Anti-development zealot Galeb Rizek fought the creation of 150 high-paying jobs by Ashland Advanced Materials last October, and in December was responsible for the layoffs of about 40 workers the company had already hired to get the old factory back into shape so production could begin.
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He hired powerful lawyers to keep Ashland from reopening the former SGL plant on Niagara Falls Boulevard, which is located directly across the street from the no-stars EconoLodge motel he owns.
The principal object of Rizek's venom was former building commissioner Guy Bax, who Rizek said was "like a dinosaur" before reminding him that "dinosaurs are extinct" at a public meeting last October.
"I think it's very clear and evident that something needs to be done and he can't be a part of this process," Rizek said.
Rizek's attack on Bax was so shocking that the Oct. 23, 2008 headline in the Niagara Gazette read "Niagara Falls: Hotelier calls out Bax," leaving little doubt as to who the aggressor was that night.
But now the Gazette's lowly police reporter, junior G-man Rick Pfeiffer, is rewriting the documented history contained in the archives of his own paper. According to the endless stream of articles he's published over the past 10 days, it was Rizek who was the "victim" in the very public dispute.
Rizek has been blabbing quite freely to Pfeiffer, and the FBI, who have become very interested in the Ashland project because it is a part of some half-baked investigation of the ties between the city Inspections Department and Gross Contracting Co. here.
But in the past Rizek has not been so eager to talk to federal investigators, records show. In December 2004, Homeland Security officials detained the Niagara Falls hotelier as he attempted to come back into the Unites States via the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge after attending an Islamic religious conference in Toronto, records show.
A spokeswoman for Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection Agency said security personnel stopped anyone who said they attended the three-day convention, titled "Reviving the Islamic Spirit," based on information that such gatherings can be a means for terrorists to promote their cause.
"We have ongoing credible information that conferences such as the one that these 34 individuals just left in Toronto may be used by terrorist organizations to promote terrorist activities, which includes traveling and fund raising," said Kristie Clemens of the U.S. Customs and Border Security Agency. "As the front-line border agency, it is our duty to verify the identity of individuals -- including U.S. citizens -- and one way of doing that is fingerprinting." Speakers at the conference included Tariq Al Suweidan, a Kuwaiti cleric who was banned from entering the United States, and Tariq Ramadan, a radical Islamist scholar with known ties to al-Qaeda, according to advertising for the event.
In a story by the Associated Press following the incident, Rizek again said he was victimized, not by the city Inspections Department but by those who were seeking to protect the country in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks launched by Islamic fanatics.
"I asked 'If I refuse to give my fingerprints, what will you do?'" he told the AP. "(The agent) said, 'You can refuse, but you'll be here until you do.'"
"It was kind of dramatic. You really feel like a criminal and you haven't done anything wrong," Rizek added. Bax, who has been removed from his position as building commissioner by Mayor Paul Dyster, probably knows the feeling well.
In addition to the AP, Rizek -- who is the son of Palestinian immigrants -- peddled his tale of victimization and woe to anyone who would listen, including FOX News and American Muslim Perspective.
Then, along with some others who attended the Islamic hoedown, Rizek proceeded to do what any red-blooded American would -- he sued the United States of America for damages.
"I felt helpless and powerless, I felt like I didn't belong in the United States," Rizek told the Muslim publication.
In his interview with FOX News, Rizek maintained that Homeland Security should subject all American citizens, not just those returning from Islamic conferences in foreign countries, to the same degree of scrutiny. The fact that known terrorist sycophants were the guests of honor at the event should have had no bearing on how attendees were handled when they crossed the border back into the country, he said.
"If they want to beef up security I'm all for it. I'm totally against terrorism. I want to be protected, I'm an American, too," plaintiff Galeb Rizek said. "If they're going to do this to everyone I have no problem whatsoever. ... But that night, that time, it was only us."
Federal Judge William Skretny disagreed, and threw the case out of court in Buffalo.
"As unfortunate as this incident may have been, I find that it was not unconstitutional, for (Customs and Border Protection) had reason to believe that these conferences would serve as meeting points for terrorists to exchange ideas and documents, coordinate operations, and raise funds intended for terrorist activities," he ruled.
The fingerprinting, photographing and vehicle searches were necessary to verify that U.S.-based conferees were not attempting to "use the conference as cover," Skretny added.
Rizek and his cohorts immediately filed an appeal to the good judge's commonsense ruling.
Four U.S. Attorneys were involved in the defense of the country from the Islamic conference attendees, and the case cost Washington millions. When it came before the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 26, 2007, it was again dismissed as without merit.
It seemed to matter little to Rizek that, just three years prior to the incident, 3,000 Americans were slaughtered in New York City by radical Islamists who entered the country from Canada. As far as he was concerned, the whole thing was about him and his "feelings."
Galeb Rizek, a millionaire Niagara Falls businessman with strong political allies such as Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster, City Administrator Donna Owens, state Rep. Francine Del Monte and Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp. CEO John Percy, sees the value attached by today's politically correct society to those who choose to portray themselves as victims.
Whether it involves putting people out of work here in Niagara Falls or making life difficult for those who would protect our country from fanatical attack, Rizek's well-documented history as a chronic complainer is available to anyone who has access to a computer and the ability to type the hotelier's name into the Google search engine.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | July 28 2009 |