Muslim Group Protests 9/11 Museum Video
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is urging the National September 11 Memorial Museum in Manhattan to edit a video presentation on al-Qaida and remove terms such as "Islamist extremism" and "jihadism."
The move follows a CAIR letter sent last month and co-signed by several other Muslim and Arab-American organizations complaining about what they termed "academically controversial terminology" used at the memorial. Museum officials did not reply to the letter, according to CNS News.
On Monday, CAIR's New York chapter began asking "all Americans" to "click and send" a letter written by the chapter calling for the video titled "The Rise of Al-Qaeda" to be edited to remove "anti-Islamic terminology" before the museum opens to the public on May 21.
The letter is addressed to President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, New York Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, and City Councilwoman Margaret Chin, who represents lower Manhattan.
In the seven-minute video, NBC News anchor Brian Williams narrates over images of terrorist training camps and al-Qaida attacks spanning decades. The video refers to the 9/11 terrorists as Islamists who viewed their mission as a jihad, The New York Times reported.
It airs adjacent to a gallery with photographs of the 19 hijackers from 9/11.
CAIR said in a statement that terms like "Islamist extremism" and "jihadism" are objectionable because they "conflate Islam and terrorism and carry the risk of misinforming museum visitors, particularly those unfamiliar with Islam."
CAIR-NY board member Zead Ramadan said: "The film ignorantly implies a religion, rather than a group of criminals, was to blame for the September 11 attacks."
Museum officials are standing by the video.
"From the very beginning, we had a very heavy responsibility to be true to the facts, to be objective, and in no way smear an entire religion when we are talking about a terrorist group," said Joseph Daniels, president and chief executive of the nonprofit foundation that oversees the museum.
And the museum states on its website: "What is an Islamist extremist? 'Islamists' see Islam as a guiding ideology for politics and the organization of society. That is, they believe that strict adherence to religious law should be the sole basis for a country's law, as well as its cultural and social life.
"While some Muslims believe this, many do not. Islamist extremists believe violence is acceptable to achieve these goals. Al-Qaida is one of many Islamist extremist groups."
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