Peter Gadiel's son, James was 23 and working for the Cantor Fitzgerald brokerage firm when he was killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center. Gadiel, 61, has criticized Kent town leaders for being too politically correct.
At the same time, Gadiel says he is frustrated about what he calls "a growing trend" across the country omit any information 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. I don't think it's right that people should be murdered like that, and that people intentionally forget what happened. It's wrong. It's immoral."
At the same time, however, town leaders want to be sensitive to Muslims, noting that saying such a harsh message on a public memorial plaque would be wrong and that most criticism has come from non-locals. The town has received about 150 emails and many phone calls on the issue, and that many of them were obscene and threatening. One person hoped Ruth Epstein, outgoing town First Selectwoman, and her family, were killed by terrorists.
However, as many Muslims fear further fallout from the Fort Hood attacks, it seems that these sorts of anti-Islamic messages hurt those who are not directly involved in the attack.
As many have posited since the Fort Hood attack, for example, if Hasan were white he would simply be a deranged mass murderer. As a Muslim, he is now a terrorist until proved otherwise.
Kent, Conn. is a rural town of about 3,000 people. It is about 90 miles north of New York City, tucked into the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains on the New York state border.
Posted November 7th, 2009 by Michael Santo
