Monday’s Suggestion

Articles of Most of the Major Participants in the Argument Over the Park51/Cordoba Initiative Islamic Community Center with a Mosque in It, Arranged in the Format of a Timeline.

This is a continuation of last Monday’s suggestion in which some, like Pamela Geller, Stop Islamization of America, and Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf, were already covered, and so will be conspicuously absent. Others, like Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin, were left out because, while reading through all those articles, they began to seem sort of like carpet-baggers and, also, inconsequential. Others, whom I’m sure should be included, are left out. It’s intended to be anchored in press coverage, and so all the suggested links are articles from either newspapers or news websites. However, there are a few links to prevalent websites for additional background.

• August 30, 2010–Sharif El-Gamal; Tonight, on CBS News, he will be sitting for an interview.
  • His ethics are being disparaged and the legality of his business questioned by many of the same people who are outspoken in the media against the mosque.
• August 25, 2010–New York Neighbors for American Values; 9/11 Families Join In Support of Mosque Near Ground Zero by Annie Wu of The Epoch Times. And here is their press statement issued on that day.
• August 24, 2010–Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Mayor Defends Mosque by Michael Howard Saul, published on Aug. 25th in the Wall Street Journal.
• August 20, 2010–Talat Hamdani; Mosque Near Ground Zero Divides Sept. 11 Relatives by Samantha Gross, published by The Associated Press.
• August 4, 2010–Tim Brown and the American Center for Law and Justice; Lawsuit Challenges Ground Zero Mosque by Elise Zeiger, posted on CNN’s “belief blog”.
  • Tim Brown’s website is theBravest.com.
  • He was also a leader in opposition to the prospect of holding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s trial in NY.
  • Full disclosure: supposedly Tim Brown was Executive Director of a political action group called Firefighters for Rudy [Giuliani]
• July 30, 2010–Anti-Defamation League; Debate Heats Up About Mosque Near Ground Zero by Michael Barbaro, published in the Regional Section of the NY Times.
• July 7, 2010–Rick Lazio; Lazio Calls on Cuomo to Probe Mosque Funds by Beth Fouhy (Associate Press), published in Newsday. Apparently
• May 6, 2010–Manhattan Community Board 1; NY City Community Board OKs Ground Zero Mosque Plans by Megan K. Scott (Associated Press); posted on Sign On San Diego.
• March 25, 2002–Talat Hamdani; Metro Matters, A Son Lost, A Reputation Redeemed by Joyce Purnick, published the in the Regional Section of the NY Times.
  • Talat Hamdani’s son, Mohammad Salman, was mentioned in the Patriot Act as an example of a patriotic muslim and reminder to avoid discrimination.

To be continued with links to articles detailing the insinuations that the proprietors have terrorist connections or are criminals…

Monday’s Suggestion (08-23-10)

I had had a suggestion in mind for tomorrow (as I write it is Sunday night [as a matter of fact, we almost always write these the night before, or earlier]) since early last week but complications arose. Any expansion of the phrase ‘complications arose’ here would be tedious and reveal only details whose total banality would not only be a waste but also so off-putting (as it would become apparent to the reader about halfway through) that, trust me it’s best to just go with the vague cliche. If you’re someone who really can’t stand cliches, then I don’t blame you (whoops, sorry, that’s another one), but it’s really the lesser of two evils (sorry again, but this cliche does denote actual discrimination, which is, at least, something).

So, skipping ahead, the suggestion is- The Park51/Ground Zero Protests

Here are a bunch articles and other such informative links, about the Park51 project, the mosque inside it, the Cordoba Initiative, Stop Islamization of America, etc. As a whole, the collection adheres to a logic following a line of questioning that, if imperfect, at least attempts to uncover useful, reliable facts and sound conclusions (as many as Google can provide) about the argument (of which I’m guessing everyone basically knows enough for me to not have to use more energy trying to be explicitly clear as to what I’m referencing), which itself, may be a good place to start considering.

Here is a link to an article published on Dec. 8th, 2009 in the Regional Section of the NY Times, that seems to be the first news describing the plans of the Cordoba Institute to build at Park51.

Here is a link to what seems to be the first oppositional response to the construction project. It was written by Pamela Geller on the same day, Tuesday, Dec. 8th, on her blog atlasshrugs.com. Geller is the leader ofStop Islamization Of America (SIOA) and has appeared all over the news protesting Park51 in the name of SIOA, all of which can be viewed on the website.

On December 17th, still 2009, a proper investigative article with an oppositional slant on World Net Daily, which seems to be the first of its kind.

The blog nomosquesatgroundzero.wordpress.com began on Dec. 22nd, 2009 with an oppositional harangue calling on Mayor Bloomberg to follow the money being invested in Park51 and citing both of the references above. It’s probably worthwhile to just read through all of their blogs from last December to present.

Here is a link to another article from Dec. 17th on the center that reports on Feisal Abdul Rauf words and actions in a prayer service, posted onSpiegel Oline International.

I’m going to neglect typing out my opinion on the whole thing. I admit I vacillated a bit on which way to go with this (but not all that long and fairly mechanically). Again, it’d be worse to delineate the entire thought process (even though it really was brief), but I’ll just say I initially planned on not commenting, then thought otherwise, then re-thought back to the original choice.

It’s an elephant in the room type scenario, but in the end, I just wouldn’t know how to render it without collapsing into that shrill, reflexive, self-righteous, pundit-voice which is also deconstructive, chaotic and messy. The blog format doesn’t seem to allow for any serious treatment to an argument (try it yourself with any topic). The only passable method I can think of translating it into such compressed formats would be comedy: especially simple jokes. But this blog is already woefully unfunny.

This article, from Sunday in The Daily News is a good example of where the debate is at in the news, plus it has an ok video.

FAQ from the Cordoba Initiative’s website pretty much completely address the Park51 issue.

I’m sorry I’m going to have to cut it there. This is getting too long to handle in one blog anyway (It’s no longer Sunday, but, in fact, Monday).

It’s a good start for now. How much can you actually read in a week about something that, really, doesn’t have anything to do with you; at least in a direct way. Most people, I assume, have jobs. Although I haven’t seen the latest unemployment record. That’d be a whole other blog much longer than this one, though.

Looks like we may have another series on our hands.