Send Page to a Friend New Mosque in Boston puts a chill in the air   By Penny Schwartz The Jewish Exponent   What began more than three years ago as a momentous groundbreaking on a $22 million mosque and Islamic cultural center has turned into a bitter public controversy that has chilled relations between leaders of Boston's Jewish and Muslim communities. The most recent development unfolded in early March with reports of a possible conflict of interest by a Boston Redevelopment Authority employee who is a leader in the Islamic Society of Boston, or ISB. According to some newly discovered records, the man was involved in preparing the original mosque development proposal, which placed the value of the land at $2 million, or approximately five times the value stated when the land was conveyed to the ISB in May 2003. However, the ISB received a further reduction for in-kind services and benefits to the city and an adjacent public community college - such as establishing a library on the history of Islam - and paid just $185,000 for the 1.9-acre property. Further questions have been raised about the Redevelopment Authority employee's role in fundraising for the mosque. Suing Their Critics What's causing the most friction between Jewish and Islamic leaders is a lawsuit filed by the ISB against the David Project, a pro-Israel educational group that has been among the most visible groups raising public questions about the project. Filed in November 2005, the suit charges the David Project, one of its employees, 13 other groups and individuals and two media outlets with defamation and conspiracy to keep the project from completion. The charges allege that the David Project and Steven Emerson of the anti-terrorist Investigative Project, who's also named in the ISB lawsuit, colluded behind the scenes to provide false, highly provocative and defamatory information to media outlets. Defenders of the David Project say the lawsuits are intended to intimidate critics and distract attention from the real issues - which they say fits a pattern of U.S. mosques filing lawsuits to silence those who raise questions. "This is not a case about religion or Islam or a cultural clash," insists Jeffrey Robbins, an attorney for the David Project. "It's about people who have been sued for having asked legitimate questions." Observers and key players say the dispute shouldn't be seen as one between Jews and Muslims, yet the strain between the two communities has made headlines, and is preventing further dialogue. The suit has chilled dialogue with the ISB at the highest levels of Boston's Jewish leadership, according to Nancy Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, which publicly backed the David Project after it was sued. Kaufman doesn't want the Jewish community to be seen as preventing the mosque from being built - a concern that others share. Questions about the mosque became public in October 2003, months after the city Redevelopment Authority gave the ISB final approval to build the mosque and cultural center on a plot in Roxbury. Reports by The Boston Herald and Boston's Fox Television station linked several past and current ISB leaders or supporters to extremist Islamic groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood. These are: • Abdurahman Alamoudi, an ISB founder in jail for his connection to a Libyan assassination attempt against the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and who was cited by the U.S. Treasury Department in July for raising money for terror groups linked to Al Qaeda; • Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a cleric who has been banned from visiting the United States for his alleged ties to Hamas; and • Dr. Walid Fitaihi, an ISB trustee whose writings in an Arabic-language newspaper have included virulently anti-Semitic language. The ISB says that, in meetings with Jewish leaders, it has denied links to terrorism and repudiated offensive writings.