of a flash drive, or thumb drive, that was confiscated as he was arrested

Investigators told KPRC Local 2 Investigates that at least $8,000 in U.S. bills were found, along with thousands of dollars in a foreign currency. Federal law requires passengers to declare any time they are traveling with $10,000 or more, and officers point out there was no such declaration in this case.

James Lankford uses same "status quo PC" of the far left!

I've studied Islamism for over four years now.  It's part of the complete practice of Islam found in the Quran and the Hadiths and includes the implementation of Sharia Law, i.e., Islamic supremacy.  I consider it separate and distinct from secular Islam and is possible here until Islamists (hopefully never) can gain enough power and/or influence to chip slowly, incrementally away at our laws with help from the far-left, who already don't like America.   On the other hand, there's much to admire about the many Muslims who are tireless and strong activists against Islamism. Dr. Zuhdi Jasser and his organization, American Islamic Forum for Democracy, comes to mind. Be sure to read his article A Patriotic Muslim's Warning on Ground Zero Mosque when you get a chance.

In Oklahoma, I particularly admire 5th district congressional candidate, Kevin Calvey, who stood up to CAIR, an organization sprung from the Islamic supremacist Muslim Brotherhood.  He was so effective over a relatively short period of time and had their director, Razi Hashmi, backed into a corner refusing to answer questions about those pesky facts that haunted them.  Or, if he did respond Hashmi called critics liars.  Six times this man dodged questions!  SIX!  Then, he went quiet for a while.  Early this month, CAIR Oklahoma announced they are looking for a new director which was around the same time Board Chair, Michael Aziz Gipson, was charged with "conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering in connection with fraudulent mortgages."  I really think Hashmi's decline was due to Kevin Calvey's tenacity and bravery. Can I prove it?  No.  But, Calvey was not going to let it go away.

His opponent, James Lankford. on the other hand, appears to have shilled for them.

In an interview this morning on Oklahoma's News 9,  Mr. Lankford explained his answer to a relatively simple question by an Edmond Sun reporter about Kevin Calvey's refusal to met with CAIR. The reporter asked Lankford how he would handle it.  This took place in March which I wrote about here and here. James Lankford actually explained how he didn't answer the question. I wonder if he realized what he said?

Excerpt from a longer News9 interview done the morning of 8/20/10:

And, he insisted to me he was misquoted!

To my knowledge Lankford has not made a statement about CAIR other than what he said in the Edmond Sun article.  Contrast Lankford's totally wishy-washy non-answer to a direct question to the political courage shown by Kevin Calvey.  Lankford is showing the same status quo political correctness of the far-left and he's a political newbie!  That's not good.

The run-off is Tuesday, August 24th.

Update 8:15 PM:  I see from a comment that James Lankford finally added a statement about CAIR on August 14th to his website.  Well, that only took five  months!  And he did it right on the eve of the run-off.  Pitiful.   Still, he didn't answer the question the Edmond Sun reporter had originally asked him.

Would James Lankford meet with CAIR?  He didn't say if he would or would not.  If, I am reading through the lines correctly (?)  he would.

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Also see:

Local Baptist minister criticizes Lankford for “disingenuous” attacks on Calvey  8/19/10

Veterans and 911 Survivors Blast Lankford for Attacking Calvey  8/17/10

CAIR executive director goes to trial for fraud, Calvey calls on CAIR to clean up its act 8//2/10

Respectfully, Mr. Lankford about CAIR...  7/20/10

 

Calvey Blasts CAIR Hypocrisy 4/27/10

 

Razi Hashmi promote article; A Christian stealth jihad in America? 4/21/10

 

ACLU Deputy Director Chuck Thornton; criticize CAIR is hatred of all Muslims! 3/29/10

 

Razi Hashmi dodges facts that haunt CAIR 3/13/10

Inside GZM video: segregates women, shows little need for 13 story project!

Yesterday Park51, the name for the GZM project, tweeted a link to a Time video titled Ground Zero: Inside the Park51 Mosque.  There it was, right away, the repugnant and disturbing segregation of women in America! Only a few Muslims were actually there clearly showing little need for a 13 story Islamic center at the site that had it roof ripped open from the landing gear of a plane that hit the World Trade Centers.  Its part and parcel of the 9/11 attack and it will be seen as a victory for Islamism! I can assure you.  The poor taste and insensitivity shown by Park51 continues to create stress and concern for many.

The Time video included the ability to embed it into websites and is one more effort by Time to do fluffy little pieces about the GZM and its backers, including the highly controversial Imam Feisal Rauf.  Time selectively ignores valid concerns showing just how piss-poor they are at what they do.

More posts on GZM are here.

 

 

How close is GZM/Cordoba House/ Park 51 to Ground Zero?

Sometimes a picture or two says it all.

H/T KRMG  
  
Now, review Imam Feisal Rauf's book published in Malasia: "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"

 Here's a link to the book.

 

President Obama responds to question about comments on GZM

I've got to say, President Barack Hussein Obama's response to a question about his comments about GZM/CordobaHouse/Park51 is kinda like he was for it before he was against but its more murky.  Doesn't this remind you when he stated emphatically Jerusalem will always be the undivided capitol of Israel and the back-track the next day when he was campaigning? 

The long pause before he answered the question and the he way he looked is worth watching in the video below. 

Did I mention that on the National Day of Prayer this year there was verbal silence from this president?

Video:

 

New Islamic Council of Oklahoma dominated by CAIR board members!

The Islamic Council of Oklahoma has emerged.  it 's an affiliation of the larger mosques in Oklahoma located in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Stillwater, Norman, Ardmore, Lawton and Edmond.  Will it become the collective political voice for Oklahoma Muslims someday?  One major concern I see is theboard is dominated by CAIR Oklahoma board members.  Hummm... That's not good.  At the end of July, CAIR Oklahoma's Board Chair, Michael Aziz Gipson, was charged with mortgage fruad and any reference to him was quickly removed from CAIR Oklahoma's website.  One of the board members for the Islamic Council is ID'd only as Adnan and another spot is vacant. 

Its mission: "...to foster the spirit of unity and understanding of Islam among Muslims and people of all faiths, to represent Muslims at the local and state levels (z:politically???) by promoting Islamic values, and to enhance the quality of life for men, women and children across the State of Oklahoma."

The Islamic Council of Oklahoma's website uses Mecca time.  Hey, we know they are so totally into their religion and claim the God of the Quran is God of all religions and stuff but this is Oklahoma and we use central time! 

Recently, the Islamic Society of Tulsa had a seminar with Shaykh Adbul Nasir Jangda on August 6-8th.  You can get a sense of him brainwash, I mean, lecture (video: slave part starts around 3 min mark) others they are the slave of Allah with no rights and the property of Allah.  

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Note: There are many fine Muslims in America who simply want to practice their religion quietly, privately and go about their business. They reject Islamism - the pursuit of power to gain a stronghold for Islamic rule. They reject Islamic activism.  They openly oppose the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) its affiliate Hamas, their affilates and supporters in the U.S., Hizb ut Tahrir, and others such Islamic supremacist organizations.  But, when a Muslim or any Islamic organization uses community service and interfaith efforts in cities and towns all across America to gain acceptance but calls critics of Islamic supremacist movements bigots while they openly or covertly support these Islamic supremacist movements, it's disturbing, two-faced and deceptive.

If you believe I've made a mistake, please send me an e-mail to ztruth@ymail.comand include a credible proof source to help show me where I messed up.  Upon confirmation, I will gladly make any and all the corrections.

The sharia-loving GZM/Cordoba House/Park51 Imam Feisal Rauf

There's such much controversy about the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero, including its wisdom and insensitivity to families who lost loved ones, its financing and worrisome statements made by its key backer, Imam Feisal Rauf. The site of the worst terror attack in our history perpetrated by followers of Islam includes the building purchased for this center.  It was hit on 9/11 when the landing gear from one of the planes crashed through the roof. 

As more and more information emerges about Imam Feisal Rauf I started this page.  So,  with some help from other bloggers who scoured the Internet and reported their findings together with my own research here's a summary: 

• Imam Raul hearts the Caliphate of Cordoba and was the basis for the name of his institute.  A 2008 archive copy (scroll to bottom of page) of the Cordoba Initiative website explained the meaning behind their name.  This reference is now gone from his website.
• Imam Feisal Rauf and the Park51 project spokesperson will not condemn Hamas or comment about Hamas's stated goals to destroy Israel for ISLAM. Hamas is an Islamic supremacist organization.  My tweets to them on this were ignored.  In fact, in an off-air radio stmt he told the interviewer that he urged the U.S. government to meet with Hamas.  See radio interview below. 
• His Sharia Index Project is setting global benchmarks for what qualifies as a true Islamic State.
• An earlier webpage about project (cannot replicate this in wayback, though but looks authentic):
  Shari'ah Index Project - Imagine: a Perfectly Islamic State -
  Goal: To define, interpret and implement the concept of the Islamic State in modern times.
• In February, on Islamonline (chaired by terror supporter Yusef Qaradawi) Imam Feisal Rauf said it was an Islamic community center even though its now being downplayed as just a community center.  The heart of any Islamic center I know is its mosque. 
• Rauf praised terror-supporter Yusef Qaradawi in Oct. 2001.  NYT  Qaradawi has repeatedly approved of martyrdom against Israel and he is banned from the U.S. 
• 5/4/09 article in Alghad compares American principles to Islamic law - Muslims only need Sharia Law. he said.
• Rauf answers questions in Arabic in an interview on  Hadielislam.com about separation of religion and state:  ---Muslims on a personal level are required to follow the prophet (peace be upon him) on all aspects of life and conduct as permissible through a societal level as well. For that, we believe that the state that was erected by the prophet in Medina was the ideal model for an Islamic state.  The challenge today in the Islamic world is how do we accomplish this in our current era.
• In a 60 minute interview on 9/30/2011 Rauf said:

  "...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..."     Video:  http://islamicity.com/video/ch20/CBS60Minutes.ram
• Mysteries Of The Absent Imam Feisal  (Forbes) 8/11/10 - "...Later that same day I found him by phoning a Malaysian office that was listed on the "Contact Us" page of his Cordoba Initiative...", page now removed. Here is a 2008 (the latest available) archive copy showing the Malaysia office.

• The American Center for Law and Justice who represent a 9/11 New York firefighter has issued a press release calling the government to not sponsor a Middle East trip for controversial Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.  They have filed a lawsuit over landmark status denial.

  Rauf was quoted, “If there is any quarrel Muslims have with America, it is that the United States does not always live up to its own ideal of ethics and values” (79). In sub-chapter America: A Sharia-Compliant State, states “(w)hat I am demonstrating is that the American political structure is Shariah compliant, for a „state inhabited predominantly by Muslims neither defines nor makes it synonymous with an Islamic state. ACLJ pdf file
• In Imam Feisal Rauf book What’s Right with Islam is What’s Right with America: A New Vision for Muslims and the West  
• Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a key figure/player (New York Post 6/5/10) in Malaysian-based Perdana Global Peace Organization, according to its Website (z: see their about page at their website and this agenda page/archive agenda page of another page).  Also see archive pageof their initiative to criminalize war signed by Rauf.  "...Perdana is the single biggest donor ($366,000) so far to the Free Gaza Movement, a key organizer of the six-ship flotilla that tried to break Israel's blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip Monday..."

• a 1984 New York Times article which reported "plans for the center Rauf's father led which was first announced in the mid-1960's after organization efforts by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Libya."  Rauf is a permanent trustee of the center. 

  ''...We believe our center will serve the spiritual and educational needs of nearly 300,000 persons,'' said Mohammad A. Abulhasan, representative to the United Nations from Kuwait..."

• In a 2004 article after Imam Rauf's father died:  "..Feisal, an Imam for the past 22 years at Masjid Al Farah in Tribeca, New York, is also trustee of his father's land next to the Islamic Center in New York. The prime real estate in Manhattan on 96th and 3rd street will soon see the creation of an Islamic and cultural center which will have a mosque, school and a residential tower.  So, since then the plans changed???

• 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,’” (cannot find this article but several bloggers claimed it was at http://www.rights4all.net/?p=67, which is not there anymore, so I can verify this to be true )

• Imam Rauf's book on calling others to Islam is 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"

   Here's a link to the book.

• Imam Rauf called critics bigots and claims he will rebuild community.  Said he is against terrorism although he has yet to specifically call Hamas or Hezbollah specifically.  NYDaily 5/21/10

   

• ASMA Society (Imam Rauf Founder and CEO) ASMA Society audit    Qatar government fund  $576,312,00

• First-hand account of 2008 conference "Third International Conference on the Muslim World and the West: Bridging the Gap" coordinated with the help Cordoba Initiative.  Free speech was attacked.

• The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre/UniSA International and The Migrant Resource Centre  Tuesday 12 July 2005.  Rauf and here's the audio:

  Rauf mentioned leading Islamic scholars who issued fatwas against terrorism like Tatiani and Yusef Qaradawi.  However, both men had also issued fatwas approving of martyrdom which he failed to mention, then he went on to say .

  ...We tend to forget, in the West, that the United States has more Muslim blood on its hands than al Qaida has on its hands of innocent non Muslims. ..."...And I personally - my own personal analysis tells me that a one-state solution is a more coherent one than a two-state solution..."  

• When Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf was asked whether the State Department was correct to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization, he said on New York's WABC Radio in June 2010: "I do not want to be placed nor will I accept a position where I am the target of one side or the other."   Source ABC News 8/23/10 (last paragraph)

• In Huffington Post June 19, 2009, Imam Rauf wrote that Pres. Obama and his administration should speak of its respect for many of the guiding principles of the 1979 Iranian Revolution that overthrew the government.

• Edited CSPAN video:  Imam Rauf says the U.S. constitution is Sharia Compliant (warning his stmts are spliced to show disturbing real life situations under Sharia law)  Here is the unedited version.  His version does not match the four major school on Islamic jurisprudence, though.  This is an example of presenting a sanitized version of Islam because history and Sharia law don't support what he says.

• "I was interviewed by Barbara Walters, who is doing a special on heaven and she's interviewed suicide bombers who are expecting the embraces of 72 virgins in paradise, and she asked me do women get the same privilege as well, and I answered her telling her: well, the Koran says you shall have whatever your heart desires."   Imam Rauf  6/12/05 from his public lecture. 

• "I welcome the questions regarding my record. However, I must say also that a number of things have been twisted and spun in a way that does not correctly, honestly, explain my work and what I stand for... [W]hen you try to bridge relationships between any two sides where there have been tensions reaching such a level, one of the things you have to explain to each side is why the other side feels angry.   Rauf's answer to what he said in the 60 Minute's interview.  Audio with transcript from Huffington Post of a July 16th, 2010 interview.

• Radio interview with Imam Rauf:  "...9/11 was a watershed, a major milestone, a major catalytic force in, in catalyzing the attention towards the issues of of Islam, its presence in the West..." audio includes his off mic comments. 
• Audio from 2006 forum:  Imam Rauf claims U.S. has engaged in terrorism and causes Islamic terrorism.
• Imam Rauf has history of tenant and financial troubles, according to NorthJersey.
• Islam, A Sacred Law - What Every Muslim Should Know About Shariah  Book by Imam Raul
• "In a true peace, Israel will, in our lifetimes, become one more Arab country, with a Jewish minority" --Imam Feisal Rauf   NYT 1977 per WSJ

• Sketchy tax break for GZ imam 'prayer pad'  New York Post 9/2/10  The leader of the Ground Zero mosque got hugely valuable tax-exempt status for a Muslim organization he founded after claiming as many as 500 of its members prayed daily in a small, one-bedroom Upper West Side apartment also listed as his wife's residence, The Post has learned.

• It's provacative for Malaysian Christians to use the word Allah. 

Rauf: "...My message to the Christian community in Malaysia is that using the word Allah to mean the Christian God may be theologically and legally correct, but in the context of Malaysia, it is socially provocative. If you want to have influence with people in Malaysia, you must find a way to convey your message without provoking this kind of response..."  Islam owns us... Seeking harmony in Malaysia 1/13/10

• Imam Rauf's 9/11 truther associate, Faiz Khan preached at Rauf's mosque for seven years and from Park 51 bldg.

• Lawsuit filed by Union City, New Jersey against Imam Rauf and his company for failure to properly maintain commerical property he owns. 9/14/10  Union City mayor heaps scorn on imam for being 'slumlord'

• Imam Rauf ordered to pay Union City $12,960 while fire alarms weren't working. 9/24/10

• Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, today announced that the "Ground Zero Imam" and his mosque, the Cordoba House/Park51, were served with the class action complaint filed by First Responder Vincent Forras.  9/14/10

•  Anti-mosque lawsuit slammed as bigotry in countersuit by Rauf and Sharif el-Gamal.  They seek its dismissal  10/11/10

• Video: Talk to Al Jazeera - Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf 10/24/10
  
   

A Catholic priest's response to the Ground Zero Mosque

I stumbled across Father John Zuhlsdorf some time ago and I've been following him on twitter.   Today,  he wrote a response to the GZM controversy I wanted to share:

Carving of Nunilo and Alodia on the collegiate church of Alquézar from Wikipedia

"...Let us build a chapel dedicated to Sts. Nunilo and Alodia next to the mosque.

Saints Nunilo and Alodia were a pair of 9th c. virgin martyrs in Huesca, Spain.  They were born to a Muslim father and Christian mother.  However, they chose their mother’s Christianity.

And so during the Emirate of Abd ar-Rahman II it came to pass that in these little girls were first put in a brothel and then were executed as apostates according to Sharia law.

Their feast day is 22 October.

Shaykh Adbul Nasir Jangda

Recently, the Islamic Society of Tulsa had a seminar with Shaykh Adbul Nasir Jangda on August 6-8th.  You can get a sense of him brainwash, I mean, lecture others they are the slave of Allah with no rights and the property of Allah (the slave part starts around 3 min mark into the video). 

Hard line? 

President Obama dined with Director of Muslim group suing government!

Naheed Qureshi is the Deputy Director of Muslim Advocates (MA).  On Thursday, MA tweeted she was honored to dine with President Obama Friday night for a Ramadan celebration.

On July 27th, this same group tweeted about their lawsuit against the Department of Justice and the FBI in their attempt to get unedited copies of investigative guidelines these agencies use to prevent the next Islamic terrorist attack(s). This suit was joined by the ever-controversial and repugnant ACLU!

Muslim Advocates also advises Muslims NOT to talk to law enforcement without an attorney.

Do presidents often dine with people who are suing our government?

Cordoba Initiative hearts the Cordoba Caliphate!

The Cordoba Initiative is run by Imam Feisal Rauf who is one of key leaders for the ground zero mosque called Cordoba House - oops, now Park51. 

A 2008 archive copy (scroll to bottom of page) of the Cordoba Initiative website explained the meaning behind their name:

The Cordoba Name

For hundreds of years during the middle ages, Cordoba was the capital of Muslim Spain. During much of its “golden age” from the 8th to 12th centuries, the Cordoba Caliphate witnessed a great flowering of culture, art, and philosophical inquiry amid a remarkable climate of religious tolerance. Religious freedom, while not perfect, was sufficient that many Jewish and Christian intellectuals emigrated to Cordoba, where they lived, wrote and flourished side by side with their Muslim counterparts in a strikingly pluralistic society. The Cordoba name reminds both Muslims and non- Muslims that a great Islamic civilization was once the most open and tolerant of its era.

Islamic conquest?  Ground zero mosque? 

Wake up!

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Also see:

Mysteries Of The Absent Imam Feisal (Forbes) 8/11/10

"...Later that same day I found him by phoning a Malaysian office that was listed on the "Contact Us" page of his Cordoba Initiative, just under the New York office coordinates. In Malaysia, the street address is that of a luxury high rise in the capital of Kuala Lumpur. Rauf came to the phone. When I began asking about the funding of his Malaysian office, he got right off again, saying he was in an "important meeting." Personnel at his Malaysian number then told me all media questions should be referred to Khan, at the their office in New York..."

Here is a 2008 (the latest available) archive copy showing the Malaysia office.

A subchapter in Imam Feisal Rauf book What’s Right with Islam is What’s Right with America: A New Vision for Muslims and the West is titled America: A Sharia-Compliant State (ACLJ pdf file):

"...Rauf states “(w)hat I am demonstrating is that the American political structure is Shariah compliant, a „state inhabited predominantly by Muslims neither defines nor makes it synonymous with an Islamic state. It can become truly Islamic only by virtues of a conscious application of the sociopolitical tenets of Islam to the life of the national, and by an incorporation of those tenets in the basic constitution of the country.‟ By the same token, a state that does incorporate such sociopolitical tenets has become a de facto Islamic state even if there are no Muslims in name iving there, for it expresses the ideals of the good society according to Islamic principles. For America to score even higher on the „Islamic‟ or „Shariah Compliance‟ scale, America would need to do two things: invite the voices of all religions to join the dialogue in shaping the nation‟s practical life, and allow religious communities more leeway to judge among themselves according to their own laws” (86)

Review all my posts on the ground zero mosque here

ACLJ calls on State Department to end sponsorship of ground zero Imam Rauf

The American Center for Law and Justice who represent a 9/11 New York firefighter has issued a press release calling the government to not sponsor a Middle East trip for controversial Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf who is a key figure associated with the ground zero mosque who has refused to call Hamas a terror group and has said America was an accessory to 9/11. 

Why is our government sponsoring the promotion of Islam, or any religion, in any shape or form?

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represents a New York City firefighter who survived the 9-11 terrorist attacks, today called on the U.S. State Department to immediately remove Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf from a taxpayer-funded trip to the Muslim world to promote what the government calls fostering a "greater understanding" of Islam. The ACLJ says the publicly-funded trip is absurd in light of the fact that the Imam has, on at least one occasion, refused to declare Hamas a terrorist organization and in the days following the tragic attacks of September 11th said the United States was "an accessory" to the crimes of 9-11.

...The ACLJ is planning to file an official letter of protest with the State Department - demanding that the government "cease and desist" in its plans to sponsor the Imam's globe-trotting journey.

The ACLJ already has filed suit in New York challenging a vote by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which denied landmark status to the building where the mosque is planned.

ACLJ Petiton

Add Your Name to the
Petition of Protest to the State Department

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Also see:

For Obama, All Politics Is Local . . . Except When It’s Not

Now it emerges that the Obama State Department is not only footing the bill for Imam Feisal Rauf’s fling to the Persian Gulf region; it has also posted Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s speech in vigorous support of Rauf’s Ground Zero project on its website (here).

Nihad Awad: Islam image's been distorted since 1st Crusade!

Nihad Awad, the Chairman of the Board of the notorious Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas outgrow called CAIR gave a lecture in July at the University of Mutah in Jordan about his organization's role in clarifying the image of Islam in the West.  During his lecture Awad claimed the image of Islam has been abused and distorted since the First Crusade!  He also claimed they have placed generalized Islamic books in libraries all across America and that a revised (sanitized?) version of the Quran is in the works and will be distributed to millions over the next 10 years.  Americans, is this soaking in yet?

The screenshot of the article about his lecture which was published in a Jordanian newspaper shows his picture on one side of the screen and the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal on the other.  The point I'm trying to make here is that Hamas is not considered a terrorist group in the Muslim world.  Meshaal's picture links to an extensive 5 hour interview with him (a 32 page pdf file/arabic):

Ground zero mosque site only half owned!

Well, here's a new development. The property owned by the ground zero developers is not fully owned by them, according to the Washington Post's Half-baked mosque.  Seems there are two building connected together with common walls and Con Edison owns the other building.  But, the backers apparently failed to tell inform the Landmark Commission, if this article is accurate. 

Sharif El-Gamal, who heads SoHo Properties bought one of the two buildings with cash and leased the 2nd building.  Yet, a few short years ago he, apparently, was a waiter: 

Ok, there's more -  SoHo Properties Buys Chelsea Building for $45.7 M!   What a truly amazing success story for former waiter now SoHo CEO, El-Gamal.  Don't you find it odd, though, SoHo's website is password protected?

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Also see:

Further Travels Of Imam Feisal 

"..Since locating the absent Rauf last week in Malaysia, I have now discovered that he's about to embark on a nearly month-long swing through the Middle East, with plans to visit Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Qatar..."

Sharif El-Gamal The CEO of SOHO Properties The Developer Of The Ground Zero Mosque Grew Up And Went to School in Liberia And Waited Tables in NYC.

Another Review for Mosque Plans Downtown? Wall Street Journal

Germany closes mosque used by some of the 9/11 attackers

All the buzz lately has been about the Ground Zero mosque which is now called Park51.  Most concerns raised I think are quite valid.  Like who is going to fund it?  On the heels PC politicians who approve of the mosque without hesitation,  Germany official actually had the courage to closed a mosque today:

"...We closed the Taiba mosque today because young men were converted to religious fanatics there. A purported cultural association shamelessly exploited the freedoms of our democratic state under the rule of law to recruit for holy war behind the scenes."

Three of the September 11 hijackers including their ringleader Mohammed Atta, who piloted the first plane into New York's World Trade Center, met regularly at the mosque before moving to the United States.

...In a case officials described as decisive to the closing of the mosque, 10 men who regularly attended the prayer house travelled to the border region straddling Afghanistan and Pakistan in March last year, probably to attend militant training camps.

They are under investigation by German prosecutors on suspicion of founding a terrorist organisation.

At least one of the men allegedly joined the radical Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan while in Pakistan and later appeared in a German-language propaganda video in which he called for Muslims to take part in holy war, officials said.

Were takeover of some mosques in U.S. by force?

P>A St. Peterberg Time's article dated 2003, reviewed how the Saudi's, was responsible for driving out local Muslims from several mosques in America.

"In May 1987, more than a dozen people stormed a Ramadan service at the mosque that would later become a spiritual and political base for Sami Al-Arian, accused of being the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (z:  he was later convicted).

The dissidents tried to drive out the worshipers, according to a Hillsborough County sheriff's report. A woman identified as Hala Al-Najjar swung a large purse, knocking over a pregnant woman who later miscarried.

At the time, this newspaper called it a "scuffle between two Moslem sects." In hindsight, the "scuffle" was one in a dramatic series of struggles at mosques throughout the country between fundamentalist and moderate Muslims.

...For more than three decades, Saudi-backed organizations have poured billions of dollars into the United States and other countries to fund Wahhabi mosques, Islamic schools, conferences and education for imams, or Muslim spiritual leaders.

Some money comes directly from the Saudi government. Other funds come from wealthy Saudis, investigators say. In the United States, some of the money flowed through a web of Islamic organizations now under investigation for financing terrorism.

But the main clearinghouse for Wahhabism in the United States is a group not known to be under investigation, the Islamic Society of North America. ISNA is subsidized by the Saudi government.

An ISNA subsidiary called the North American Islamic Trust owns about 27 percent of the estimated 1200 mosques in the United States, says a report by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

In 1989, two years after the melee in Tampa, the trust took title to the mosque in Temple Terrace. The trust also owns the Islamic Academy of Florida, the school founded by Al-Arian, indicted Feb. 19 for his alleged leadership role in the Islamic Jihad.

This is one of the earlier accounts I've read about the Saudi influence in America but I also know the Islamic Supremacist Muslim Brotherhood is very involved here, as well. 

According to a 2004 Chicago Tribune article titled A rare look at secretive Brotherhood in America, from 1984 to 1994  the U.S. Brotherhood was headed by Ahmed Elkadi, an Egyptian-born surgeon and a former personal physician to Saudi Arabia's King Faisal!

Their influence and possible partnership greatly affects how Islam is perceived in America and is of serious concern to this day.

CAIR files lawsuit against Mighigan State Police over Imam's death

Imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah was shot and killed in an FBI raid last October when agents tried to arrest him.  Abdullah and 10 others were charged with conspiracy and theft of interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, illegal possession and sale of firearms, and the altering and tampering with vehicle identification numbers (VIN).  According to the ABC News report linked above, the FBI said Abdulluh encouraged members of his mosque to "carry a firearm" and to be prepared for "offensive jihad."  At the time,  Dawud Walid the Executive Director of CAIR Michigan stood up for the Imam.

CAIR Oklahoma director, Razi Hashmi, to leave controversial organization

A press released posted on CAIR Oklahoma's website on Monday makes it official they are looking for a new director.  I guess Razi Hashmi got tired of dodging the press about the troubling facts that haunt CAIR which he did six times, that I know.  This happened around the same time CAIR Board Chair, Michael Aziz Gipson, was charged with conspiracy regarding mortgage fraud last week. 

One slight problem, though, you can't read their press release because it's in html gibberish.  So, are things in complete turmoil there, or what?

The best thing the Muslim community in Oklahoma can do is to shut this chapter down and stop supporting it.

screen shot taken of CAIR Oklahoma website:

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Also see:

CAIR Oklahoma Board Chair charged with conspiracy and more

CAIR, the Musllim Brotherhood and more...

Sharia law threatens democracies

A demonstration for Sharia law in the UK on June 21st should be a vivid and disturbing reminder what we will likely face as a nation in the future.  It's pretty clear a good number of Muslim youths there are being taught radical Islam.  The good news here is there were moderate Muslims who opposed it but their voices were drowned out:

 

Ground Zero mosque/Cordoba House morphs into Park51

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"

 Here's a link to the book.

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..."