I have to admire the AJC -- the ADL's twin -- for opposing the Muslim center near Ground Zero but for scoring points by not being as racist about it as ADL.
Instead of just saying "hell, no" to the mosque, David Harris, the neocon head of the AJC, says "yes, but."
He is all for building the center if it addresses some "concerns." It's like me saying that I will endorse Glenn Beck if he would just address my concerns about his right-wing politics.
Here's the AJC:
First, with a $100 million price tag, what are the exact sources of funding? The public has a right to know that the donors all subscribe to an open, inclusive and pluralistic vision of the center.
Second, do the center's leaders reject unconditionally terrorism inspired by Islamist ideology? They must say so unequivocally. This is critical for the institution's credibility. There is no room here for verbal acrobatics. Otherwise, the pall of suspicion around the leaders' true attitudes toward groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah will grow - spelling the center's doom.
If these concerns can be addressed, we will join in welcoming the Cordoba Center to New York. In doing so, we would wish to reaffirm the noble values for which our country stands - the very values so detested by the perpetrators of the September 11th attacks.
Imagine if the American Jewish Committee (and its sister organizations) were held to that standard.
AJC's building on 56th Street would have to be unbuilt until AJC condemns the slaughter of 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza in 2008-9 (including 432 kids). Also, the AJC would be shut out of its building until it condemns the carpet bombing of Lebanon in 2006, including the use of thousands of cluster bombs still embedded in the earth. The list is pretty endless. The AJC has never opposed any of these acts of terror. In fact, it supports them. All of them. And it is now lusting for a bombing attack on Iran.
Nonetheless, AJC issues demands that the Cordoba Center, which has never endorsed violence, repudiate terrorism (which it always has). Worst of all, the media is allowing the AJC to appear as if it supports the center when it in fact opposes it for the same reasons ADL does. We all know what those are.
I guess Harris assumes no one will read his press release -- a safe assumption, except I did.
David Harris, join Abe Foxman, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity and, Rush Limbaugh. Your opposition is every bit as forceful as theirs. Just more clever.
JUST SO people don't start thinking Harris and Foxman represent anyone, here is a statement supporting the mosque by the most powerful Jew in the United States, Mayor Michael Bloomberg.