Posted on 09/05/2010 5:04:20 AM PDT by IbJensen
NEW YORK - One of the investors in a proposed Islamic center near ground zero is a Long Island medical clinic owner whose expressions of sympathy for Palestinians included a donation to a charity later shut down for links to Hamas.
The developer leading the project confirmed Friday that Hisham Elzanaty, 51, is among the members of a real estate partnership that paid $4.8 million last year for the vacant clothing store that is to be torn down and replaced by a cultural center and mosque.
The partnership's general manager, Sharif El-Gamal, confirmed Elzanaty's role in response to a media report about his reputed involvement.
"All of these investors are committed, as I am, not to receive funding from any organization that supports terrorism or is hostile to America," El-Gamal said in a statement.
Reached by telephone, Elzanaty declined to speak immediately with The Associated Press on Friday, but said he may have something to say later.
El-Gamal has so-far declined to reveal the names of his other financial backers, but has said the eight-member group is diverse and includes Jews and Christians, Polish-Americans, Italian-Americans, and others. El-Gamal, who was born in Brooklyn, and Elzanaty are the only Muslims.
Those involved with the Islamic Center proposal have come under intense scrutiny from groups opposed to the project, and critics point to a donation Elzanaty made to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development a decade ago as evidence that its backers secretly harbor extremist views.
Tax records show that Elzanaty gave $6,050 to the foundation in 1999. At the time, it was the largest Islamic charity in the U.S. It raised millions of dollars from Americans in the 1990s, telling donors the money would fund schools, orphanages and social welfare programs.
(Excerpt) Read more at onenewsnow.com ...
Even a complete Dope should be able to understand the Democrats are allied with all enemys of America. Anyone or anything that will help them destroy the country the Democrats are for.
Most thinking Americans know this. Too bad Mayor Bloomingidiot and other idiot’s, can’t see the forest for the trees.
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