Whatever your opinion about the Islamic Center proposed for construction near Ground Zero in Manhattan, you should be aware that the imam of the Cordoba Project, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf has refused to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organization.
In my opinion, this is unacceptable, no matter the rationalization. If the imam cannot clearly repudiate Hamas, the imam should have no role in the project.
Hamas is listed by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization. Hamas regularly and intentionally targets Israeli civilians. Hamas both conducts and plans military attacks while embedded among Palestinian civilians, and its Charter embraces the hope that Jews will be subjected to genocide.
When asked to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organization, Imam Rauf refused, saying, in part:
"I am a peace builder. I will not allow anybody to put me in a position where I am seen by any party in the world as an adversary or as an enemy."
Given the deeds and intentions of Hamas it is surely in American interests, in Israel's interests, and in Jewish interests to stand against Hamas as an adversary.
To go further into the matter, go beyond what individuals, such as Imam Rauf, say in English and attend to what they say in Arabic.
The following is from Walid Shoebat, an anti-Islamist [ not anti-Muslim, but anti-Islamist] activist. The text suggests that Imam Rauf is not 'neutral' towards Hamas ( as he would claim) but indeed embraces Hamas.
Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf. In his translation from the Arabic in an article “Sharing The Essence Of Our Beliefs” by Feisal Abdul Rauf, published in the Al-Ghad Newspaper in Jordan, 5/9/2009, Shoebat noted:
In it, Imam Rauf reveals his views to Muslims right after the 9/11 attacks that Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad were born as a result of the Muslim hunger for Islamic law and justice.
The words of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf:
(Translated from the Arabic by Walid Shoebat)
If someone in the Middle East cries out, “where is the law”, he knows that the law exists. The only law that the Muslim needs exists already in the Koran and the Hadith. People asked me right after the 9/11 attack as to why do movements with political agendas carry [Islamic] religious names? Why call it ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ or ‘Hezbollah (Party of Allah)’ or ‘Hamas’ or ‘Islamic Resistance Movement’? I answer them this—that the trend towards Islamic law and justice begins in religious movements, because secularism had failed to deliver what the Muslim wants, which is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Source: http://redcounty.com/content/walid-shoebat-translation-ground-zero-mosque-imam-faisal-abdel-rauf-%E2%80%9Cafter-911-%E2%80%9Chamas-hezbol
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