Back to the Islamic Center
December 14th, 2010
Just when you thought (hoped?) the issue of the erroneously tagged Ground Zero mosque had gone away, Judicial Watch has filed a petition in state Supreme Court seeking the release of all communication between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the leader of the proposed Islamic center and other Muslim groups.
According to Talking Posts Memo, Judicial Watch had requested the records under New York’s Freedom of Information Law in August. The group says the mayor’s office acknowledged the request, said it would respond within 20 days — but never did (something that, whatever the merits of this case is not exactly unprecedented). Contacted by TPM, the mayor’s office would not comment.
Bloomberg has repeatedly spoken out in favor of the center’s right to build near Ground Zero. In a press release, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said, “Mayor Bloomberg’s support for the Ground Zero mosque needs to be fully explored. New Yorkers are going to want to know how closely he’s working with the radicals supporting the Ground Zero mosque. … What is the mayor’s office hiding?”
The release also repeats allegations — unsubstantiated and largely refuted — linking the center’s organizers to radical Islamic extremism and the financing of terrorism. Judicial Watch identifies itself as “a conservative non-partisan educational foundation” that among other things “seeks to ensure that political and judicial officials do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American people.”
Lately, according to TPM, the group has focused a lot on alleged link between U.S. officials it does not like and Islam. Its founder reportedly has accused President Barack Obama of being on a “political jihad promoting Islam around the world.”
By Gail Robinson on December 14, 2010, 2:09 pmIn category: City Hall, Civil Rights, Gotham City, Law | No Comments »
