Who would have thought that an initiative as peaceful and positive as the Park51 Community Center would arouse such hatred and fear throughout our nation? Oh, you don’t know what the Park51 Community Center is? Well of course you wouldn’t know what it was because the media constantly chooses to refer to it as the “Ground Zero Mosque” or “WTC Mosque.” Please call it by its real name, thanks.
The center is a Muslim-led project that will be built in downtown Manhattan, at 45-51 Park Place. There are so many misconceptions surrounding it, and most of the negativity that the initiative is facing is probably because of those misconceptions. Let’s work our way through the most popular rumors and allegations one-by-one and really establish what the problem is here.
“Ground Zero Mosque”: Park51 is neither just a mosque, nor is it at ground zero. According to Google Maps, Park51 is 0.5 miles away from Ground Zero, which is about a 5 minute walk (about 2 blocks north). Last time I checked, 2 blocks away from Ground Zero is not the same thing as at Ground Zero. In an interview with www.altmuslim.com, Sharif El-Gamal, the CEO of Soho Properties and the developer of Park51 said, “We’re as close to City Hall as we are to Ground Zero. Lower Manhattan is pretty small. You can’t see Ground Zero from our current building.”
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In addition, according to the Park51 website, the community center’s 13 stories will include recreational facilities (pool, gym and basketball court), an auditorium, a restaurant, a library, a September 11th memorial, an interfaith center (named the Cordoba House), a mosque, and much more. And best of all, the center is open and intended for ALL New Yorkers, regardless of religion or race. In the same interview, El-Gamal also said, “This is going to be a community center…We do not have a political agenda, and we will be open to all New Yorkers.” He continued on to point out that the open space can be used for various facilities from “a Hebrew class meeting weekly” to “a yoga studio.”
Isn’t it funny how the media likes to conveniently leave out all of the details regarding the open-mindedness of the project when constantly referring to the center as just a mosque?
“Not listening to the American people”: According to the Marist survey, Mayor Bloomberg’s ratings dropped from 56% to 49% after his address in support of Park51. In addition, after President Obama’s statements in support of the religious rights of the Muslim-American community at a recent White House Ramadan dinner, Gallup’s tracking poll found his approval rating dropping to 42% (an all time low.)
I find it amusing that critics of both Bloomberg and Obama are constantly criticizing them for “being on the wrong side of the public opinion” or “still not listening to the American people” when there are numerous polls that show otherwise. According to the Quinnipiac University poll, 46% of Manhattan residents support the building of Park51. Also, according to the Siena College Research Institute, 64% of poll takers affirm the Constitutional right of developers to build Park51 at the given location. Clearly the people have
