The beginning was with a news title “Mosque at Ground Zero” in various media sources, printed and visual, which misled the American public to thinking that a mosque “an Islamic temple” will be built at the world trade center site that was attacked in 9/11/2001 by group of radical Muslims. What is being said on the media for the past few months brought more tension to the case, something that has been the basis of news these days, creating propaganda to make the news seem more interesting and bring controversy and even anger sometimes. In this article I will be discussing the hidden truth behind it, supporting it with solid facts.
The first argument about this issue is that what the media stated as a mega mosque building, is in-fact a sixteen story community center that carry’s out public facilities such as, indoor pool, a restaurant, child care facility, media tech library and a world class auditorium that seats over five hundred people, according to what Sharif El-Gamal “the investor behind the project” said in an interview with Scott Pelley on 60 minutes. He states that the idea of this community center was inspired by the Jewish community center in Manhattan, that he was a member of.
The news titles from all different media channels stating that the “Mega Mosque” was going to be located at ground zero, which is the location of the tragic terrorist attack on the World Trade Center September 11, 2001. News article such as one printed in the Merrimack Journal called “No Mosque at Ground Zero” states that this building will cover the cemetery of 9/11 and cause further insult to this country. Headlining on the cover of a Newsweek Magazine stated “A Mosque at Ground Zero?”, also according to a 60 minutes news broadcast a congregation of people gathered at the site of the World Trade Center protesting against the so called “MEGA Mosque.” But in all actuality the truth is that the community center is not planned to be built at ground zero. It will in fact be constructed two blocks away, where ground zero is not visible from this location. In the same 60 minute broadcast the anchorman Scott Pelley showed all of the viewers where exactly the location of the community center is in comparison to where the World Trade Center site is. Scott Pelley and the owner Sharif El-Gamal literally walked the two blocks from the center to ground zero to show how far away they truly are.
According to Scott Pelley, in may 2010 a committee from the lower Manhattan community board approved the building of the project unanimously, a project such as this one will benefit the public in that part of the city. This unanimous vote for yes led protestor Pamela Geller to rally against this project even more, causing another vote from the committee, which resulted in another vote for yes toward the construction of the center. The people in this community have all agreed that this center will indeed benefit the area and would like it to be built, as it will provide employment and bring business to the community.
The controversy started with a select few of the American public disagreeing to build anything related to Islam in that area of Manhattan, as it is considered to be a sacred place to honor those who lost their lives in 9/11, and should not be a spot where an Islamic temple is placed. As sensitive as this issue could be, and as I personally feel for what those families had to go through. I say at first that its their constitutional right to have a place to go and practice their religious beliefs as well staying in tune with their community. This is what America was originally built on, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech and the freedom to be whom ever you want to be. I feel that the select few that do not wish to have this community center built this close to ground zero needs to be aware that the acts of 9/11 were acted out by radicals and extremists who do not represent any ethnicity, culture or religion but themselves and their own beliefs.
People who are skeptical of the project and believe that this community center is funded by terrorists, organizations and radical groups that would form intelligence cells that would plan for other attacks on the United States soil. The developer Sharif El-Gamal who is an American citizen that was born and raised in New York, married to a Christian wife, his mother is a Polish Catholic, and his father is a Muslim from Egypt. He is a real estate developer bought this building one year ago for the main reason of creating a community center in lower Manhattan.
The Media can be very informative and crucial to our way of life, but sometimes it manipulates the truth to seem more interesting and appealing to the public. We see this in not just this case of the Mosque at ground zero but in plenty of other issues in today’s news. This issue dealing with the “Mosque at Ground Zero” is a definite example of how the media can be interpreted in many different ways and lead people to misunderstand and cause tension between the people who this issue might effect the most.
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