Continuing her ongoing quest to embarrass herself and the media outlets that treat her as an expert (instead of an anti-Muslim bigot -- that means you, Fox Business), Pam Geller announced this morning that the design of the Park51 Islamic community center includes “Tumbling Star of Davids [sic].” Have a look for yourself:
Under the image, she announces that the “Islamic supremacists get more bold and naked in their motive.” While Geller is content to play Magic Eye with artists' renderings in order to argue that the people behind Park51 are anti-Semites, in the real world, Imam Rauf reportedly said that he can “confidently assert that I am closer to my Jewish and Christian brothers...than the Muslim militants carrying a narrow view.”
Geller has a long history of finding secret hidden messages in otherwise innocuous images. She has discovered imaginary Islamic crescents in the 2010 Nuclear Summit logo and the design of the Flight 93 memorial. In March, she claimed that a preponderance of “purple” -- actually blue -- neckties on Democratic officials meant that Obama and Democrats were “Flying The Gangsta Colors At The White House.” However, if Geller wants to win the race to the bottom for finding absurd architectural reasons for opposing Park51, she'll have to work harder to outdo NewsBusters' “chilling” revelation that the center has four sides and is shaped like a building.
Geller's proclamation that the design includes “tumbling Star of Davids [sic]” is not the only laughable part of her post. After continuing to push the insane idea that Park51 is a “triumphal mosque,” Geller claims that non-Muslims will have to pay an “exorbitant jizya” - which she describes as a “tax on non-Muslims living in Muslim lands” - in order to become members at the center.
Following in the tradition of noted idiot Jim Hoft, Geller excerpts a New York Times article that disproves her point:
Non-Muslims will pay the exorbitant jizya of $2,700 for the privilege of membership in the Cordoba house, while Muslims will pay the nominal fee of $375 per year.
Mr. Gamal is counting on the center's eventually having about 4,330 paying members, about half of them paying $2,700 a year for the most expensive family plan, which would include use of a planned fitness center and pool.
Most of that core group, Mr. Gamal expects, would be non-Muslim neighborhood residents and commuters.
Muslims from around the region would make up a larger but less frequently visiting group -- what he calls the “dinner and a date” crowd -- many of them choosing the cheapest $375 family membership for cultural programs.
People who aren't (literally) blinded by anti-Muslim bigotry can clearly see that Gamal never indicated that one membership is for Muslims and one membership is for non-Muslims. Instead, he said that he “expects” more “non-Muslim neighborhood residents and commuters” to spring for the most expensive plan and that “many” of “Muslims from around the region” would instead opt for the cheapest membership. The difference in cost clearly springs from different privileges afforded by each plan -- i.e. access to the “planned fitness center and pool” -- not from an “exorbitant jizya” tax.
You'd think if the case against the Park51 center were so strong, conservatives wouldn't have to rely on finding hidden messages in the architecture and imaginary “jizya taxes.” But it isn't, so they do.