Is Ground Zero Mosque Founder Lying to NYC? Is Real Goal Sharia Not 'Religious Dialogue'?

Did Daily News get hoodwinked, as article conflicts with statements in Arabic interview?

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., May 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A PajamasMedia.com article by Walid Shoebat, former Islamic terrorist and author, revealed disturbing contradictions between Ground Zero mosque founder Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf's English statements and his Arabic comments.  Abdul Rauf directly contradicted his New York Daily News article from earlier this week, and, in the process, lied to New York City about his true intentions.  An interview with Shoebat about these revelations is available on PJTV.com.

"Did Abdul Rauf hoodwink the New York Daily News and lie to New Yorkers and Americans?" asked Roger L. Simon, CEO of Pajamas Media. "Abdul Rauf clearly feels comfortable revealing his true intentions only when speaking in Arabic, but the translations reveal the truth.  New York City should immediately stop this mosque from being built at Ground Zero. It's an insult to those who perished in that terrorist attack and to those who are helping rebuild New York.  America was founded on religious freedom, but we must put our foot down when those who wish to corrupt our way of life move to exploit our liberty."

On May 25, 2010, Abdul Rauf wrote in an article for the New York Daily News: "My colleagues and I are the anti-terrorists. We are the people who want to embolden the vast majority of Muslims who hate terrorism to stand up to the radical rhetoric. Our purpose is to interweave America's Muslim population into the mainstream society."  [Emphasis added.]

Really?  The Pajamas Media exclusive reveals on March 24, 2010, Abdul Rauf was quoted in an Arabic Rights4All article as saying, "I do not believe in religious dialogue."  Rights4All is the website of Cairo University's media department, the leading educational institution of the Arabic-speaking world.

But as recently as May 26, one day after his Daily News column, Abdul Rauf appeared on the popular Islamic website Hadiyul-Islam with even more disturbing opinions. That's the same website where, ironically enough, a fatwa was simultaneously being issued forbidding a Muslim to sell land to a Christian because the Christian wanted to build a church on it.

In his Hadiyul-Islam interview with Sa'da Abdul Maksoud, Abdul Rauf was asked his views on Sharia (Islamic religious law) and the Islamic state.  He responded:

"Throughout my discussions with contemporary Muslim theologians, it is clear an Islamic state can be established in more than just a single form or mold. It can be established through a kingdom or a democracy. The important issue is to establish the general fundamentals of Sharia that are required to govern. It is known that there are sets of standards that are accepted by [Muslim] scholars to organize the relationships between government and the governed." [Emphasis added.]

Visit Pajamas Media to read the full expose and check back for reaction from the New York Daily News.  Also, watch Walid Shoebat's interview on PJTV.com.

Walid Shoebat's Biography

Walid Shoebat became a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization as a young man and participated in acts of terror and violence against Israel.  He was later imprisoned in the Russian Compound, Jerusalem's central prison for incitement and violence against Israel.  After contemplation and study during which he realized his beliefs were based on lies and driven by a deep passion to heal his own soul, Walid shed his former life and his work as a software engineer and set out to tirelessly bring the cause of Israel to tens of thousands of people throughout the world: churches and synagogues, civic groups, government leaders and media.  Walid is an American citizen and lives in the USA with his wife and children under this assumed name.

About Pajamas Media and PJTV

Pajamasmedia.com, a division of Pajamas Media, receives more than 16 million page views per month.  Launched in 2005, it provides commentary and analysis in text, video and podcast form created by correspondents in more than 40 countries.  Its blogs cover politics, government, culture, the economy and finance, national security, the Middle East, media, and education, as well as breaking news and current events. 

PJTV, a division of Pajamas Media, is the first center-right online television network, providing commentary and analysis via video over the Internet.  PJTV's video segments cover politics, government, culture, the economy and finance, national security, the Middle East, media, and education. PJTV's main studio is located in El Segundo, CA, with remote studio locations in midtown Manhattan in New York City, blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C., and web cam locations around the world.

SOURCE Pajamas Media