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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| FOX news allows attack on Prophet Muhammad (saw) |
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| WhatDFish |
| 09/24/02 at 09:54:08 |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sean Hannity fails to challenge Pat Robertson's Islamophobic rhetoric CAIR today expressed concern about what it says is a pattern of anti-Muslim bias by Fox News Channel citing Wednesday night's "Hannity & Colmes" program as an example of how the network promotes anti-Muslim hate. On that program, host Sean Hannity seemed to encourage televangelist Pat Robertson in his venomous attack on Islam and on the Prophet Muhammad. About the Prophet Muhammad, Robertson said: "This man was an absolute wild-eyed fanatic. He was a robber and a brigand. And to say that these terrorists distort Islam, they're carrying out Islam." Instead of challenging those hate-filled remarks, Hannity said: "Reverend, how widespread do you think that fanatical interpretation is? Do you think it's mainstream? Or do you think it's the majority of Muslims?" After Robertson replied by calling Islam "a monumental scam," Hannity said: "So Islam is a threat bigger than what most people are willing to say publicly?... Do you think it's inevitable, then, that the world is going to be in conflict, perhaps even at war, with Islam for many decades to come?" In the program's second segment, Robertson said: "[The Quran, Islam's revealed text] is strictly a theft of Jewish theology.I mean, this man [Muhammad] was a killer. And to think that this is a peaceful religion is fraudulent." "Our office receives daily complaints from concerned Muslims and people of other faiths who say that Fox's news and views on Islam, Muslims or the Middle East are neither fair nor balanced. Venomous and hate-filled remarks like those made by Robertson, and Sean Hannity's failure to challenge those remarks, poison the minds of ordinary viewers and can incite acts of violence against American Muslims," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. Awad added that in just the past month, there was a shooting attack on an Ohio mosque, vandalism at Islamic center under construction in Virginia and the revelation of a detailed plan to attack some 50 Florida mosques. He also called on American religious and political leaders to repudiate defamatory attacks on the faith of Islam. As other examples of the network's anti-Muslim bias, Awad cited Fox's inflammatory coverage of last Friday's "terror scare" in Florida, talk show host Bill O'Reilly's comparison of the Quran to Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and the network's tendency to ambush and abuse those Muslims who do appear on its programs. He did however note that Fox's "On the Record" with host Greta Van Susteren often presents fair and balanced coverage of Muslims and Islam. In a recent CAIR survey, 45 percent of Muslim respondents said Fox News was the media outlet that exhibited the most biased coverage of Islam and Muslims. CAIR is seeking to counter anti-Muslim hate in American society with its Library Project, a campaign to encourage Muslim individuals and groups to sponsor 18-item "library packages" of books, videos and audio cassettes about Islam and Muslims for distribution to as many as 16,000 public libraries nationwide. The package contains books such as "Muhammad," a biography of the Prophet Muhammad by Yahiya Emerick. SEE: http://www.libraryproject.org ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE. Fox is likely to use hostile comments to further harm the image of Islam and Muslims.) 1) Contact Fox to request that they offer fair and balanced coverage of issues related to Islam, and that the network not promote or encourage Muslim-bashers such as Robertson. CONTACT: Mr. Roger Ailes Chief Executive Officer Fox News Channel 1211 Avenue of the Americas, Lowr C1 New York, NY 10036-8701 FAX: 212-556-8219 E-MAIL: roger.ailes@foxnews.com CALL FOX COMMENT LINE: 1-888-369-4762 CALL HANNITY & COLMES: 212-301-3289 FAX HANNITY & COLMES: 212-301-4222 2) Help educate the American public about Islam by taking part in CAIR's Library Project. GO TO: http://www.libraryproject.org |
| THOUSANDS" CONTACT FOX OVER ANTI-MUSLIM BIAS |
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| sofia |
| 09/24/02 at 12:45:53 |
| Quick update and further action alert: ----------------------------------------------------- THOUSANDS" CONTACT FOX OVER ANTI-MUSLIM BIAS Islamic civil rights group requests meeting with network (WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/23/02) - Fox News Channel officials tell the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) they are receiving "thousands" of complaints about anti-Muslim bias in that network's news and commentary. The Islamic civil rights and advocacy group has requested a meeting to discuss ways in which Fox's coverage of issues related to Islam and Muslims can be improved. Last week, CAIR alerted the Muslim community to what the group said is the latest incident in a pattern of Islamophobic coverage by Fox. CAIR's alert cited the network's inflammatory reporting on the recent "terror scare" in Florida, the tendency to ambush and abuse those Muslims who do appear on its programs and a September 18th "Hannity & Colmes" on which televangelist Pat Robertson called the Prophet Muhammad a "killer," a "wild-eyed fanatic…a robber and a brigand." Robertson also called Islam "a monumental scam" and the Quran, Islam's revealed text, "a theft of Jewish theology." He said: "I mean, this man [Muhammad] was a killer. And to think that this is a peaceful religion is fraudulent." Host Sean Hannity failed to challenge, and even seemed to encourage, these anti-Muslim slurs. As an example of the bias promoted by the network, CAIR also cited an e-mail message to Fox News Channel CEO Roger Ailes (that was copied to CAIR). That e-mail, sent from the account of a Pennsylvania businessman, read in part (uncorrected except for obscenity): "good coverage on the deviant cult of islam, fox news. expose those subhuman boy-b**gerers for what they are: murderous lowlife subhuman filth." "This is just the kind of hate that is inspired and incited by Fox's biased coverage of Islam, Muslims and the Middle East. Fox is neither fair nor balanced when it comes to these issues," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. Hooper also thanked all those who took the time to contact Fox to express their concerns. ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE. Fox is likely to use hostile comments to further harm the image of Islam and Muslims.) 1) Contact Fox to request that network officials meet with American Muslim representatives on the issue of anti-Muslim bias and stereotyping. Send a message even if you sent one before. CONTACT: Mr. Roger Ailes Chief Executive Officer Fox News Channel 1211 Avenue of the Americas, Lowr C1 New York, NY 10036-8701 FAX: 212-556-8219 E-MAIL: roger.ailes@foxnews.com COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org, brian.lewis@foxnews.com, robert.zimmerman@foxnews.com, meade.cooper@foxnews.com, bill.shine@foxnews.com, hannity@foxnews.com, colmes@foxnews.com, comments@foxnews.com, Viewerservices@foxnews.com TO ACCESS A FORM LETTER TO FOX, GO TO: http://www.cair-net.org/html/capwiz.html CALL FOX COMMENT LINE: 1-888-369-4762 CALL HANNITY & COLMES: 212-301-3289 FAX HANNITY & COLMES: 212-301-4222 2) Help educate the American public about Islam by taking part in CAIR's Library Project. GO TO: www.libraryproject.org 3) Send CAIR e-mail addresses of those who would be interested in follow-ups on this issue. Send lists to: cair@cair-net.org |
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