By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
After months of debate and ever-growing controversy, New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9-0 yesterday that a building near Ground Zero does not qualify for landmark status and can be used to construct an Islamic community center.
The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that the commission decided the building, located blocks away from the World Trade Center site, was not special or distinctive enough to warrant the status of a landmark, which would have prevented it from being converted into a community center many say would be an offense to families of the victims of Sept. 11.
After the ruling was announced, a crowd of 50 or 60 applauded, while others shouted “Shame!” and held up signs reading “No 9/11 victory mosque.”
The project has long been a source of contention due to the controversial imam who is behind the project. Faisel Abdul Rauf is known to have refused to call the radical Palestinian group Hamas a terrorist organization and said in a “60 Minutes” interview televised shortly after 9/11 that “United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.”
Even the proposed name of the building, the Cordoba House, has drawn controversy. Panners say it is named after the Andalusian city of Cordoba, which was known to have been a model of Muslim tolerance for Christians and Jews during the Middle Ages. What they don’t say is that the original Cordoba mosque was built atop – and from – the ruins of a Catholic church. The mosque was eventually recaptured by King Ferdinand III of Castile in 1236 and converted back into a Catholic Church. Today it is known as the “Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin – Great Mosque of Cordoba.”
Opponents of the Ground Zero mosque say it is no coincidence that an Islamic center known as the new “Cordoba House” would be built atop the sacred graveyard of 3,000 innocent victims whose lives were lost in a horrific terror attack by Muslim extremists.
These concerns are shared by Gary Berntsen, a former CIA operative and terrorism expert who is running against Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). During a conference call with Capital Confidential, Berntsen explained why a mosque in Manhattan is a bad idea.
“I am concerned about the fact that Al Qaeda and other militant organizations will target that mosque. They will infiltrate people into the mosque,” Berntsen said. “Once they have done that they will petition to bring their own mullahs in, or imams, and have them emigrate into the United States using our immigration law against us. I think it will be foolish to not recognize the fact that this mosque at Ground Zero will be a magnet for militants, that they will attempt to do this to establish themselves literally feet away from what is hallowed ground in New York City.”
In addition, the Anti-Defamation League is also raising opposition to the mosque, claiming “legitimate questions have been raised” regarding the funding of the project, which may be connected with “groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values.”
Rick Lazio, a Republican candidate in the New York governor’s race who attended yesterday’s hearing also has questions about who is picking up the $100 million price tag for the venture. But he says the national debate has nothing to do with religion.
He said: “It’s about this particular mosque called the Cordoba Mosque. It’s about being at ground zero. It’s about being spearheaded by an imam who has associated himself with radical Islamic causes and has made comments that should chill every single American, frankly.”
Meanwhile, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represents a New York City firefighter, called the vote “deeply offensive” and said they are “poised to file legal action on behalf of our client to challenge this flawed decision and put a stop to this project.”
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