The War for Your Mind: "Ground Zero Mosque"

Please note that his is not a discussion about the issue of the Islamic center at ground. It is a discussion about information and disinformation about this particular subject and how in permeates the collective consciousness in the war for your mind. I will add to this thread in small chunks, as I discover more sources. Thank you.

This is the first in a series of articles in deconstructing disinformation. Other topics in the works are "War on Iran" and whatever other issues that are devised to polarize and sway public opinion, with facts or without. Suggested topics are more than welcome...just U2U me.

We'll try to look at things in these four main categories, not in any particular order:

1. The Players
2. Methods and Media
3. Motives and Agendas
4. Results and Consequences

The Issue: "Ground Zero Mosque" in NYC

The "controversy" over the so called "Ground Zero Mosque" in NYC has caught my eye due to the massive amounts of disinformation being put out there about it. It's amazing how fast this disinformation spread and how it whipped entire groups of people into a frenzy about it.

The Methods and Media
It's been hard tracking down the sources of a lot of this misinformation and disinformation, but here's a start. Methods of dissemination of the information include, of course blogs and the mainstream media. Let's start with one of the key people at the heart of the protesting against the Islamic center in lower Manhattan.

Media
As near as I can tell, Pamela Geller (her website) along with Walid Shoebat are two of the leading sources of information...or disinformation, if you will.

(More on Shoebat later, and more on the political pundits who are warring for your mind too on this matter, most specifically Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.)

To start, take a look at this tidbit. Geller wanted to put this ad on buses and in subways all over NYC.


Notice how big and scary the "mosque" is. How towering and threatening. Notice the false opening/groundbreaking date still in the ad.

It would have been an effective ad, eh? She went on for days on her website about how CBS and the MTA in NYC were refusing to run her ad. It's a very interesting glimpse into her mind works though, isn't it? So is her website.

Well I made an image to show how big the real Islamic center, sizewise, would look in proportion to the WTC. See the red in the lower left? That would be the size of the center...maybe even not as wide, because I estimated that from the width of the old building.


The location is not exact though...remember there is no line of sight view from the proposed location of the center to ground zero. Here is a Google View of the actual location and the building that stands there now.

This story was on the front page of her website for days...through all her attempts to have the ad run. I have all the screen captures with what she said.


I can't find a trace of it now...not in the archives, not anywhere. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place

Methods
1. Heart tugging factor (9/11 families, patriotism)

2. Scary factor (Jihadists will go there to recruit and plan; al Qaeda)

See ad under "Cordoba Connotation."

3. Misinformation and exaggeration
a. Islam is not peaceful
b. All followers of Islam believe as the hijackers did
c. Funding is "hidden"
d. Attack the imam and his character
e. False dates of groundbreaking or opening
f. Mosque not Islamic community center
g. On ground zero not near ground zero
h. Show and talk about only 9/11 families opposed

What about the 9/11 families who support this?
A Guide to Triibeca.

Just How Far Is the "Ground Zero Mosque" From Ground Zero?

Q&A with Sharif el-Gamal about Park 51, NYC

A 2004 profile of the imam
4. Deflect and avoid
a. Avoid mentioning These people are Americans
b. Avoid showing where the community does not have a problem
5. Lawsuits
a. Make it a historical site (SIOA and Pat Roberston)
b. Declare it a battlefield (Gingrich)
www.youtube.com...

6. Advertising (attempted MTA ad; ad under "Cordoba Connotations")
7. Media coverage
a. MSM
b. Blogs
c. Discussion boards
d. Word of mouth
e. opinions, opinions, opinions and theories

Arguments against mosque near Ground Zero don't make sense
Build the Mosque at Ground Zero
Near Ground Zero, the Sacred and the Profane
If bin Laden Could, He Would Bomb the Cordoba Initiative
Fareed Zakaria Returns Honor From ADL Because Of Their "Ground Zero Mosque" Stance
Akbar Ahmed on the Founding Fathers
Ground Zero Mosque Plans Move Forward After Key Vote
Sharia Law Is Invading The United States!
Cordoba House is Not the First Mosque of Triumph

The Main Players in This

Peter King


Pamela Geller


Again, her blog: Atlas Shrugs

A related site: Stop Islamification of America Online


Walid Shoebat


His website: WalidShoebat.com

Sarah Palin (At Ground Zero Before All This)


Newt Gingrich (Includes White House Stance)


Newt Gingrich: Declare Ground Zero a "Military Battlefield" (No Mosque)

Mike Bloomberg (Includes Palin Comments)


Bloomberg Weighs In On WTC Mosque Proposal


Other Information to Try to Source

The Cordoba Connotation
See the video for Walid Shoebat above.

Add that ran on Fox and was refused by other MSM outlets.


The Funding Concerns
See Peter King video. July.

Video from May 6.


Al Qaeda Funding Ground Zero Mosque Imam Rauf

Speculation feeds speculation.


The Imam Concerns

1. Said U.S, was to blame for 9/11.
2. Said that discussion is pointless

The Moderate Imam Behind the 'Ground Zero Mosque'

(See Shoebat video).

The 9/11/2011 Groundbreaking or Opening/Groundbreaking Date
The 9/11/2011 opening or groundbreaking date for the Islamic Center has been a difficult rumor to try to track down. This campaign ad is one of the earliest "official" references to it I've been able to find recorded. I wrote to this candidate to try to get the source they used for this script but have not yet heard back.


Motives and Agendas

1. Stop the Islamic Center from being built in lower Manhattan
a. How close is too close?
b. Is this a local issue or an American issue?

2. Stop Islamification of America
a. Correlation to 911 attack
b. American who are Muslim vs. extremist Islamic attackers

3. Wedge issue
a. Political gain
b. Publicity and opportunism
c. Wedge issue to divide

4. Civil liberties and defamation



Potential Results and Consequences

1. Civil liberties compromised; Americans alienated
2. Distrust and mistrust; Islamophobia reinforced
3. Votes for the vocally opposed
4. Anger, division, outrage, resentment

[edit on 8/8/2010 by ~Lucidity]

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Feeling a little lazy, could you give us an aerial view of where the mosque will be relative to the Towers site?

Thanks.

Originally posted by jokei
reply to post by ~Lucidity

 

Feeling a little lazy, could you give us an aerial view of where the mosque will be relative to the Towers site?

Thanks.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d63b46ef1869.jpg[/atsimg]



Hope that helps.

Some more links in the agenda chain:

The Freedom Defense Initiative
Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch
And David Horowitz and Freedom Center

From February:

Now we have created an organization to stand up against this silence that threatens to our existence and render us defenseless as our freedoms and way of life are eroded away. We are launching the Freedom Defense Initiative, a new activist group, at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) 2010

www.americanthinker.com...

reply to post by Adevoc Satanae


Thanks...I also added a couple of links to the OP about how close it is.

reply to post by Ian McLean

Thank you. That is how things things go viral...with a push toward how they want us to feel...based on their "facts and opinions." Think this way....

Bizarre...continuing lies to get someone on one side or the other.

Con Ed Will Not Block the Ground Zero Mosque, Despite Reports

The New York Post reported Sunday that Con Ed’s ownership of 49-51 Park Place could be an obstacle for the Islamic center.

However, Soho Properties, the mosque's developer, signed a long-term lease on the building last year and “has rights to use, alter, demolish or renovate the building,” Con Ed said.

It's good to see a post actually denying the ignorance on this topic. S & F

Thanks, jacktherer.

Here's some more on the political opportunists. Building walls or tearing them down?


The Motives and Agendas
Political

Guess which one of these quotes is Newt Gingrich!

A: "There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia."

B: "Religious liberty in America is under assault. The secular socialist left—who hates the idea of an authority higher than the government—has used its domination of academia, the courts, and the media to twist the meaning of the first amendment from a right that protects religious liberty to prohibition on religious expression in the public square." Gingrich, Paladino, Palin Love To Hate Ground Zero Mosque

Hypocrisy is grand. And a new addition to our players list...

The Players in This
Carl Paladino

Gubernatorial candidate in New York, who is bickering with Mayor Bloomberg.

He would use his power of eminent domain!



[edit on 8/9/2010 by ~Lucidity]

The Media
The 9/11/2011 Groundbreaking or Opening/Groundbreaking Date
This is apparently now the front runner source of the date for the opening or groudbreaking of the Islamic center.

Mosque madness at Ground Zero

The opening date shall live in infamy: Sept. 11, 2011. The 10th anniversary of the day a hole was punched in the city's heart.

Nice, eh? And false.

The Drudge Report caught the Peyser lie on the 9/11/2011 date.

As did Media Matters, who also traces part of how this false rumor spread.

The 9/11 Families
Two very diverse opinions from two mothers who lost children on 9/11 at the WTC here: War Over Ground Zero. yet neither is filled with bigotry or expected to change anyone's minds. And they summed it up when they said...

Welty jumped in. “Don’t,” she said, her latent anger roaring to the surface. “Don’t go down to Ground Zero and make speeches. Don’t use family members as a backdrop for photographs. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, using people who are grieving for your own political advantage.”

“Amen, sister,” said Regenhard, clapping her hands above her head.

[size=h4]Motives and Agenda
Political
Ground Zero Mosque Debate Figures into N.Y. Races

Potential Results and Consequences
There is a growing number of nasty controversies over proposed mosques:

Tennessee

California

Georgia

Kentucky

Wisconsin

Illinois

SheepsheadBay, Brooklyn

Midland Beach, Staten Island, in New York City

How far from ground zero is far enough away? This is a disease and it's spreading.

[edit on 8/10/2010 by ~Lucidity]

Update to OP Anti-mosque ad story

Looks like the MTA caved in.

With Anti-Mosque Ad, M.T.A. Is Reminded of Its Limited Powers
Geller wanted to put this ad on buses and in subways all over NYC.



Notice how big and scary the "mosque" is. How towering and threatening. Notice the false opening/groundbreaking date still in the ad.

It would have been an effective ad, eh? She went on for days on her website about how CBS and the MTA in NYC were refusing to run her ad. It's a veryinteresting glimpse into her mind works though, isn't it? So is her website.

Well I made an image to show how big the real Islamic center, sizewise, would look in proportion to the WTC. See the red in the lower left? That wouldbe the size of the center...maybe even not as wide, because I estimated that from the width of the old building.



The location is not exact though...remember there is no line of sight view from the proposed location of the center to ground zero.

Also, it's looks like the graphic from the OP is not showing up anymore. Hmm.

Religious Leaders Divided on Ground Zero Mosque

[edit on 8/11/2010 by ~Lucidity]

SandF
I really think you have captured the real essence of the situation.

People keep bringing up the Islamification of different areas, but they never seem to mention the Globalist powers behing the scenes that are creating the situation on one hand, and not stopping it at the other end of the spectrum on the other hand.

It all appears to be a big Manipulation.

Be afraid, be vary afraid
We'll save you!
Only $29.95
(19 .95 with the soul of your first born child.)
allow two weeks for delivery.

Media Matters on this matter and Geller in general. Charming.

Beck, Geller push falsehood that Ground Zero "mosque" will open on September 11

Why is Geller - who called Obama a "third worlder" - on CNN?

Pamela Geller calls "Leaving Islam?" ads religious freedom; criticizes NYC mosque as "stab[bing] Americans in the eye"

Atlas Shrugs: "Heil Hillary and the American Jewish Councils"

The Daily Show weighs in. Two parts in two videos.

[edit on 8/11/2010 by ~Lucidity]

Amazing post there. I wish people could just see through it... it's just another ploy to get people all hyped up about the muslim bogeyman and terrorism...

reply to post by ~Lucidity


They couldn't have paid the MTA to handle this better for them. After 'relenting', the ad will be placed in 20 buses, at a cost of $10k. Not exactly a 'high-saturation' ad campaign.

But how many times has that ad been reprinted, due to the controversy, and how many people have seen it?

reply to post by Ian McLean

Probably whoever has been to her site and has seen it here? You're right...that is pretty low saturation.

The Funding Concerns
Here is an 8-minute CNN Radio interview with the spokesman for Park51, Oz Sultan.

Interview with 'ground zero mosque' spokesman

It appears there will be transparency in the funding, and in addition, they will be applying for...

Sultan said they are committed to a transparent fundraising process and they will not take any money from any source that is on the Treasury Department’s watch list. He claimed they will even apply for Homeland Security funding available for terrorist abatement programs.

Fundraising is not beginning for a few months yet. Domestic funding is the priority...state, local, and federal money. They will comply with the Treasury Department and will not take money from anyone on any watch lists.

There will be transparency at all steps.

Media
Time: Islamophobia and the 'Ground Zero Mosque' Debate

WSJ: Tolerance at Ground Zero

CSM: Ground zero mosque debate echoes Europe's fears of Muslims

HP: Imam At Center Of 'Ground Zero Mosque' Controversy Assisted Bush-Era State Department With Outreach To Muslims

Politics
AFP: NY governor aims to end row over Ground Zero mosque

Examiner: Ground Zero mosque developers reject New York governor's offer at a compromise

Fmr. N.Y. Gov. Pataki's thoughts on Ground Zero Islamic Cultural Center/Mosque

The Consequences
GUK: Ground Zero mosque plans 'fuelling anti-Muslim protests across US'

Opinions
Obama's Silence on Cordoba House

The Faithful Search: A Civics Primer for Real Patriots

Mischief in Manhattan

[edit on 8/13/2010 by ~Lucidity]

For some contrast to most of the right-leaning media coverage of this:

an interesting post by a blogger at the National Review:
A Very Long Post On Cordoba House

[edit on 8/16/2010 by americandingbat]

It's kind of amazing how fear has caused us to abandon all of our principles, which among them includes, freedom of religion.

So long as they aren't a bunch of violent militants, I don't see any problem with them building a mosque in that area. Historically they have lived there for centuries.

Excellent post! S+F

I didn't even realize that the 9/11 date was false...It's sad to see that lies, fear, and propaganda are being used just to stop the building of one mosque. I wonder if all this is simply to keep us distracted from a larger, more important story because all this hoopla is ridiculous.

Anyway, I'm going back to reading...you gave a lot of info!

reply to post by americandingbat

Thanks!

The Cordoba Connection
From another ATS thread in Deconstructing Disinformation: The name "Cordoba House" does not imply an Islamic take over or "conquering" of ground zero



The Politics
Gingrich again...Newt Gingrich compares 'Ground Zero mosque' backers to Nazis

Mayor Bloomberg again...


The President...



Rick Scott, Florida gubernatorial candidate

Recommended Fact Check: Rick Scott and the mosque

[Size=3]The Media
From Fox...
9/11 Families' Organization Criticizes Obama Mosque Comments

Reid Breaks With Obama Over Proposed Ground Zero Mosque

Rumors
Muslim leaders to abandon plans for Ground Zero community center

Unsubstantiated thus far...
Property honcho denies Islamic leaders abandoning Ground Zero mosque plans

Fox News quoted property owner Sharif El-Gamal as saying: "This is completely incorrect. We are committed to our plans of building Park51 to serve the community of lower Manhattan. Our mission is one of peace, understanding and tolerance."

He was responding to a report in Israel's English-language newspaper Haaretz, which cited sources in New York as saying Muslim leaders were considering abandoning the controversial plan.

Haaretz Reporting Mosque Developers Will Announce Move Away From Ground Zero - UPDATED »

UPDATE from our Sam Goldsmith, who's been following this issue and just got off the phone with Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the project:

"That's complete misinformation. That's crazy," El-Gamal said.

"That's totally totally wrong. This is more misinformation in this web of misinformation."

"We've never even talked about this as an idea. Everything is on track and moving forward at the same location."

source

[edit on 8/17/2010 by ~Lucidity]

Okay now this is almost funny. A Twitter war between Haaretz (the reporter of this false information) and Park51 (the developer of the land).

Ground Zero Mosque Organizers to Israeli Newspaper: 'Go Back to Publishing Yiddish Fables!'