Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite poses the question over at the Washington Post. She takes on the Islamophobic views of veteran Republican right-winger Newt Gingrich who, she writes, “believes that Americans are ‘at risk’ as a nation, not only from the violence of a ‘militant Islam’, but also from the cultural integration of Muslims in the West. The latter he calls ‘stealth jihadists’. A close historical parallel, Gingrich argued in a lengthy address to the American Enterprise Institute entitled America at Risk: Camus, National Security and Afghanistan, where he is now a senior fellow, is the struggle with communism.”

The mosque proposed for Staten Island has been voted down by the church that was going to sell the property to The Muslim American Society [MAS].

You’ll recall that the pastor of the church had quietly signed a contract to sell the old convent to MAS, and then some Staten Island locals (i.e. NYC rednecks) caught wind of it, and held ugly protests to stop it, because it would have “made it difficult to find parking.” It’s also probably too close to Ground Zero, and would stab poor Sarah Palin in the heart. Or as one protester put it, “We just want to leave our neighborhood the way it is – Christian, Catholic.”

The church’s pastor changed his mind in the midst of the uproar, and since the contract stipulated that the sale had to be approved by the board of trustees of St. Margaret Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, today the decision was reversed, according to SI Live. Chalk another one up for Real America! The church won’t get its $750,000, the convent will remain empty and fall into disrepair, and the residents of Midland Beach will never be terrorized by an anti-American lack of parking.

Gothamist, 22 July 2010

For an alternative view, see “VICTORY! No Muslim Brotherhood MAS Mosque in Staten Island”, Atlas Shrugs, 22 July 2010

Muslim American Society Statement

St. Margaret Mary’s board voted today against the pending sale of the vacant convent in Midland Beach to the Muslim American Society (MAS).

The Muslim community, including MAS, is disappointed with the Archdiocese’s decision to back away from this sale.  This denial reinforced an unfortunate notion that the pressures of bigotry and Islamophobia triumphed over a good, long-standing relationship between the Archdiocese and the Muslim community.  It is indeed a setback.

Every person and religious institution has a right to build a house of worship, including the Muslims in the South Shore of Staten Island. It is a travesty that a public official subjected MAS to an investigation simply because it chose to exercise its constitutional right to establish an Islamic center. The results of the investigation proved false all the inflammatory accusations against MAS – something already clear to everyone who has worked closely with us.

While we continue to pursue our religious and constitutional rights, we will not hesitate to reach out to the Staten Island community at large, to establish mutual understanding and to protect freedom of religion.

MAS is determined to serve all communities across the nation including Staten Island and is currently studying all available options in response to the Archdiocese’s decision.

Islamophobia must be recognized for what it is, a social cancer as unacceptable as anti-Semitism, a threat to the very fabric of our democratic, pluralistic way of life.

The line that distinguishes Islam from those who commit violence and terror in the name of Islam – between the majority of mainstream Muslims and the acts of a minority of Muslim terrorists – must be maintained.

Blurring these distinctions risks the adoption of foreign and domestic policies that promote a clash rather than co-existence of cultures and threaten the rights and civil liberties of Muslims.

John Esposito writes in response to the “Ground Zero mosque” controversy.

CNN, 20 July 2010