Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The Mosque That is Tearing New York Apart
One of the biggest topics in religion and politics right now is the question of what will happen to that little piece of real estate two blocks away from Ground Zero. The crumbling edifice that used to house a Burlington Coat Factory is up for grabs by a group that hopes to demolish the building and build an Islamic inter-faith community center with a mosque inside. The proximity to the former site of the World Trade Center, however, has many Americans irate and others calling Islamaphobia.
Among all the reactions, dissenters have produced an incendiary ad that claims the area is "sacred ground". Images of 9/11 are displayed alongside footage of Islamist militants while the Muslim call to prayer plays in the background.
"A mosque at Ground Zero must not stand," the ad affirms. "Join the fight to kill the Ground Zero Mosque."
The ad appears to be a little too controversial, as NBC and CBS both refused to air it on their networks. They claim, however, that their refusal comes from vaguness in the ad rather than the direct message being given:
"The (NBC) official said the ambiguity of the words "their" and "they" made it unclear whether the ad was referring to terrorists or to the Islamic groups -- including the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Initiative -- who are sponsoring the mosque's construction"
According to BBC News, the ad has been seen more than 100,000 times on July 15th. When I viewed the video on YouTube today (July 20), the ad had more than 240,000 views.
Posted by Alfredo Garcia at 3:00 pm
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