Visitors Slam ۹/۱۱ Museum Islam Portrayal
“I think they should have talked about Islam more, just so people understand that there is a difference between Islam and people who do terrorist attacks but who also happen to be Islamic,” Adrian Cabreros, 22, visiting with his mother from San Francisco, told the New York Times on Monday, June 2.
“They just sort of said that the people from Al Qaeda wanted to have a more Islamic state, but it was hard to distinguish, to separate Islam itself. It kind of gives Islam a bad vibe.”
Cabreros’ criticism is not the first to be directed to the long-awaited museum.
Controversies surrounding 9/11 museum were heightened after introducing "The Rise of Al Qaeda" film which refers to the terrorists as Islamists who viewed their mission as a jihad.
Narrated by NBC News anchor Brian Williams, the less than 7 minutes documentary shows images of terrorist training camps and Qaeda attacks spanning decades.
Along with condemnations from American, Muslim and Arab-American organizations, the museum’s interfaith religious advisory group has called for editing the film that would ignite anti-Muslim sentiment.
"We give Muslim extremists too much credit when we call them Islamic or Islamist,” said Peter B. Gudaitis, who brought the interfaith group together as the chief executive of New York Disaster Interfaith Services.
“They are perverters of the faith, and to allow them to carry that mantle is exactly what they want,” he added.
As the film overlooks describing the true nature of Islam, it focuses on Al Qaeda's history and its struggles against the west under the guise of defending Islam, visitors argued.
“There was one photograph in a corner that showed an Islamic person that was killed who was being carried out of an Islamic church, with an American flag draped over him,” Mr. Kelly said.
“I think a little bit more could have been made about that, that there were Islamic people killed who were Americans.”
However, the museum displays photographs of mourning Muslims included in photo montages.
It also includes stories of Muslim victims and the reflections of Representative Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, the first Muslim elected to Congress, on the effects of the attacks on America.
Omitting Arabic
Along with biased documentary, the 9/11 Memorial Museum does not include Arabic translation for the memorial brochures that are offered in nine languages.
“It’s not fair,” repeated for several times Abdel Elgendy — an Egyptian man, Arabic speaker, and World Trade Center reconstruction worker, when he was asked by Kansas City about the feeling to exclude Arabic translation.
Beside English, the memorial brochures were translated to Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Mandarin and Japanese.
Since the 9/11 attacks, US Muslims, estimated between 6-8 million, have complained of discrimination and stereotypes in the society because of their Islamic attires or identities.
A US survey has revealed that the majority of Americans know very little about Muslims and their faith.
A Gallup poll also found that the majority of US Muslims are patriot and loyal to their country and are optimistic about their future.
Citing negative portrayal of Islam, advocates have been pressing for the resignation of the anti-Muslims museum board member, Debra Burlingame.
An online petition demanding her dismissal has collected hundreds of signatures.
Seeking counter programs that present the positive image of Islam, some visitors have suggested that "the museum should find a local imam and let him do a brief film for the museum about this is who Muslims really are".
“What’s the purpose of the museum if not to teach?” Ron Speedbey, 68, a retired New York City police officer from Queens, said.
Source: On Islam
