Ground Zero mosque Imam Faisal Rauf may have found himself a flame-throwing, self-hating Jewish lawyer to "defend" him in the lawsuit my client Vinnie Forras – a brave and infirm first responder – filed to stop the building of this "victory"monument to 9/11, but the Muslim cleric's "chutzpah" goes far beyond even this. On Wednesday, it was revealed that Rauf had applied for a $5 million dollar federal grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is in effect a victims' relief fund for the first-responder survivors of 9/11 like Vinnie, seeking monies to fund his monument to death and destruction. This act, coming as it did during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah holiday period, was obviously intended to be a provocation; a new attempt, albeit and regrettably successful, to stir up hatred between Christians, Jews and Muslims and to further the religious war radical Muslims have unleashed since 9/11 in particular.
By asking the federal government to fund the"victory" mosque, Rauf is in reality rubbing the noses of American taxpayers in excrement, having them pay for an instrumentality that either furthers terrorism – as the imam does have demonstrable ties to terrorist interests – and/or is a terrorist front. Indeed, during a Freedom Watch conference at the National Press Club a week ago Wednesday, which discussed ways the West can overthrow the Neo-Nazi Islamic regime in Tehran (go to www.freedomwatchusa.org for video), Reza Kahlili, a former CIA case officer who was implanted inside of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (the elite "storm troopers" of the mullahs of Tehran) by the agency, revealed that Rauf has had high-level contact with Iranian officials and that it is a well-known fact that mosques are used as staging grounds for terrorism.
Kahlili, who goes by an alias and only appears and speaks in public wearing a mask and with a voice modulator to protect his identity for security reasons, having been brought in from the cold by his CIA handlers, knows firsthand what is at stake with the building of the Ground Zero mosque. And another source has recently provided information that Rauf has a secret bank account in Dubai that is filled periodically with monies laundered into it by the Islamic Iranian regime. Is it any wonder that Rauf wrote to President Obama shortly after the "Muslim in chief" was elected, imploring him to do business with these fascist Iranian mullahs, arguing that it is a legitimate regime under Shariah law that should be diplomatically recognized and respected by the United States? Does two and two equal four, or to put it another way, "Do Muslim clerics – and Obama – bow toward Mecca?"
Rauf had to know that this grant request would create a firestorm and perhaps ultimately give rise to litigation over so-called Islamic rights if and when this grant is rejected. For how can federal funds be doled out to pay for a mosque under these circumstances, or for that matter any circumstances – particularly since they cannot be used to build even peacefully erected churches or synagogues? And it is an outrage that this same victims' relief fund, which Rauf wants to raid to build his monument to terror, is not even being applied to fully fund the medical expenses needed to pay for the dying victims of 9/11, like Vinnie Forras. Since this second "Day of Infamy" in American history, over 1,200 additional first responders have died from exposure to the toxic chemicals and fumes unleashed from the burning and collapsed World Trade Center Towers. As a result, these same dying first responders are, like Vinnie, destitute, many lacking even enough money to buy their children Christmas and Hanukkah gifts this holiday season.
But, ironically, this new declaration of war by Rauf serves one important and useful purpose. It underscores what is at stake in our litigation. (See www.unmasquethemosque.com for information about the case and how to contribute to its legal defense fund.) Vinnie's lawsuit to stop this outrage, which if built would further endanger the citizens of New York City and is thus a pubic nuisance, is where we, as Americans and people of true faith, must draw a "line in the sand." It is where the proverbial "tire meets the road" – we cannot allow Rauf and his terrorist-related friends to cross it. A clear and direct message must be sent to the world, fellow Americans and even our own compromised president that, in the words of the Holocaust survivors of Nazi Germany, "never again" will we stand by and thus give a green light to another 9/11.
For the building of the Ground Zero mosque, and the request for a $5 million dollar grant at U.S. taxpayers' expense, is not intended for legitimate religious reasons, but to light a fire of hatred between Christians, Jews and Muslims and to serve as an actual, or at the very least, psychological, instrumentality of terror. While radical Islamists have thus far not succeeded in pulling off another massive terrorist attack on U.S. soil, they have cleverly figured out there are other ways to harm Americans.
The sad part is that there are many good Muslims in the world who are also being dragged into this cesspool of hatred and terror. It is no wonder that almost 60 percent of Muslims worldwide are also against the Ground Zero mosque, as they, too, are disgusted by the evil spewed by the charlatan religious cleric Rauf and his buddies – particularly since they and their children are being tarred with this unfairly.
It is time for us Americans to stand up and fight legally, in a court of law and of public opinion, against this outrage, and I call upon you to join us in this fight for our survival. For if evil demagogues like Rauf are permitted to use our legal system against us with impunity, we will soon lose the freedoms we worked so hard to create and must now preserve.
May God bless all freedom-loving peoples of faith, honesty and humanity this holiday season, and may God bless the United States of America.