Project park 51 and history senior sem presentation
1.
2. Crusade
Series of holy wars by Christian states of Europe (1076)
Cause
conflicts with Muslims in the Middle East
City of Jerusalem
threats of the Turks
Result
cultural tension between Christians and Muslims
3. September 11th, 2001
by Al-Qaeda
Iraq, Afghanistan, Islamic = terrorists
4. Exaggerated terrorist
attacks
Rare contact with the
Muslim culture
Difficult to rectify
misconception
Media coverage
Political and cultural
leaders’ influences
Islam encourages viole
nce, poll result
Muslim = Terrorist
Before After
5. Community Center
Sharif El Gamal
Open for everyone, regardless
of religion and ethnicity
20% of the building devoted
to Muslim prayer room
Project 51
Before
1. Long before 9/11, other high-profile terrorist attacks inflamed the public imagination. Consider the killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich , the 1988 mid-air bombing of Pan American flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland , which took 270 lives, and the rise of suicide bombers throughout the Middle East .
2. "Most Americans up until the Iranian revolution did not experience Muslims," Esposito said.
Iran's 1979 revolution overthrew the Shah, whom Muslim revolutionaries denounced as a "U.S. puppet" installed by the CIA . There was little U.S. public understanding of the CIA's role in the 1953 overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian leader and the resultant widespread Iranian public anger toward the U.S.
After
1. Beyond that, Muslim and Middle Eastern men tend to be portrayed negatively in popular culture. Some critics say that media coverage of Islam focuses too much on terrorism. Two extensions of that argument are that non-terrorism news doesn't often feature Muslims and that the news doesn't provide enough context about anti-American sentiment until a situation blows up.
2. Recent example: cultural center two blocks away from the 9,11 attack – will explain further in this presentation
3. George Bush-political leader example/ war with Iraq, assuming that Iraq possesses nuclear weapons but in reality, there is a lack of evidence
4. A Pew survey soon after 9/11 asked whether Islam encourages violence more than other faiths, and Americans were twice as likely to say no than yes. Within a couple of years, however, that distinction was gone. Most Americans thought that Islam did encourage violence more.
Lower Manhattan, 2 blocks away from the 9/11 site
Reason
Inductive reasoning: particular to general/ starting from the ones who attacked world trade center spread to all the Muslims-noxious title
Hasty generalization: All the Muslims are related to 9/11 attack/ they all support Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden (extremists)/ This project is actually about a community center based on Jewish concept. But the fact is distorted as it is now considered a mosque by most Americans. Some of the media have reported that we are trying to build a mega mosque, which is not true at all.
Ad hominem: instead of disputing arguments of Sharif El Gamal, some people insult characteristics of Sharif. He is now confronted with unconditional hatred and fear of Americans.
False dilemma: the community center is to be built or not/ is a mosque or not. Only two possible alternatives exist.
