NEW YORK — One of the investors in a proposed Islamic center and mosque near ground zero is a Long Island medical-clinic owner whose expressions of sympathy for Palestinians included a donation to a charity later shut down for links to Hamas.
The developer leading the project confirmed Friday that Hisham Elzanaty, 51, is among the members of a real estate partnership that paid $4.8 million last year for the vacant clothing store that is to be torn down and replaced by the cultural center and mosque.
The partnership’s general manager, Sharif El-Gamal, has so far declined to reveal the names of his other financial backers but has said the eight-member group is diverse and includes Jews and Christians.
Tax records show that Elzanaty gave $6,050 to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in 1999. Two years later, the U.S. government froze the foundation’s assets and accused it of acting as a fundraiser for Hamas, which was labeled a terrorist organization by President Bill Clinton in 1995.
