In a post headlined "My Beautiful Neighborhood," Norman Finkelstein picks up a superb report by Thomas Tracy of a protest in Brooklyn of a planned mosque in Sheepshead Bay (h/t Saleema):
[O]ther organizers claimed that the mosque’s builders, the Muslim American Society, has ties to Hamas and Hezbollah. Though few actual links were revealed at the rally, that didn’t stop the venom.
“New York is not Islamabad,” screamed one protestor. Diana, a nurse who refused to give her full name, told those in attendence, “Do not forget 9-11!”
Voorhies Avenue resident Victor Benari further whipped up the audience by adding, “Each Muslim terrorist is tied to a mosque.”
He also took pot shots at Ahmed Allowey, the longtime Sheepshead Bay resident who is bringing the mosque to Voorhies Avenue, along with local politicians who have remained mum on this divisive issue.
None were present to defend themselves, although Benari’s diatribe infuriated local resident Guseyn Ibragimov.
“What right do you have to deny people a place of worship?” asked Ibragimov, whose father is a Muslim. His mother is half-Jewish, half-Christian. “No one protests a church or a synagogue being built in a Muslim neighborhood.”
Rally attendees booed Ibragimov down, ordering him to get off their street.
