Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam at the Park 51 community center, the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque," says that all of his efforts to get the center built might have ended up getting in the way of his ultimate mission: Closing the gap of understanding between the West and Islam.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, he explained that there were some things he felt he could have done differently when he announced plans to build Park 51, like get more involvement from 9/11 families and speak more to the press. He stated that having his character attacked by opponents to the prayer center was difficult for him.
"Personally, it was extremely painful to be portrayed as the opposite of what you are, when you’re branded as an extremist, as a terrorist, especially when you try to stand up for the principles of high-mindedness and harmony between the faith traditions," Rauf said.
He added that the media circus that erupted around the proposed mosque was horrible, calling it "political propaganda masquerading as journalism." And just who would do that? Fox News, of course.
Rauf explained, "It was basically a creation of Fox News and the tabloid newspapers that had a particular political agenda that was Islamophobic and anti-Democratic Party… They do it because it increases viewership even though they know in their heart of hearts it is the wrong thing to do."
