American Center for Law and Justice to Imam Rauf: “Do the Right Thing”

"The Imam continues to miss the point - Americans are tolerant, but Americans also understand this is not the place to build a mosque." - Jay Sekulow, ACLJ Chief Counsel

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2010—The Muslim cleric spearheading efforts to build a mosque at Ground Zero told a national television news audience that the project must go forward because of the potential violent backlash if it is halted - comments the head of the American Center for Law and Justice calls "insensitive and divisive" as Americans prepare to remember and honor those murdered during the 9/11 attacks.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is representing a New York City firefighter who survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks and has filed a lawsuit challenging the mosque project.

"Imam Rauf missed an important opportunity to do the right thing and acknowledge that the planned mosque at Ground Zero should be moved to another location," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ.  "By interjecting the claim that our national security is at risk if the mosque is not built at that site is not only offensive to the 9/11 victims' families and friends, but to an overwhelming majority of Americans who don't want the mosque built at Ground Zero."

"His comments were insensitive and divisive," said Sekulow.  "By denying the fact that the site, where part of the landing gear of one of the hijacked planes crashed through the roof of the building, is sacred and hallowed ground clearly shows he does not have the best interest of the families and friends of 9/11 victims at heart.  The Imam continues to miss the point - Americans are tolerant, but Americans also understand this is not the place to build a mosque."

An ACLJ lawsuit filed August 4 in New York State Supreme Court in New York, charges the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission acted arbitrarily and capriciously and "contrary to decades of administrative precedent" when it rejected landmark status for the building. 

The lawsuit is posted here.

The ACLJ will be filing an amended complaint in the weeks ahead focusing on the fact that the mosque developers do not own the entire proposed site and do not possess the legal right to proceed with demolition or construction. 

The ACLJ represents Tim Brown, a firefighter and first responder, who survived the Twin Towers' collapse and lost nearly 100 friends.  The ACLJ has also heard from thousands of Americans who have signed on the Committee to Stop the Ground Zero Mosque.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C.  The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.  Its online newsroom is available at DeMossNews.com/ACLJ.

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