9/11 Memorial Victory

NEW YORK (AP) -- One museum planned as part of a cultural center at the World Trade Center site will not be moving there and another devoted to freedom will only do so if it satisfies redevelopment officials, the head of the agency charged with rebuilding the site said Thursday.

In an apparent concession to some Sept. 11 victims' relatives who said that the World Trade Center Cultural Center could disrespect the dead and America, John Whitehead gave the International Freedom Center until Sept. 23 to work with family members and produce specific plans for its museum. If the plans do not satisfy the LMDC, he said, "we will find another use or tenant consistent with our objectives for that space."

The Drawing Center, meanwhile, will not be moving to the site, Whitehead said. After weeks of discussion with the LMDC, Whitehead said, the museum was "finding it difficult to comply with the requirements."

This is a tremendous victory in the fight to preserve the integrity of the nation's 9/11 memorial at Ground Zero.

From the beginning, 9/11 family groups have consistently held to their belief that Ground Zero is no place for politics.

Their goal is to assure that a fitting and proper memorial be built for those who perished on September 11th, and tell the story of that fateful day - and that day alone.

They have taken on New York's powerful liberal elite and have won.
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Read an editorial from the New York Post that details the slurs that have been thrown at those behind the Take Back the Memorial effort.

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Statement from 9/11 Family Groups


MAJOR 9/11 FAMILY GROUPS APPLAUD DRAWING CENTER’S EXIT FROM WTC SITE

New York, N.Y., August 11, 2005–The alliance of major 9/11 family organizations applauds the departure of the Drawing Center from the World Trade Center Memorial’s Cultural Complex, announced today at a board meeting of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Recognizing the inherent conflict between the mission of free artistic expression and the LMDC’s obligation to create a respectful memorial which honors the victims of September 11, 2001, the Drawing Center voluntarily elected to find a more suitable location in Lower Manhattan. As Chairman John Whitehead pointed out in a formal statement, the Drawing Center does not need to be situated on the World Trade Center site in order to play a “key part of the revitalization of Lower Manhattan.”

We concur.

The First Amendment issues which plagued the Drawing Center still apply to the International Freedom Center, however. The IFC plans to host controversial debates and sponsor inappropriate programming involving the Tribeca Film Festival. On June 24, Gov. George Pataki directed the LMDC to obtain an “absolute guarantee” from cultural institutions located at the memorial site, ordering that they “respect the sanctity of that site,” adding that if they could not comply then “they shouldn’t be there.”

Showing great integrity for free speech ideals and respect for the victims of 9/11, the Drawing Center took action. We have waited with patience for the IFC to demonstrate similar integrity–to no avail. In direct contravention of the wishes of the public, the IFC has dug in its heels. By insisting that it must be located on the WTC site or nowhere, the IFC is depriving other neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan in need of economic and cultural revival of the purported benefit of its existence. In contrast to the Drawing Center, the IFC has chosen to fuel a continuing controversy which is seriously undermining our ability to focus on and fund the effort to build America’s memorial. It is with great regret that we second the governor’s own pledge, to “give the appropriate amount at the appropriate time.”

We encourage the public to support “Campaign America” and to follow our efforts to build the 9/11 memorial the country deserves by visiting www.takebackthememorial.org.