Posted on 12/05/2006 5:45:18 AM PST by Mrs Ivan
Channel 4 is to reignite controversy over the wearing of the veil - by featuring a Muslim woman in full niqab giving the broadcaster's alternative Christmas message.
The woman, today named only as Khadija and said to be a lecturer in Islamic studies, will go head-to-head with the Queen when she gives her annual speech to the nation on 25 December.
Producers are said to have "discovered" her after a month-long search for a suitable candidate.
A spokesman for the channel added: "We felt it fitting that Channel 4's alternative Christmas message should be given by a Muslim woman in a year when issues of religious and racial identity and freedom of expression have dominated the news agenda.
"Khadija has a wide range of interesting views about life as a British Muslim woman"
Khadija - who is in her early thirties and from the Midlands - caught TV bosses' attention for "being articulate, engaging and interesting".
She is due to record the speech within the coming fortnight and is expected to reflect on the past year.
While the channel is refusing to give more specific details of her background for fear that she will be inundated with interview requests, they said she was born in Zimbabwe, is a British citizen and has been wearing the full niqab - which covers everything but the eyes - for ten years.
The decision to broadcast such a contentious alternative comes after several years during which Channel 4 has screened light-hearted, jokey messages by celebrities such as Jamie Oliver and Sharon Osbourne.
The last time a serious issue was tackled was in 2001, when World Trade Centre survivor Genelle Guzman gave the speech.
I cannot think of a more ludicrous publicity stunt than this.
An Englishman apologizing for it would be like an Israeli apologizing for Noam Chomsky.
I think it's cultural suicide. But thanks for the apology anyway.
Mrs Ivan, we have more than an adequate supply of stupidity here in the US. And much of it, as in your country, is centered in the media.
OMGLOL. Let her. Perfect illustration of the difference between the 21st and 7th Centuries.
Producers are said to have "discovered" her after a month-long search for a suitable candidate.
What difference does it make? Nobody can see her anyway!
What was Channel 4's alternative Ramadan message?
"What difference does it make? Nobody can see her anyway!"
LOL!
Perhaps it is the journalist in full dress giving the 'alternative' Christmas message. "When there is no news, we'll just make it up!"
Unbelievable. They can do it, and if I were British, I could give them a piece of my mind...
Not wanting to protect the discredited BBC any more than I have to, but Channel 4 has nothing to do with the BBC. Channel 4 is another public broadcaster, but is funded by advertising.
For any Americans reading this, think of NPR...sort of.
Love, Ivan
Does "Head to head" mean that she will be on during the same time slot as the queen? Is that what "alternative Christmas message" means?
Quote " "We felt it fitting that Channel 4's alternative Christmas message " endQuote
Why does Christmas require a 'alternative message'?
It is pitting Christianity against another.
I believe so.
Is it just possible that C4 has been infiltrated by the Mossad?
Picture it: a Muslim woman in full veil on closeup telly, black shark-eyes glaring at the viewer, intoning unsubtle demands that `you must let us teach you about Islam' could provoke a considerable backlash: Britons' attitudes toward Islam in the U.K. might harden significantly as a result.
Can hope, anyway,
Why do they provide an "alternative Christmas message"?
Of course it's to promote controversy and to insult Christianity, but does Channel 4 have a cover story, such as "furthering cultural understanding and harmony"?
;^)
not even al jaziera would get away with this!
They could call it the anti-Christian Christmas Message.
Don't you brits have any sort of voting rights to do something about this? BBC is run by your gov't, your gov't which seems to be pegging the stupidity meter in ways our democrats can only dream of for now. Can't you vote in someone who will cut the BBC off?
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