Daisy Khan, wife of the Ground Zero Mosque Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, had an interview with Sally Quinn over at the “On Faith” Forum at the Washington Post online. Khan is also the Executive Director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, the group planning to build this combination mosque and Islamic command center at Ground Zero. A building they reportedly purchased with $4.5 million cash in foreign funds from unknown sources.
Below is the video link. PLUS as a special for Big Peace readers, the full transcript of Khan’s con job on the media.
Three observations:
1) Khan’s interview treats the 9/11 attack on America as just another flight accident:
Because it’s been abandoned for the last nine years. Just was sitting vacant. It was struck by a plane, a piece of the fuselage fell into the building and it was shut down since then.
Just happened to be struck by a plane. An unfortunate accident happened nine years ago. Move along, nothing to see here. No one was responsible and hey – don’t be judgmental.
2) Khan’s “mystical” sense of historic inevitability is shockingly – outrageously – opportunistic: 9/11 and the building’s availability are part of Allah’s plan for her, the Imam and their foreign financiers to expand their power base and Shariah’s influence in America. Almost 3,000 people died? Just the work of a “divine hand” bringing the building to her group.
We decided to look for a larger building and, actually, the building found us… I think the building came to us… Which goes to show that there is a symbolism there and there’s a divine hand in it…I think the symbolism of a project like this is too powerful and we’ve not deterred from what we believe is the right thing to do.
3) The opposition? Just some 9/11 families who haven’t dealt properly with their personal problems (“There’s no 9-11 Families Coalition that I see”). But Daisy will fix that with her “hand-holding.” In fact, it is organized 9/11 families and survivors, represented by Tim Brown who was a survivor and fireman at the site – with legal counsel from the exemplary American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) – who are trying to get the site recognized by the Landmark Commission (the submission is here). (And please sign the ACLJ petition against the mosque locating at Ground Zero.)
Bottom line: I think Khan’s denial of organized opposition from 9/11 families shows her real concern that the growing opposition is, in fact, coming from this broad spectrum of groups including the very organized 911 Families for a Safe and Strong America (Debra Burlingame and Tim Sumner), Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, the Bravest.com (Tim Brown), Stop the Islamisation of America (Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer), the ACLJ, Act for America (Brigitte Gabriel), the Center for Security Policy and so many more. Opposition to the Ground Zero mosque is now a cause for all Americans.
Here’s Daisy Khan in her own words:
DAISY KHAN:
I think the building came to us. Which goes to show that there is a symbolism there and there’s a divine hand in it.
TITLE 1: Divine Impulses
TITLE 2: A Conversation on Religion with On Faith’s Sally Quinn
TITLE 3: Daisy Khan: Executive Director, American Society for Muslim Advancement
TITLE 4: Khan’s center supports the Cordoba House, a Muslim-led project near Ground Zero, which will contain a community center and mosque.
SALLY QUINN:
Where is the Cordoba House?
DAISY KHAN:
The Cordoba House is a couple of blocks from the World Trade Center site. We have already been in the neighborhood. My husband, Imam Faisal, his mosque is ten blocks from Ground Zero, currently. And it is very small and because the Muslim community is a growing community and many come to the Financial District, there is a–there has been a rapid growth in the prayer space. So just to meet the needs of the people’s, you know, worship needs, we decided to look for a larger building and, actually, the building found us. Because it’s been abandoned for the last nine years. Just was sitting vacant. It was struck by a plane, a piece of the fuselage fell into the building and it was shut down since then. And it’s been vacant for nine years.
SALLY QUINN:
Now, was it deliberate that you chose something that was that close to Ground Zero or was it just that that building happened to be an appropriate space?
DAISY KHAN:
I think the building came to us. Which goes to show that there is a symbolism there and there’s a divine hand in it. That it’s so close to the tragedy that its close proximity is very symbolic for the fact that we really want to reverse what happened on 9-11. And it will be, in our opinion, it’ll be a very strong message to the extremists that the center of the scale that is where real co-existence and pluralism is being practiced, not only by Muslims, but people of other faiths, I believe it’s a very strong message that we’re giving.
SALLY QUINN:
Were you surprised by the negative reaction from the families of the victims of 9-11?
DAISY KHAN:
We were expecting some sort of, you know, resistance–but not an organized resistance. We were expecting them, some families might need some hand-holding, we might want to speak to them. But what we did not expect is a national coalition of people coming together from–majority of them coming from outside New York. Pamela Gellar is a lady, and Robert Spencer, together the two of them have formed something called Stop Islamization of America. And that is the–the group that is leading–leading this. Then there are some 9-11 Families who are individually part of this. There’s no 9-11 Families Coalition that I see. They’re individual people who are still feeling the pain of their loved ones. They’re a part of it. And then there are some people that just, you know, are people who have, who bring together, some international atrocities that have happened in the name of Islam and they bring that to the table and they feel that, you know, this kind of project should not take root, because it’s just another way of Muslims, you know, taking root in America. There are some people who are anti-immigrant. People that are part of this. So it’s a–it’s various groups that have similar interests that are coming together.
SALLY QUINN:
But when suddenly this opposition arose that you weren’t expecting, did you have second thoughts about doing this?
DAISY KHAN:
I think the symbolism of a project like this is too powerful and we’ve not deterred from what we believe is the right thing to do. And one of the most moving things that was said was by a Catholic priest at–when we reached out to our supporters before our community board meeting and he said, you know, St. Patricks’ Cathedral had a fence around it, because they were going to burn it down. He said, now, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is like a tourist icon and so central to America. He said, the Catholics went through it. The Jews went through it. And now you’re going through it. He said, as religious communities, we support what you’re doing. And that is what we are remembering and that is what we are seeing in this trajectory. We are the latest new religious group that is trying to establish itself through its institution building and through making a vital contribution back into society. And it, too, will pass. We will do it. And others will come after us and they, too, will have difficulty, but we will reach out to them.
TITLE 1: Divine Impulses
TITLE 2: A Conversation on Religion with On Faith’s Sally Quinn
Seriously, if you didn’t sign it above, do sign it now – the ACLJ petition against the mosque locating at Ground Zero.
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