Muslim Brotherhood emerging as backer of Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero

Despite the fact that the First Amendment would give the developers of the Islamic "Community Center" in lower Manhattan the legal right to build, some questions are starting to crop up about funding.  Now, we also learn the decision-makers in NYC may apply public funding to the project.  I, for one, am not sure how appropriate it would be to use US Taxpayers' money for the funding of an Islamic Mosque/Headquarters/Gym/Conference Center in downtown Manhattan.


originally Posted by Robert on August 27, 2010

What a surprise: the group dedicated in its own words to "eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within" has connections to the "moderate" Ground Zero mosque. "Mosque's Saudi Patron," from Investor's Business Daily, August 26:

Islamofascism: New dots are emerging from the probe into who's behind the Ground Zero mosque, and the radical Muslim Brotherhood is coming into view.

While a couple of U.S. nonprofits -- the Cordoba Initiative and its sister, the American Society for Muslim Advancement -- are coordinating the New York project, they hardly give the full picture. A Saudi charity has sunk more than $300,000 into ASMA. It's called the Kingdom Foundation -- headed by Alwaleed bin Talal, the Saudi prince whose 9/11 relief check was rejected after he blamed the attacks on U.S. foreign policy.

Bin Talal is a major financier of Muslim Brotherhood fronts in the U.S. His foundation is run by Saudi hijabi Muna Abu Sulayman, who appears on ASMA's Web site as one of its "Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow."

"Her work," according to her official bio, "focuses on increasing understanding between Islam and the West through establishment of academic centers and programs, both in the Middle East and the United States."

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Weasel Zippers: Ground Zero Mosque Developer’s Ad on Muslim Website

“We are Trying to Build a Mosque That Holds 1,000 Worshippers Only 2 Blocks From Ground Zero”… Now of course the Cordoba Initiative developers go to great lengths (and the left even further) not to call it a mosque… In the video, Imam Faisal Rauf also flatly denies the controversial Ground Zero building will be a mosque. He says, "This is not a mosque.  It is a cultural center." I have to then assume that everyone would be welcome to come inside, right?  Hey, why not change the focus.  Take the Muslim/Islamic aspects away altogether -- No Islamic references at all.  Just call it the Manhattan Community Center.  Everybody is welcome.  Or is that too much to ask?  Of course it is.  If it's not a mosque, why the Islamic connection?  Why does that even matter if it's just a "community center?" (Weekly Standard)- Supporters of the “Ground Zero mosque” have been oddly obsessed with the idea that the proposed Islamic center shouldn’t be called a “mosque.” As Frank Rich wrote last Sunday in the New York Times: “It’s not a mosque but an Islamic cultural center containing a prayer room.” But the website for the project, once called the “Cordoba House” and now known as “Park51,” explicitly refers to “the mosque,” although it tries to minimize the mosque’s importance for some reason Read More...

NYTimes: N.Y. Political Leaders’ Rift Grows on Islam Center

Even as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg firmly rejected calls for the relocation of a planned Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero, signs of growing division emerged on Tuesday within the political establishment in Manhattan, as the powerful speaker of the State Assembly expressed forceful opposition to the plan.

Breaking his silence on the issue, the speaker, Sheldon Silver, a Democrat whose district includes ground zero, said the organizers’ honorable goal of healing post-Sept. 11 wounds and building bridges among faiths had instead provoked bitter fighting and raw emotions that could not be ignored.

“I think the sponsors,” Mr. Silver said at City Hall, “should take into very serious consideration the kind of turmoil that’s been created and look to compromise.”

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