Posted on 01/17/2005 1:50:07 PM PST by kezekiel
Jack Bauer's going to have to call in the reinforcements to get through this one.
Facing heat over how Muslims are depicted in its countdown thriller series 24, Fox is working to mend fences before time's up.
The latest season of the Fox drama, which kicked off a week ago, stars Kiefer Sutherland as special agent Bauer. His latest race against the clock to save the world from terrorism has angered America's Muslim community by its portrayal of a Muslim family as a sleeper cell at the heart of a dastardly plot.
Rabiah Ahmed, spokeswoman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told Broadcasting and Cable that the show is "taking everyday American Muslim families and making them suspects...It's very dangerous and very disturbing."
In response to the complaints, the network has agreed to a modest mea culpa--offering a public service spot to its affiliates that depicts the American Muslim community in a positive light.
"We met with representatives of CAIR on Wednesday and found the meeting productive and informative and we look forward to working with them in the future," Fox said in a brief statement.
On its Website, www.cair-net.org, CAIR thanked Fox for "the opportunity to address the Muslim community's concerns and for the willingness of network officials to take those concerns seriously in an atmosphere of mutual respect and co-operation."
"Network representatives said they had already reviewed existing episodes and removed some aspects that could potentially be viewed as stereotypical," the organization added.
On previous seasons of 24, the terrorists have included Eastern Europeans and rogue U.S. and British agents. This fourth season the main terrorists so far are a Muslim dad, mom and teenage son.
CAIR was ticked off even before 24's clock started ticking down with its first four episodes on Jan. 9 and 10. The group was tipped off after a promo DV Dwas issued in Entertainment Weekly. Then, CAIR's concerns escalated when the premiere episodes aired and, at 10:39 a.m. in the fourth episode, the mother, Dina Araz (portrayed by Iranian born actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, Best Supporting Oscar nominee last year for House of Sand and Fog) was depicted poisoning her son's non-Muslim girlfriend because she thinks the girl might jeopardize their plans.
CAIR rep Ahmed says the group wants to avoid sterotyping of Muslims, which could translate into ill-will and even civil rights abuses or hate crimes. Ahmed reports that, per surveys conducted by CAIR, most Americans believe it's okay to curb Muslim's civil rights during the war on terror.
The show's creative and executive production team attended the meeting along with Fox netowrk representatives. (Producers referred all calls back to Fox.)
CAIR, which is sponsoring the PSAs, has requested the 30- and 60-spots be broadcast before, during or after 24, which airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. However, it will ultimately be up to local station managers to choose if and when to run the PSAs, which feature the line: "Muslims are part of the fabric of this great country and are working to build a better America."
WHY ARE THEY APOLOGIZING? They are the only ones on television who are willing to tell the truth about radical Islam
Wow. Muslims portrayed as a sleeper cell with a dastardly plot.
Who comes up with this stuff?
We all know that it's right wing Aryan Europeans who are at the heart of all evil in the world. Just ask Hollywood.
CAIR?
Not really.
Still nothing on the CAIR site about the Jersey City atrocity.
Well maybe Jack can walk into a Christian Egyptian friends home and find them all murdered (in Islamofscist ritual fashion), and make some lame statement about how nice and peaceful Islam is.
I've been away from the computer all day. Could anyone forward me CAIR's response to the Coptic family's brutal murder in New Jersey? I must have missed it somehow. /sarcasm
Who CAIRs what they think!
I haven't seen every minute of the episodes - was there any direct statements in the shows that the terrorists have a religious motive? I didn't see any.
So a terrorist-supporting Muslim front organization is appalled at how Muslims are portrayed as terrorist supporters in movies and TV?
Geez louise, somebody PLEASE expose CAIR for what they are!!!
http://www.anti-cair-net.org/
*Sen. Richard Durbin: "[CAIR is] unusual in its extreme rhetoric and its associations with groups that are suspect"
*Sen. Charles Schumer: "we know [CAIR] has ties to terrorism"
Co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations
President and CEO of Silicon Expert Technologies. A Palestinian who grew up in a refugee camp in Jordan.
"Those who stay in America should be open to society without melting, keeping Mosques open so anyone can come and learn about Islam. If you choose to live here, you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam ...... Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faiths, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." - Omar Ahmad, founder of CAIR
I believe that CAIR's standard response is "They had it coming".
Maybe they can film an episode in Lackwanna, NY?
Bu definition Islamofascist are terrorits.
I get flamed on a regular basis for trying to defend people whom I know to be moderate Muslims, but this isn't brain surgery people.
I never watched the show before, but I watched this seasons episodes and loved them. I always thought Keifer Sutherland was a typical Hollywierd lib, so I stayed away from the show. Could have been the promos that hooked me, I don't know, but I can't wait for the finale tonight.
Every day muslim families arent just suspects, they are the enemy. Daddy, mommy little Abdul and Abdula are on the other side in the war against Islam.
I can see why the Muslims are upset but the fact of the matter is that this is a realistic scenario. Far from being an unfair depiction how do we know there are not sleeper cells like this already in place? I think there are.
This organization may not like how this is portrayed but this is the reality we live in and this is who the enemy is. I don't see much difference in this than the situation we had with the Japanese in W.W.II. It was terrible and unfortunate but the spies were there and so were the sleeper cells.
They're all controlled by the Amish New World Order of course...I thought everyone knew that...
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