Town won’t call 9/11 killers ‘Muslim terrorists.’
A memorial to honor a Sept. 11 victim from a small northwestern Connecticut town has been halted by the unexpected conflict arising from his father’s insistence it say his son was murdered by “Muslim terrorists.”
Town officials in Kent are balking, saying it would be inappropriate to single out a religious group in a project on town property and paid for with taxpayers’ money. The memorial plaque to be erected outside the town hall is on indefinite hold.
Peter Gadiel is criticizing town leaders for being too politically correct, and says he’s frustrated about what he calls a growing trend across the country to soften the reality of the Sept. 11 attacks by not mentioning a word about terrorism on victims’ memorials.
“Ordinarily I would not want a reference to his murder on his memorial, but there seems to be an effort to whitewash what happened that day,” said Gadiel, a 61-year-old retired real estate investor.
Otto Kerner 11:36 am on November 8, 2009 Permalink |
The second paragraph makes it sound like the argument is over the word “Muslim”, but the third paragraph makes it sound as if it’s over the word “terrorists”. Since their claim to fame involves the quintessential act of terrorism, it does seem unreasonable to exclude the word “terrorist”.
aziz 8:07 pm on November 8, 2009 Permalink |
quell surprise.
though I am heartened by teh basic decency and consensus of the grownups in the town about why the wording is inappropriate.