Contact NBC and MSNBC to renew your demand for an apology and a reprimand
for all those involved in both programs. (Send a demand for an apology even
if you sent one based on the earlier alert.)
CONTACT:
Mr. Rick Kaplan
President
MSNBC
1 MSNBC Plaza
Secaucus, NJ 07094-2419
TEL: 201-583-5050
FAX: 201-583-5179
Mr. Neal Shapiro
President
NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112-0002
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(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/19/04) - CAIR is once again calling on people of
conscience to demand an apology from the MSNBC cable television network for
anti-Arab/anti-Muslim remarks made on its "Imus in the Morning" program.
In a segment today commenting on the apparent execution of a wounded Iraqi
in Fallujah by a U.S. Marine, a fictitious "Senior Military Affairs
Advisor" to the program justified the killing by referring to a
"booby-trapped raghead cadaver." The fictitious advisor also said the
killing provided an "Al-Jazeera moment" causing the "Muslim masses to
respond with their routine pack of rabid sheep mentality."
Yesterday, CAIR issued a similar call for an apology for a November 12th
"Imus" program that referred to Palestinians as "stinking animals" and
suggested that they all be killed.
"We thank all those who already contacted the network to express their
concerns about the racist remarks and ask that they keep up the pressure
until those concerns are properly addressed," said CAIR Executive Director
Nihad Awad.
Don Imus, the program's host, has a long history of controversy over
anti-Arab and Islamophobic remarks. As early as 1985, he was forced to
apologize for referring to Arabs as "goat-humping weasels." (Sunday Mail,
4/21/85) He has also been criticized for using the derogatory term
"raghead." (Accuracy in Media) In a reference to the crash of an Iranian
airliner earlier this year that killed 43 passengers, Imus said, "When I
hear stories like that, I think who cares." He then stated: "Too bad it
wasn't full of Saudi Arabians." (National Iranian American Council)
Earlier this year, CAIR announced a "Hate Hurts America" campaign designed
to counter hate speech on talk radio.