USA: JEWS, SOME OF THE STAUNCHEST DEFENDERS OF THE ISLAMIC CENTER OF LONG ISLAND

The Congressman, The Mosque And The Temple

In the fierce debate over whether the Islamic Center of Long Island harbors extremists, some of the Muslims’ most ardent defenders are Jews.

Is the Islamic Center of Long Island (ICLI) a hotbed of Muslim extremism or an oasis of tolerance and moderation?

The answer to that question likely depends on whether one is inclined to believe Rep. Peter King (R-Long Island) and supporters like terrorism expert Steven Emerson on one hand, or members of Long Island’s interfaith community — including some high-profile rabbis — on the other.

King, Emerson and others have been arguing for months that ICLI, the oldest and largest mosque on Long Island, is headed by extremist leaders who spread the lie that Zionists, not Muslims, were responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

Supporters of ICLI counter that the mosque is a peace-loving religious community whose leaders deserve praise for promoting dialogue with Judaism and other faiths, and that King is deliberately driving a wedge between Muslims and Jews in his Long Island district for political gain.

Over the past month, King, the influential chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, has sent two letters to several thousand, mainly Jewish, constituents in New York’s 3rd Congressional District. The letters condemn American Muslim leaders, including those at ICLI, for “failing to unequivocally denounce Islamic terrorism.” They also point out that leaders of ICLI, a Westbury-based mosque founded in 1985, are supporting King’s Democratic opponent in next month’s election, Nassau County Legislator David Mejias.

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On the other side of the barricades is the editorial page of Newsday, the main Long Island newspaper, which has accused King of “playing with fire” in his attacks on the mosque. Also lined up there are leaders of Long Island’s interfaith community, including the spiritual leadership of Temple Beth-El in Great Neck, a large Reform synagogue that has been engaged in ongoing interfaith dialogue with ICLI since 1991.

Speaking at a press conference held at ICLI on Sunday — after about 100 members of Beth El and ICLI took part in a joint observance of Sukkot and Ramadan that included a reception inside a sukkah built specially for the occasion — Beth-El Associate Rabbi Renni Altman praised Khan as “a dear friend of our synagogue … and a very good friend of the Jewish community.”

The rabbi asserted, “We condemn in the very strongest language the deplorable and false accusations made by Peter King. … Our 15-year relationship with this mosque represents the very best of dialogue and understanding … and offers the strongest testimony that the charges of Islamic militancy and extremism made against this mosque and Dr. Khan are utter nonsense.”

Joining Rabbi Altman in calling upon King to end his campaign against Khan and ICLI were Rev. Thomas Goodhue, president of the Long Island Council of Churches, Rev. Mark Lukens, president of Interfaith Alliance of Long Island and Father Tom Hartman of the Catholic Archdiocese of Rockville Centre, one of the stars of the “God Squad” television program on Long Island Cable television.

The imbroglio over ICLI is a high-stakes battle between those who support stepped-up monitoring of an American Muslim community they believe is infiltrated with potentially dangerous radicals, and those who advocate reaching out to American Muslims with a message of inclusiveness as the best means of stunting support for extremism.

While King and Emerson see ICLI through one lens, the mosque, in an apparent sign of its respected status on Long Island, will be receiving the State University of New York at Old Westbury annual community partner award.

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1) The Congressman, The Mosque And The Temple