Posted on 11/22/2010 6:48:33 AM PST by La Lydia
Developers of the controversial Park51 Islamic community center and mosque located two blocks from Ground Zero earlier this month applied for roughly $5 million in federal grant money set aside for the redevelopment of lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11th, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The audacious move stands to reignite the embers of a divisive debate that dominated headlines surrounding the ninth anniversary of the attacks this fall, say people vested in the issue.
The application was submitted under a “community and cultural enhancement” grant program administered by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation (LMDC), which oversaw the $20 billion in federal aid allocated in the wake of 9/11 and is currently doling out millions in remaining taxpayer funds for community development. The redevelopment board declined to comment on the application (as did officials from Park51), citing the still ongoing and confidential process of determining the grant winners.
While news of the application has not previously been made public, developer Sharif El-Gamal outlined it in closed-door meetings, according to two individuals he spoke with directly. The thirtysomething, Brooklyn-born El-Gamal is motivated more by real estate ambition—one of these sources describes him as aspiring to be the next Donald Trump—than Islamic theology or ideology...
According to an individual familiar with the Park51 application, it requests funds to cover a number of cultural, educational and community development aspects of the proposed 13-story building—but the prayer room is excluded from the grant application.
But the question on whether they could have is trumped by the question of whether they should have. The stated aim of the Park51 developers is to provide a community center for lower Manhattan’s 4,000 Muslim residents. Their own website explained that they understood the need to “appeal to the undecided, and change the conversation about Muslims in America.” It’s pretty clear that this play for federal dollars will generate none of that, starting with the lack of disclosure or community consultation before developers submitted their application, which was due November 5th....
You know, if I was getting all kinds of favoritism and special treatment from the government, I’d be laughing and smiling and flipping everyone the bird too.
What do you expect? The Ground Zero Mosquers are getting all kinds special treatment from the people in the positions that matter.
They’ll probably be given the money - and some liberal hookworm will begin to lecture us about how Islamophobic we are.
What happened to this country?
What happened to this country?
We can’t even beat these guys in our courts - how do we expect to beat them anywhere else?
Hey, at least you made a stand. As for me and mine, we stand against the death cult known as islam. No apologies here.
I stand against Islam, too because it does promote evil and death. But I do so because I follow the Lord who told me to be “as shrewd as a snake and as innocent as a dove.” Proclaiming genocide doesn’t fit those operational orders.
We agree. ;o)
Good deal. :-)
thanks La Lydia.
additional:
Ground Zero mosque developers apply for federal grant: report
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2631368/posts
I'm not calling for a 100,000 strong lynch mob armed with bats and pork chops. I'm really not. But this really can't stand.
You will never hear the term “wall of separation” in the media about this. Imagine if a pastor or priest wanted $20 million of public money to build a church. The ACLU would be all over them so fast your head would spin.
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