A phantom mosque is apparently rising in western Sydney, so secret that the people supposedly building it had no idea they were involved. Ette Media can now explain how parts of the tabloid and commercial press managed to spin a fake letter into a real panic, whipping up outrage over a story with shaky foundations.
Last Thursday, The Daily Telegraph published a piece online written by journalist James Willis.
The crux of the piece was that:
“A block of surplus land sold by the state government, which had been rezoned for high density housing, could instead be used to build a mosque, infuriating Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone.”
Fairfield, in south-west Sydney, is one of the most culturally diverse regions in the country and home to the largest resettled refugee population in Australia.
Willis goes on to explain that he got his hands on a letter from the Australian Iraqi Muslim Society (AIMS) that had been letterboxed to locals alerting them that the society intended to build a mosque on the 1,502 square metre property. Willis claims the NSW state government sold it for $1.96 million.
A furious Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone told The Daily Telegraph there had been “no application, discussion or meeting through council” for a new mosque.
One might expect this point to raise at least one eyebrow ... but seemingly not.
The letter: it looks official-ish
What do we know about the Australian Iraqi Muslim Society?
The Australian Iraqi Muslim Society is a small charity formed in 2014. A representative of the organisation, who we've chosen not to name, told Ette Media the society organises community gatherings every few months. According to the Australian Charities and Not For Profits Commission it brings in a grand total of $5600 in annual revenue, all from donations.
Remember the cost of the land alone, according to the Tele, was nearly two million dollars.
Anyhoo ... we were minding our own business when an email landed in our inbox from, wouldn’t you know it, a member of the Etterati:
