Week One Readings

Brazil Keeps Climate Targets (Reuters)

- Bare bones lead, with attribution.

- Even here, there’s a small nut graf

- Inverted pyramid

- (note lack of depth, acceptance of assertions)

Pakistan Envoy Says Floods Will Demand Billions Moer (AP)

- Slightly more complex lead

- Subtler nut graf

- Note the burying of where this took place (Asia) as unimportnat

- Note how this piece cut – probably was 2/3rds longer

France Begins Expulsion of Roma

- Note British style deck – like broadcast lede in

- Complex story requiring multiple explanations

- Yet note how – knowing their audience – it’s not dumbed down

- Note also the Telegraph’s Nazi reference

- Kicker: Quote from official source... pushing the story forward

Israel, Hamas battle near downtown Gaza (MSNBC)

• Powerful, active lead graph – does not squander the sound and fury
• Note the insert – typically of AP, which must constantly keep up to the minute.
• Nut graf short, comprehensive... -- Israeli troops now have the coastal city of 400,000 virtually surrounded as part of an offensive launched Dec. 27 to end years of Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern towns.

Religious Double Standard

By Andres Arevalo

As the world witnesses the construction of an Islamic Cultural Center three blocks from ground cero, many New York residents are still struggling to form their opinion in the controversial debate, some ranging from complete disapproval to indifference. Bene Thalhammer, a German student not here during September 11 sees “no problem in building a religious center here as it represents freedom of religion, one of the important values this country was built upon”. While Matthew Carr, a gentleman of about sixty proclaims that “the mosque constitutes an insult to our nation and the thousands of victims that died that day”, and while he considers himself “tolerant of Muslims” he sees their decision to continue building the Islamic Center as “a negative point against their religion and their views”. But as New Yorkers and the media focus on the radical wings of Islam, touting their insensibility towards women and homosexuals, and their intolerance towards other religions, it seems that a kind of religious double standard is being practiced. Having recently read an article in the London’s Guardian about an extremist Jewish Community just outside of New York City http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/05/ground-zero-civil-liberties-paul-harris, it appears to me that Americans are ready to accept one kind of radical religious group while alienating another progressive and religiously tolerant group as the Islamic Community building the Center present themselves. While a recent New York Times poll suggests that a majority of New York City residents oppose construction of the center http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/nyregion/03poll.html?_r=1, this majority is even bigger when it comes to Jews and Catholics. And while both of these religious groups have radical factions, none has come to the intense scrutiny Islam has. While it’s true that Muslim terrorists perpetrated 9/11, the American public and the media must be weary of cataloguing all Muslims in the same category as these terrorists, the same way all Jews are not members of the Kyrias Joel community outside of New York City. While many New York residents feel that the memories of those lost in the attacks are not being respected we must also respect the religious freedom we enjoy in this country. Blocking the construction of an Islamic center may bring unprecedented consequences that may affect not only Muslims, but members of every religion.

Apparently, 'Mosque' Is Now a Synonym for 'Community Center'

By Michelle Consorte

Instead of picturing a cultural center similar to Manhattan’s 92^nd Street Y, or the YMCA, many Americans, 50% according to a poll conducted by the New York Times, have an image similar to the one painted by Charlie Brooker: “The planned ‘ultra-mosque’ will be a staggering 5,600ft tall…and will be capped with an immense dome of highly-polished solid gold, carefully positioned to bounce sunlight directly toward the pavement, where it will blind pedestrians and fry small dogs.” Obviously, this is a gross, but rather humorous, exaggeration. Still, the immense public backlash lends much to this illustration.

Although Park 51, a.k.a. the Cordoba House, is going to be a cultural center, containing a swimming pool, gym, and restaurant, the media and several politicians have portrayed the building as a haven for terrorists to come together and plot future attacks on the United States within the facility’s prayer room. Construction of Park 51 has been overdramatized by focusing on the single issue of the building housing a prayer room for Muslims- this sole fact has completely overshadowed the other, community-based aspects of Park 51. Thanks to this drastic oversimplification and distortion of the building’s purpose, many Americans are ready to wage jihad against the building that they presume is intended for that same function.

From birth the project has donned an unfortunate title: “Ground Zero Mosque.” The raw image of the symbol of Muslim faith (the mosque) being planted on the very grounds that were massacred by extremists of the same religion is enough to throw a large percentage of the American population into a passionate uproar.

Now, there would be some legitimacy in this reaction, if it were true. However, there really is not much bite to follow the bark of the building’s title. In reality, Park 51, the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque,” is to be built on Park Place (the site of the old Burlington Coat Factory), two blocks and a corner from the World Trade Center site. The two buildings cannot even be seen from one another, must less are located on the exact same ground. The name has gained so much hype that this small, yet essential, piece of information is often overlooked.

“It shouldn’t be any issue,” said Andrew, 39, a trucker and supporter of the community center, in reference to the chosen spot.

Even those who are aware of the precise location of the proposed Cordoba House feel the spot is disrespectful and insensitive to those who were affected by 9/11. Some have gone so far as to call it a ‘victory mosque’ which commemorates the actions committed against the U.S. on 9/11.

On the other hand, supporters of the mosque look more into the core of the country than out for their reasoning. Noel Arroyo, standing in front of the proposed ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ location, pointed to the U.S. Constitution, namely the first Amendment.

“It all boils down to Article 1: freedom of religion,” Arroyo said.

Other supporters expanded upon this central idea.

“It’s ironic that they’re building a freedom tower [and not allowing freedom to Muslims to practice their religion]. You can’t draw a line where freedom of religion should apply [and where it stops],” said Matt Sky, 26, a supporter of Park 51 who has been protesting outside of the proposed site for roughly 2 ½ weeks.

Why is the idea of a community center; a building intended to bring people together for positive activities so easily displaced? How can a project that is supposed to create dialogue between different faiths be silenced without adequately examining the facts? Unfortunately, for these questions, this reporter has no answers. For much of the mainstream media has chosen to disregard these original intentions in favor of more sensationalized, fabricated ones that generalize all Muslims as extremist terrorists who despise the United States with every fiber of their being. Peaceful community center or scheming al-Qaeda cell? Apparently, the latter will gain more attention, and so, once again, the truth has been constructed.

Islamic Center and the Media – Don’t Take It Personal

by Andras E. Kovacs

Muslims of New York hoped the Community Center near Ground Zero opens up new channels for them to clear up the misconceptions that surround their religion. Instead, most Americans use it as an opportunity to dispute on the heart of their own identity. Again.

The night I first set foot on New York City’s sidewalks I saw two newspapers lying in front of me. Bold, big letters were reporting on a public outrage caused by a mosque, being built on 9/11’s ’hallowed ground’. Reading these August 23 editions of the New York Post and Metro, their sketchy articles portrayed a situation in which instead of a national memorial, a gigantic mosque is taking shape where once World Trade Center’s proud towers were standing. Following up the issue in the New York Times it has not only become evident that what is actually underway is legal preparation for the construction of an Islamic Community Center in the neighboring blocks, but a thorough poll (articles: 1, 2) has also debriefed about citizen’s elaborate relationship with it. Unsupportive of the building’s placement as it is, it still proved to be less than what you might identify as outrage. I can safely say, representing the point of view of a complete outsider, that a random encounter with the media can misguide one’s perception of the issue. However, the problem here seems to be nothing more than that people don’t throw The Times on the sidewalk as often as they do the Post.

What I find more alarming is that the public discussion is stuck around a paradox of two core American values appearing to be in conflict with one another. First is the conventional respect towards the deceased and their relatives, in union with the hurt pride of a nation that is seeking for vendetta for almost a decade and receives only slaps on his face, from even the most unexpected directions (its leaders, its financial system and even the causes that it is fighting for turning out to be, to say the least, contestable). Now the enemy, knowing no decency, dares to appear at the grave. At the most symbolic grave that there is. So it feels. A more theoretical approach, every bit as essentially American as the other, repeats the first amendment as its mantra, claiming that the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution should be sustained, no matter what. The fact that foundations of the national identity came against each other is the primary reason the issue can excite such a feverish and extended debate. The problem with the press is that it fuels the fire by giving its support to either one of the arguments– in order to help it overcome the other. Scarce are the articles that try to shed light on the schizophrenia, inherent in this strife of decency and pride vs. religious tolerance. Asking the following questions could, perhaps, help: If we do not identify Islam with extremist terrorism, how can the mere presence of a religion hurt our feelings of respect towards the victims of, what was in fact, extremist terrorism. Especially if the religion in question is no less sympathetic with the catastrophe of 9/11 than any other. Or: If we do identify Islam with extremist terrorism how is it that we only want to move it away a couple of blocks? How can we let others protect it in the name of religious tolerance?

While many articles cite Feisal Abdul Raif, the imam of the proposed project, as being reproving of terrorism personally and promoting a branch of Islam that is peaceful and tolerant, they keep quiet about whether this is normal for Islam or an anomaly. In the New York Times there is an obvious assumption of the former, in the New York Post, of the latter, but never straight talk. The media outlets that are against shout a vague claim of immorality, which comes from the same place the support for the war on Iraq came. From a thick mist of dangerously confused concepts. Their reasons for being careful not to make that any clearer can be understood. It is less evident why the supportive side of the media does not assume a broader perspective. Still, they make no real efforts to provide a clear guideline to the questions that are hanging in the air since 9/11. (Who are they exactly, who hate us? Why exactly do they hate us? What is their relationship with Islam? And what is Islam?) What they are trying to accomplish is to persuade their readers that Park51 and its worshippers are going to conform with American values and it is indeed an American duty to let them conform. The debate takes no real interest in the religion or in the people who respect it but in the question of what makes us (well, I’m here for two weeks, am I not?) American. Or, it is important to distinguish if you are on the liberal side, what makes a New Yorker–which should be nothing less than the role model for the country, a little more truly American than the rest. Just as it was fatally neglected in the past decade, this again, is no occasion for the press to go after Islam in general, to tell their readers not what its particular, decently modernized New York branch thinks but what it is actually about. What the majority of its believers believe and what its scripture says. No media is trying to educate Americans about the very thing they are encouraged to form an opinion on.

Proof that the debate is more focused on ideas than on what is actually going on is that most reports overlook the fact that there actually is a mosque, home to prayers, two blocks from the Gound Zero, exactly where the Islamic Community Center is planned to be built. It is almost a year now since it first opened. It is free for anyone to enter. During Ramadan, visitors are even invited to join worshippers on their iftar. It is very easy to engage in casual conversation and learn about their view of the issue. Yet we, from Bard, were the only ones of those thousands concerned who were there to do it. Peter–born and raised in America, which is of no concern to a New Yorker, but what if–offered an opinion, not frequently voiced by the media. (That is not to say it is not voiced at all–with different overtones–, e.g. in CNN, The New York Times, and in The New York Post.) He told us that they are struggling to clear people’s misconceptions about Islam and explain them what it stands for, and what its relationship is with those who are not of the faith. But what they have to say have no news value. Media, simply, does not mediate it. Or even worse: ‘They always put someone on TV who’s got an accent or doesn’t know anything about Islam.’ They see the establishment of the Islamic Community Center near Ground Zero as an opportunity for communication in many senses. First, it is going to be a building open for everyone, a building where those who are willing to get informed about Islam can find resources. Second, its proximity to the WTC site, in their opinion, expresses that they share the viewpoint of those who suffered losses on 9/11, and that they are there to talk about it. ‘What better place is there? What better way to show that Muslims are completely opposed to what took place on 9/11 than actually building a community center, that is everyone’s.’ says Peter. ‘Muslims have also died in Twin Towers. There’s a quote that Muslims were attacked twice that day.’ Apart from being attacked literally, 9/11 was also an attack on the image of their religion. They hope that the media attention they are receiving now is finally a chance for them to speak to the public and rectify this image. Browsing through the press coverage of the last four months, it is clearly not.

Resources:

MSNBC
Wall Street Journal
Mayor Bloomberg’s speech
The New York Times
International coverage through the New York Times
The New York Post
CNN Belief blog interview
CNN: Fareed Zakaria GPS
Fox News
The Washington Post
The Huffington Post

Box: Tourists resting alongside the WTC construction site react differently when they learn about the mosque already open next street, and about the views its worshippers shared with us. Gabor Janos, a camp counselor from Hungary asserts that ‘Americans don’t care what Muslims think. They are too narrow minded. They formed an image of an enemy. That’s all they needed. They won’t let it loose.’ Geoffrey Lyle, a senior tourist from California, approaches the news from a different pragmatic standpoint. ‘I’m sure they’re good people. Otherwise they’d be in jail.’ Adding ‘It’s not American Muslims that are the problem. Their home countries. They’re [the ones] causing the troubles.’

Having an Iftar at the Ground Zero Mosque

By Dardan Lajqi

Mosque, 2 blocks away from Ground Zero has been already established and it’s now operating. Peter Abdullah, a student at NYU and also a Muslim New Yorker that was praying at that mosque said “Mosque only uses two floors, the first and the basement with a capacity of 700 people praying at the same time, while other 5 floors are completely abandoned.” He was really excited for the new building and he with all other people inside in the building were very friendly to me. But, outside of the building, people that passed by the mosque were scared or said differently they were hesitant to voice their opinion. Zef Palaj, a catholic Albanian doorman that works right at the next building, which is attached with the mosque when asked what he thinks about the mosque he said: “It`s not my business.” Besides him, almost everyone who pass by the street where the mosque is located throw out words such as: “This is really close” or “This is scary” or “They can’t build a mosque over here.”

Peter Abdullah expressed a different opinion about the location of the mosque. During Iftar he said “Location is perfect for an Islamic Cultural Center, because the goal of the new building is to tell everyone and especially the ones that believe that Islam is responsible for 9/11, that Islam is about peace and that the terrorist attack had nothing to do with Islam.” He continues saying that “People that live here and come here at Ground Zero have been influenced from the media and especially FOX TV channel to believe that terrorism is connected to Islam. Which indeed it’s not true that’s why we want a mosque right here so we can target the right people and tell them that we are not terrorist, but a peaceful religion.” Peter takes his Mom as an example, he says “My Mom is not Muslim and she doesn`t really practices any religion, but when I ask her whether Muslims are terrorist; she says yes, but if I keep asking her; she will say no, because deep down she knows that we aren`t terrorists. It`s just the media propagandas and influence in people.”

Mr. Sammy El-Gamal, the brother of Mr. Sharif El-Gamal the developer of the Park 51, had an Iftar over there too. He refused to give any opinion or anything else, even though imam said that he came over here to answer reporters’ questions. Mr. Sharif El-Gamal, in an article written by Dana Rubenstein published at Observer and called Meet the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Developer , said "I don't give up, I don't quit. It's just not in my DNA." So, no matter what New Yorkers really believe is bad or good, or no matter how much people are influenced from the media, the Islamic Cultural Center will be build.

As September 11th Approaches, 9/11 Mosque Site Stays Quiet.

by Esmé Ellis

Today is September fifth. The nine year anniversary of 9/11 is less than a week away, and yet the intended site of Park 51, the “9/11 mosque”, is quiet, almost abandoned. The building of the memorial is well underway at Ground Zero- the sunlit space is packed with construction cranes and surrounded by fencing. Park 51, by contrast, seems almost dormant. Located a full two blocks away from Ground Zero, Park 51 is halfway down a quiet shady side street, located next to a bar and a coffee shop. The former Burlington Coat Factory is in serious disrepair- paint is peeling from the outside, the windows have been sealed up, and an iron gate that protects the main entrance seems permanently rusted in place.

Tourists amble by the site, and are greeted by a few protesters, who speak to them and answer questions about the intentions of the mosque. Is it run by members of a radical sect? No. Have religious services already been conducted here? Yes. Is it also going to be a community center? Yes. The passersby are all tourists- there are no crowds of indignant New Yorkers camped in front of the building. Rather there are two or three dedicated supporters in favor of the mosque with T-shirts and far too many protesting signs than is perhaps appropriate for such a small force. There is a general sense of incredulity among passersby that this tucked away ruin is the glaring slap in the face the media has portrayed it as for the last couple of months.

As to the other side of the argument, there is only really speculation at the site as to motive for protesting the construction of the center. “ A lot of people act like it’s a revenge thing,” mused Kathy Stelford, a native of the Chicago land area. She looked up at the cracked and run-down remains of the Burlington Coat Factory. “ Maybe that’s a New York sentiment. I don’t really know for sure- but do you think the firemen asked, ’ What religion are you’ before they pulled someone out of the collapsed buildings? I keep asking myself what the reaction would have been if this had happened in Chicago. ”

Where are the New Yorkers? The area in front of the intended mosque is virtually abandoned. The New Yorkers have not taken to the streets on this issue, as many tourists walking by expected, given the extensive coverage it has been given in the media recently. Arguably, New Yorkers are the most affected by the issue- it was their city which bore the weight of the attacks, and their city which resonated the most heavily with the losses of September 11th." New Yorkers are relatively divided over the issue of the constitutionality of building a mosque in proximity to Ground Zero but as noted in the recent Quinnipiac University poll “ 71 - 21 percent majority, New York voters agree "that because of the opposition of Ground Zero relatives, the Muslim group should voluntarily build the mosque somewhere else. (http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1318.xml?ReleaseID=1493). The planned mosque is not considered unconstitutional, but strikes some New Yorkers as insensitive.

People standing in front of the planned “Park51”site praised perhaps the ‘ultimate’ New Yorker, Mayor Bloomberg, for his recent speech in support of the new Islam Community Center near Ground Zero. Mayor Bloomberg offered a few words on the subject at Governors Island on August 3rd, calling the planned mosque an" important test of the separation of church and state”. Bloomberg challenged the opposition, citing the fundemental freedoms of the Constitution as defense. “Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center,” he said, “lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question – should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions, or favor one over another.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyq0Ulsa2UM)

Lynn Mayo, a native of California, spoke solemnly in front of the “Hero’s Cross” a giant installation made from the intersecting iron support beams of one of the towers. “It’s freedom of religion,” she said, echoing Mayor Bloomberg. “ At the end of the day, constitutionally, they have every right to build their mosque, whether it’s two blocks away or twenty-five.” She looked over at Ground Zero, lit up with the afternoon sun, a gleaming space surrounded by towering skyscrapers.” I guess that’s all I have to say.”

Controversial Park51 Ignites Fury Around Nation

By Elizabeth Dovell

The truth is, many Muslims have been praying at Park51, a building formerly leased to Burlington Coat Factory, for many months before the media picked up on the story. The Islamic cultural center, conceived by a Sufi Imam named Faisal Abdul Rauf, has been promoting itself as a center of “tolerance and understanding,” with Imam Faisal working “very hard, day in and day out, to fight extremism and radicalism” (http://park51.org.s105994.gridserver.com/faq.htm).

Phyllis Freberge, a local resident, says that Muslims have “an absolute right to have a place of worship in New York City.” While she understands worshippers have a history at the location, “they should be conscious of the emotional aspects of the situation.”

Many blame the blogosphere for stirring the pot and creating the problem- a problem that perhaps would not exist as it does today had it not been so prominently splashed across front pages nationwide. Bobby Ghosh reported on the heated topic in the August 30 issue of Time Magazine (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2011798,00.html). Ghosh calls into question the role that the media has played in the situation. Bloggers are able to safety hide behind their digital anonymity, posting what is often uninformed, incorrect information (Park51 is now largely referred to as “the 9/11 mosque,” an inaccurate title). The media frenzy has made it difficult to get the hard facts.

24 year-old Greg Casarona claims that “everyone has a right to freedom of religion. But the way that this country is at the moment…it’s just not a good idea. I think that having someone very high profile in the Muslim world come out and say [the project] is not a good idea would be beneficial.”

Many well-known Muslims have indeed expressed their discontent at the project. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid of the Al-Arabiya network has publicly stated his objection in an August 16 article in the international Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat: “I cannot imagine that Muslims want a mosque on this particular site, because it will be turned into an arena for promoters of hatred, and a symbol of those who committed the crime” (http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=21980).

“To discriminate against [Muslims] because of such a liberal center is a real detriment to the war on terror, and actions like that will further isolate us from the Muslim world,” says David C, a native New Yorker. Despite the seemingly increasing anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States, polled Muslims have said they feel safer and freer in this country than in others such as France or Switzerland. These countries, in which Muslims are also a minority, have recently passed legislation banning burqas and minarets (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2011798,00.html).

The center does appear to promote its liberal and peaceful views. Park51 founder Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf is a follower of Sufism, a form of Islamic mysticism that has had a hand in shaping Judeo-Christian values- values by which many Americans conduct their lives today (http://www.equip.org/articles/sufis-the-mystical-muslims). Interestingly, Sufis themselves are considered heretics in the eyes of the more extremist followers of Islam- individuals such as Osama bin Laden and members of al-Qaeda. The scorn of al- Qaeda against the American people is also felt, though in a different capacity, by the very founder of Park51.

A September 2 article in The New York Times showed that many supporters of the Park51 project feel that the site should be “relocated to a less controversial location” (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/nyregion/03poll.html?_r=1&hp). Over half of the people polled for the article admitted to anger and distrust towards Muslims due to the September 11 attacks.

Park51 is not a mosque…but would it truly matter if it were one? To a significant number of Americans, the answer is a resounding “yes.”