International Freedom Center
Encyclopedia
The International Freedom Center (IFC) was a proposed museum to be located adjacent to the site of Ground Zero
at the former World Trade Center
in New York City
, USA
. It was selected in 2004 to comprise a "cultural space" near to the memorial for victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks
, called Reflecting Absence.
However, opponents reacted against the IFC's mission, saying that plans to promote international freedom through exhibits and displays about various genocides and crimes against humanity through history, including genocide of Native American
and the slave trade in the United States, were inappropriate at a site that many people consider to be sacred
. On September 28, 2005, New York Governor George E. Pataki barred the IFC from the World Trade Center site."
George Soros
, Tom Bernstein
, Anthony Romero
, and Eric Foner
were promoters of the IFC. Within an hour of being barred from being on the WTC site, the IFC museum declared itself to be out of business, making no effort to find a new location. "We do not believe there is a viable alternative place for the I.F.C. at the World Trade Center site," said the statement from the center's executives, Tom Bernstein, Peter Kunhardt
and Richard Tofel
. "We consider our work, therefore, to have been brought to an end."
The families, police, and firefighters said that the IFC's plan to use hallowed land at Ground Zero to highlight poverty as a barrier to freedom diminishes the events of 9/11. It has also been disparagingly compared to comedian and political commentator Bill Maher's
suggestion immediately after 9/11 that reconstruction should include a "Why They Hate Us Pavilion."
A non-profit organization called Take Back The Memorial
was started by blog
ger Robert Shurbet and 9/11 family member Debra Burlingame, to block the International Freedom Center from being located on the WTC site. This group protested any linkage between what occurred on 9/11 with political activism or with any previous historical event that could contextualize the attack.
Jeff Jarvis
, a journalist and 9/11 survivor, noted that the IFC's proponents stated they "will tangibly link September 11 and the lives of its victims to humanity’s greatest idea: freedom", but objected:
's plans would somehow diminish the scope of the Memorial Museum: "To argue over the size of these two spaces is to assume that emotional power is solely the result of square footage. It is also to forget the profound effect that going to the roots of the World Trade Center will have on most visitors." The Times concluded that beneath the superficial arguments and their irrational implications lay an even more disturbing motivation:
"I cannot support the IFC," Democratic
Senator
Hillary Clinton declared on September 23, 2005 in response to an inquiry from The New York Post
. "While I want to ensure that development and rebuilding in lower Manhattan move forward expeditiously, I am troubled by the serious concerns family members and first responders have expressed to me," Senator Clinton said, going on to say that, "The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
has authority over the site and I do not believe we can move forward until it heeds and addresses their concerns."
Clinton spoke out the day after the IFC released a plan intended to save its spot at the site, but it was met with immediate opposition from 9/11 families. Clinton wouldn't support any plan unless the families and first responders back it, said her spokesman, Philippe Reines.
Republican
Congressmen John Sweeney
(Saratoga
), Peter King
(Long Island) and Vito Fossella
(Staten Island) — were challenging the IFC as a "blame America first" project.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also voiced concern at the same time as Sen. Clinton and had called for a compromise — although he didn't state flat-out opposition to the IFC. "There's got to be a way to meet the families' sincere and real needs and build a center that honors the freedom that the victims died for. We hope that the LMDC will find some common ground quickly," Schumer said.
Former New York State Republican Governor
George Pataki
— who wielded strong influence over the LMDC— had said that he wouldn't support any plan that offers a forum for anti-Americanism
. On September 28, 2005, Governor Pataki barred the IFC from the World Trade Center site. The likelihood of the IFC being built elsewhere is extremely low and the project is considered over at this point.
Ground zero
The term ground zero describes the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation...
at the former World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was selected in 2004 to comprise a "cultural space" near to the memorial for victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, called Reflecting Absence.
However, opponents reacted against the IFC's mission, saying that plans to promote international freedom through exhibits and displays about various genocides and crimes against humanity through history, including genocide of Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
and the slave trade in the United States, were inappropriate at a site that many people consider to be sacred
Sacred
Holiness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
. On September 28, 2005, New York Governor George E. Pataki barred the IFC from the World Trade Center site."
George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
, Tom Bernstein
Tom Bernstein
Tom A. Bernstein is president and co-founder of Chelsea Piers, L.P., which was formed in 1992 to develop and operate the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex. The Chelsea Piers is a waterfront sports village located between 17th and 23rd Streets along Manhattan’s Hudson River...
, Anthony Romero
Anthony Romero
Anthony D. Romero is the American executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.-Early life:Romero was born in New York City on July 9, 1965 to Puerto Rican parents Demetrio and Coralie Romero. He was raised in the Bronx.-Education:...
, and Eric Foner
Eric Foner
Eric Foner is an American historian. On the faculty of the Department of History at Columbia University since 1982, he writes extensively on political history, the history of freedom, the early history of the Republican Party, African American biography, Reconstruction, and historiography...
were promoters of the IFC. Within an hour of being barred from being on the WTC site, the IFC museum declared itself to be out of business, making no effort to find a new location. "We do not believe there is a viable alternative place for the I.F.C. at the World Trade Center site," said the statement from the center's executives, Tom Bernstein, Peter Kunhardt
Peter Kunhardt
Peter W. Kunhardt is a documentary film-maker who produces shows for HBO, PBS, and other U.S. television networks. He started Kunhardt Productions, Inc. which produced "JFK: In His Own Words," HBO "Bobby: In His Owns Words" HBO "Lincoln" ABC, "P.T. Barnum" Discovery "Justice Files" Discovery and...
and Richard Tofel
Richard Tofel
Richard Tofel is the general manager of ProPublica, a non-profit investigative journalism organization in New York.Previously, he was the president and chief operating officer of the International Freedom Center. Mr. Tofel took over that position in October 2004.Mr...
. "We consider our work, therefore, to have been brought to an end."
Complaints
The IFC proposal had received complaints from some families of September 11 victims. In August 2005, officials stated that the Center would have been required to respond to objections raised by victims' families before it was approved to go forward. Many relatives of 9/11 victims had denounced the International Freedom Center plan as an insult to the 2,749 people who died at the WTC, because it would paint them as a little more than a footnote to the world's march toward freedom.The families, police, and firefighters said that the IFC's plan to use hallowed land at Ground Zero to highlight poverty as a barrier to freedom diminishes the events of 9/11. It has also been disparagingly compared to comedian and political commentator Bill Maher's
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
suggestion immediately after 9/11 that reconstruction should include a "Why They Hate Us Pavilion."
A non-profit organization called Take Back The Memorial
Take Back The Memorial
Take Back The Memorial is an organization which advocates keeping the memorial site of the World Trade Center in New York City focused on the memory of the victims who died there in the attacks of September 11, 2001...
was started by blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger Robert Shurbet and 9/11 family member Debra Burlingame, to block the International Freedom Center from being located on the WTC site. This group protested any linkage between what occurred on 9/11 with political activism or with any previous historical event that could contextualize the attack.
Jeff Jarvis
Jeff Jarvis
Jeff Jarvis is an American journalist. Previously he was a television critic for TV Guide and People magazine, creator of Entertainment Weekly, Sunday editor and associate publisher of the New York Daily News, and a columnist on the San Francisco Examiner.-Career:Until recently Jarvis was...
, a journalist and 9/11 survivor, noted that the IFC's proponents stated they "will tangibly link September 11 and the lives of its victims to humanity’s greatest idea: freedom", but objected:
Defense
The New York Times, in an editorial, criticized the protests against the IFC, arguing that the IFC's opponents had made trivial and unconvincing suggestions that both the IFC and the "cultural component" of architect Daniel LibeskindDaniel Libeskind
Daniel Libeskind, is an American architect, artist, and set designer of Polish-Jewish descent. Libeskind founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect...
's plans would somehow diminish the scope of the Memorial Museum: "To argue over the size of these two spaces is to assume that emotional power is solely the result of square footage. It is also to forget the profound effect that going to the roots of the World Trade Center will have on most visitors." The Times concluded that beneath the superficial arguments and their irrational implications lay an even more disturbing motivation:
But this is not really a campaign about money or space. It is a campaign about political purity—about how people remember 9/11 and about how we choose to read its aftermath, including the Iraq war. On their Web site...critics of the cultural plan at ground zero offer a resolution called Campaign America. It says that ground zero must contain no facilities "that house controversial debate, dialogue, artistic impressions, or exhibits referring to extraneous historical events." This, to us, sounds un-American
Un-AmericanUn-American is a pejorative term of US political discourse which is applied to people or institutions in the United States seen as deviating from US norms....
.
Political opposition
New York State politicians were either hostile to or only offering conditional support to the IFC."I cannot support the IFC," Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Hillary Clinton declared on September 23, 2005 in response to an inquiry from The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
. "While I want to ensure that development and rebuilding in lower Manhattan move forward expeditiously, I am troubled by the serious concerns family members and first responders have expressed to me," Senator Clinton said, going on to say that, "The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was formed in July 2002, after the September 11 attacks to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly $10 billion in federal funds aimed at rebuilding downtown Manhattan....
has authority over the site and I do not believe we can move forward until it heeds and addresses their concerns."
Clinton spoke out the day after the IFC released a plan intended to save its spot at the site, but it was met with immediate opposition from 9/11 families. Clinton wouldn't support any plan unless the families and first responders back it, said her spokesman, Philippe Reines.
Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Congressmen John Sweeney
John E. Sweeney
John E. Sweeney is a politician from the U.S. state of New York. A Republican, he represented New York's 20th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from January 1999 to January 2007. He was defeated for reelection in November 2006 by Democrat Kirsten...
(Saratoga
Saratoga, New York
Saratoga is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,141 at the 2000 census. It is also the commonly used, but not official, name for the neighboring and much more populous city, Saratoga Springs. The major village in the town of Saratoga is Schuylerville which is...
), Peter King
Peter T. King
Peter T. "Pete" King is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Republican Party. King's central Long Island district includes parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties....
(Long Island) and Vito Fossella
Vito Fossella
Vito John Fossella, Jr. is a U.S. Republican politician from the state of New York who formerly represented the state's 13th Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms, from 1997 to 2009 serving as the lone Republican from New York City. Fossella, a Staten Island...
(Staten Island) — were challenging the IFC as a "blame America first" project.
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also voiced concern at the same time as Sen. Clinton and had called for a compromise — although he didn't state flat-out opposition to the IFC. "There's got to be a way to meet the families' sincere and real needs and build a center that honors the freedom that the victims died for. We hope that the LMDC will find some common ground quickly," Schumer said.
Former New York State Republican Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
George Pataki
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
— who wielded strong influence over the LMDC— had said that he wouldn't support any plan that offers a forum for anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism
The term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
. On September 28, 2005, Governor Pataki barred the IFC from the World Trade Center site. The likelihood of the IFC being built elsewhere is extremely low and the project is considered over at this point.
See also
- Freedom Tower
- World Trade Center MemorialWorld Trade Center Memorial- Fundraising :The Foundation has fundraising responsibilities because of the tasks assigned to it by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation...
, incorporating the design Reflecting Absence (under construction) - Flight 93 National MemorialFlight 93 National MemorialThe Flight 93 National Memorial is located at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked in the September 11 attacks, in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, about north of Shanksville, and southeast of Pittsburgh. The memorial was made to honor the passengers of Flight...
, Shanksville, PennsylvaniaShanksville, PennsylvaniaShanksville is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 245, as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area and is approximately 60 miles southeast from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
(under construction) - Pentagon MemorialPentagon MemorialThe Pentagon Memorial, located just southwest of The Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, is a permanent outdoor memorial to the 184 men and women who lost their lives as victims of the attack, killed both in the building and on American Airlines Flight 77 in the September 11, 2001...
- Tribute in LightTribute in LightThe Tribute in Light is an art installation of 88 searchlights placed next to the site of the World Trade Center to create two vertical columns of light in remembrance of the September 11 attacks. It is produced annually by The Municipal Art Society of New York...
, WTC site (temporary/periodic performance) - 9/11 Memorial (Arizona)9/11 Memorial (Arizona)The 9/11 Memorial in Arizona is a state memorial to the events and aftermath of September 11, 2001, located at the Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near the State Capitol in Phoenix, Arizona. The monument is a circular plan with a flat inclined metal ring...