NYC Mayor Suspends Imam
Jail Jihad Update
New York City's mayor suspended the head imam of the city's jail
system.
The move by Michael Bloomberg regarding Umar Abdul-Jalil came after the
New York Post reported that the imam made several anti-American and
anti-Israel comments in an April 2005 speech, including saying that
Muslims in America should stop letting "the Zionists of the media to
dictate what Islam is to us."
Abdul-Jalil has said the remarks were taken out of context. He also
reportedly said that his mother converted to Judaism in 1959.
Yeah? So what??
UPDATE: He is suspended, yes. But Bloomberg will not fire him.
last_post@rogers.com wrote:
Alarm Spreads Over Remarks Of Jail Imam
New York jail jihad update from the New York Sun, with thanks to Ruth
King:
Extremist remarks made by the head imam of the city's jail system are
generating alarm about whether inmates are being recruited as Islamic
fundamentalists.
Mayor Bloomberg announced yesterday that the city has suspended Imam
Umar Abdul-Jalil of the city's Department of Correction until officials
can get more information about his remarks and determine whether he
violated any regulations.
"We can't prejudge but we are going to look at it this afternoon," Mr.
Bloomberg told reporters yesterday. "Having said that, this morning, so
that he would not go back into the jails, we put him on paid
administrative leave at least for the day."
The move by the city came after the New York Post reported that Mr.
Abdul-Jalil declared in a speech that the White House is run by
terrorists and that Muslims were tortured in Manhattan prisons after
the World Trade Center attacks.
He also reportedly urged Muslims in America to stop letting "the
Zionists of the media to dictate what Islam is to us." The
Investigative Project on Terrorism obtained a recording of his speech,
a senior researcher with the organization, Tamar Tesler, confirmed
yesterday.
The imam, who has been with the department since 1993 and has been
overseeing all clergy members at the agency since 2004, could not be
reached yesterday. He did, however, publicly deny that he was promoting
extremist views and said his comments were taken out of context.
The director of Simon Wiesenthal's New York Tolerance Center, Mark
Weitzman, said, if true, the statements are cause for worry about
possible recruitment of Islamic fundamentalists in city jails.
Yep.
.
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