Rauf: Moving Mosque Will Empower Radicals
On ABC's This Week, "Ground Zero" mosque Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf argued against moving the mosque to a new location, claiming that doing so would threaten America's national security.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf insisted today that moving the Islamic community center and mosque from the site near ground zero under the current circumstances would threaten U.S. national security.
"We have two audiences," the Imam told ABC News' Christiane Amanpour late Thursday afternoon. "We have the American audience and we have the Muslim audience. And this issue has riveted the attention of the whole Muslim world. And whatever we do, and whatever we say and how we move and the discourse about it is being watched very, very closely. And if we make the wrong move, it will only expand and strengthen the voice of the radicals and the extremists," he said.
"There are any number of wrong moves. But the basic theme of the wrong moves is if there is a perception or the perception is created, real or not, that Muslims are under attack," Rauf said. "Let's say we moved under this current circumstance with this dialogue. What will be the headline tomorrow in the Muslim world?" the Imam asked rhetorically. "'Islam under attack in America.' That's the theme of it. 'Mosque forcibly removed by whatever.' That will feed the radicals. So diffusing terrorism is a necessity for our national security," he said.
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