Sharia-Compliant Financing Secured for Lux Condos, Islamic Museum Near Ground Zero

This is flag-planting. Plain and simple.

The developer of the ill-fated Ground Zero Mosque won't relent on his goal of planting a flag on the grave of 3,000 Americans. 

The New York Post reports that Sharif El-Gamal and his banking partners announced Wednesday that he secured "Sharia-compliant financing" to build a luxury condominium tower and an Islamic museum on the same site as the proposed Ground Zero Mosque -- four blocks away from where the Twin Towers once stood. 

The $174 million dollar project features a three-story Islamic cultural museum at 51 Park Place and 48 high-end residential condos in a 43-story tower at 45 Park Place in the Financial District.

The “Sharia-compliant” financing means the deal complies with complex Islamic laws that govern lending and borrowing, including a prohibition against accepting interest or fees for loans.

El-Gamal scrapped his plans to build the mosque in 2011 after receiving tremendous backlash from the community, but according to the Post, his plans for a smaller museum seem to be passing under the radar unchallenged. 

The deal, finalized Tuesday, was funded by the London branch of Malayan Banking Berhad.

The project was designed by Michel Abboud of SOMA Architects, along with Ismael Leyva Architects, and will include a 2,821 square-foot public plaza, green space and a retail shop.

While the museum's footprint may be smaller and seemingly more innocuous than a mosque, it still speaks volumes. There is no logical reason in the world why Manhattan needs an Islamic museum in that particular location. Zero. When all is said and done and a shrine to Islam stands tall where the ashes of those who perished remain below, it will be akin to planting an Islamic flag on conquered territory. 

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