Is 770 a Muslim Target?

NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly called Chanina Sperlin of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council from the Presidential inauguration in Washington DC, this morning to discuss threats against 770 on the website www.revolutionmuslim.com.

“The Commissioner is looking into the situation,” said Sperlin, “The Crown Heights community was considered a target in the past, and whether or not this is serious remains to be seen.”

The site which features the threat is run by Yousef Al-Khattab, a New York City cabbie who operates an extremist Islamic anti-American Web site that features violent images on a daily basis : From the Statue of Liberty, with an ax blade cutting through her side; to a video mocking the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl, entitled “Daniel Pearl I am Happy Your Dead 🙂 “; or the latest speech from Sheikh Abdullah Faisal, an extremist Muslim cleric convicted in the UK and later deported for soliciting the murder of non-Muslims.

The latest – a cartoon-like image depicting 770 Eastern Parkway, Lubavitch World Headquarters, as a target in retaliation for Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

Formerly known as Joseph Cohen, al-Khattab is an American-born Jew who converted to Islam after attending an Orthodox Rabbinical school, which he later described as a “racist cult.”

The 39-year-old New York taxi driver launched RevolutionMuslim.com with the mission of “preserving Islamic culture,” “calling people to the oneness of God” and asking them to “support the beloved Sheik Abdullah Faisal, who’s preaching the religion of Islam and serving as a spiritual guide.”

A mobile command center will be stationed in front of 770, Sperlin reports, and many more cops are being sent to patrol the neighborhood streets.

Two months ago, a meeting was held with major Crown Heights schools and organizations about keeping the community protected.