Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05253/569055.stm

On September 10, 2005 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported, "There's a growing outcry that one element of the newly chosen Flight 93 National Memorial represents Islam and is a slap in the face to the passengers and crew members who died on the hijacked plane four years ago. The winning design, announced Wednesday in Washington, D.C., includes what is called the 'Crescent of Embrace.' That element of the project calls for two rows of red maple trees to be planted around a bowl-shaped piece of land adjacent to the crash site. The trees, according to the architects, are there to create a physical edge to the landscape and accentuate the topography... To many, that shape represents Islam, and the symbol is used on the flags of several Muslim countries, including Turkey, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. The four men who hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 on its way from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco were Muslim. But the architects who created the winning design say their design has nothing to do with Islam."