by Mike Gray

At Accuracy in Media, Frank Salvato sees serious consequences for America in allowing the construction of an Islamic mosque a short distance from the World Trade Center site:

In light of the decision by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to allow for the construction of a mosque and Islamic center just 500 feet from Ground Zero, it can be successfully argued that political correctness has replaced history as a basis for knowledge in the United States of America. If it holds true that history does repeat itself – and I have no reason to believe it won’t – then the culture of ignorant arrogance, so prevalent in the nation today, will prove to be a contributing factor to the subjugation of the great American experiment.

Salvato devotes a sizable chunk of his column to a history of the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, to the symbolism of the construction project, and to who’s funding the whole thing:

… we must come to understand its inferred meaning and to do that we must understand a period of violent Muslim aggression, circa 711 AD, that established the Emirate and Caliphate of Cordoba. Remember, the mosque project at Ground Zero was originally meant to be called “The Cordoba House.” …. Under the Caliphate of Cordoba, non-Muslims were given the status of ahl al-dhimma (or dhimmi, a non-Muslim subject of a sharia law state) and adults paid a jizya (or tax). Then, as today, there were only three choices afforded to dhimmis under sharia law: accept dhimmitude, pay the jizya and exist as second-class citizens to all Muslims; convert to Islam; or die. …. Truth be told, I suspect that Abdul Rauf [an imam, founder, CEO and Executive Director of Cordoba Initiative], deep down inside, sees his Cordoba House as a mark of conquest over America; a monument to the Islamist quest for a global Caliphate. I suspect that Abdul Rauf, and all those who are helping to fund his “initiative,” would dance with glee at the prospect of the United States Constitution falling prey to sharia law. Of course, this is my opinion, but I am familiar with the Abdul Rauf’s of the world and there is nothing understanding, tolerant or inclusive about them.