Posted on 01/17/2005 3:11:22 PM PST by dennisw
Fox Cuts Out Anti-Muslim Scenes from “24”
“We thank Fox for the opportunity to address the Muslim community's concerns,” a CAIR spokeswoman said.
WASHINGTON, January 16 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Fox television network has decided to remove some stereotypical aspects about American Muslims from its action drama “24” thanks to immediate action from community leaders.
“We thank 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 cooperation,” Rabiah Ahmed, Communications Coordinator of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a press release e-mailed to IslamOnline.net Saturday, January 15.
Following a January 12 meeting with representatives from CAIR, the largest US Muslim civil liberties advocacy group in the country, Fox officials promised that the popular series will be balanced in its portrayal of Muslims.
“There aren't any positive or even neutral portrayals of Muslims on TV,” the BBC quoting Ms Ahmed as regretting.
“When Muslims or Arabs are portrayed, it is always in a stereotypical way.”
Premiered on January 10, the drama portrays a Muslim family as a terrorist “sleeper cell,” who are plotting attacks inside the US.
A young man is seen helping his parents mastermind a plot to kill as many Americans by launching an attack on a commuter train.
The drama showed the mother poisoning her son's non-Muslim girlfriend because she poses a threat to their plans.
The US secretary of state is also seen taken hostage by the “Muslim terrorists.”
It climaxes with the defense secretary shown on an Internet video tape like those coming out of US-occupied Iraq.
Pro-Muslims Ad
Fox further decided to distribute a CAIR public service announcement (PSA) to network affiliates to be aired in proximity to “24.”
CAIR's 30 and 60-second PSA feature American Muslims of European, African-American, Hispanic, and Native American heritage.
Each person in the spots states how he/she and his/her family have served America and ends by saying, “I am an American Muslim.”
“What we are hoping to do is to try and mitigate the damages of the stereotypes because it can bring real-life consequences on American Muslims and their lives here,” Ms Ahmed said.
“When average Americans don't have any personal interaction with Muslims, whether it be at work or at school, they base their perception of Islam and Muslims from what they see on TV.”
CAIR urged State Department officials in a meeting on January 13 to issue a report on Islamophobia across the world.
CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad presented in the meeting -- attended by Assistant Secretary Patricia de Stacy Harrison, Assistant Secretary Richard Boucher and Ambassador William Burns -- a proposal for cooperative efforts to challenge both Islamophobia and anti-Americanism.
A recent nation-wide poll, conducted by the Cornell University, showed that at least 44 percent of the Americans backs curbing Muslims’ civil rights and monitoring their places of worship.
A May 2004 report released by the US Senate Office Of Research concluded that Arab Americans and the Muslim community in the US have taken the brunt of the Patriot Act and other federal powers applied in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
I saw the clip but did not get the feeling that the SOD abduction was a diversion. Why do you think that?
Yeah, well when the hell's hte muslim world going to address the civilized world's concerns?!?!
Oh wait, they are the civilized world's concerns!
Gosh, what a conundrum!
because they are already moving in to rescue the guy, and then they cut to the clip of the terror leader in his suburban home with his wife and son saying something like "if they only knew what we had planned".
There is a 24 fan forum on Fox here:http://forums.prospero.com/fox24/messages/?start=Start+Reading+%3E%3E
The execs DO read the board. And that Forum is furious over the cave in to CAIR.
Stereotypes are generally earned.
I am a member there.
I still am but don't post anymore, just read. There's some serious anger going on. It read like FR! :-)
NUTS!! I missed 24! I just got into it last week when they had the marathon showing, but since I'm not used to tuning into any series, I forgot all about it tonight!!
Do they have repeat showings throughout the week?
Last week's episode of "24" had the Secretary of Defense hollering "This is what your religion teaches?" at the Muslims. And it had a teenage boy being told by his mother to kill the blonde girl. When he couldn't shoot her, he found that his mother had already poisoned her.
What on earth did Fox take out????
CAIR? Which is silent when Middle East Brothers-in-the-Faith call for murder and dismemeberment of Americans, from the pulpits of "revered historic mosques"?
That was they day Clancy became a pansy. He hasn't written anything worth reading since,
After seeing it last week shows it's hard to see hope they can "write out" the Islamic extremist and/or sleeper cell.
If they change this to much, the series will go from hit to bust overnight...
I still think the execs at Fox are yellow bellied cowards.
After watching today's episode 5, I'd have to say that This scare talk about Dhimmitude is much ado about nothing.
I'd say the scene where the Muslim terrorist (who has already murdered people in cold blood onscreen) "martyrs" himself (his words) to avoid capture and interrogation by Jack Bauer and his last words, "Allah Akhbar", saw to that.
No, "24" has not given into P.C. yet, and it's a wonderful thriller to boot.
Oppression always starts with the arts.
Thanks
That's exactly right. I blame everything on the Jewish Indian. First they invent the bow and arrow. Then they figure out how to make it out of carbon fiber and ball bearings. Then they make the darn thing cost an arm and a leg ;)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.