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| Fifth Column |
| Tallahassee Democrat reporter suspended for e-mail criticizing Arabs |
| 2003-01-03 |
| A Tallahassee Democrat reporter was suspended Thursday for using strong language in an e-mail criticizing Arab nations for the way they've reacted to Israel. Political writer and columnist Bill Cotterell, in an e-mail exchange, wrote "Except for Jordan and Egypt, no Arab nation has a peace treaty with Israel. They've had 54 years to get over it. They choose not to." The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations sent an alert to its members calling the remarks anti-Muslim and anti-Arab. CAIR seems to think truth is anti-Muslim. Now that I think about it..... Council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said the e-mail's recipient had previously complained about a political cartoon that briefly appeared on the newspaper's Web site, asking "What would Mohammed drive?" and depicting a Ryder truck carrying a missile. The cartoon was not published in the paper. The complaint started an exchange with Cotterell, who also wrote, "I don't give a damn if Israel kills a few in collateral damage while defending itself. So be it." Works for me. Guess I should suspend myself. Nah. Cotterell was suspended a week without pay. Democrat Executive Editor John Winn Miller apologized for the remarks. "They absolutely do not represent the views and sensitivities of this newspaper. Worse, they run counter to many of the values we hold dearest, among them tolerance, diversity and inclusiveness," Miller said in a written statement issued by the newspaper and carried in a story for Friday editions telling of Cotterell's suspension. Mr. Miller, just how much tolerance, diversity and inclusiveness do you find in Arab Muslim countries? The cartoon was drawn by Doug Marlette, who draws from his home in Hillsborough, N.C. Miller said Cotterell immediately regretted the remarks after sending the message on his company e-mail account and apologized to his colleagues "for the hurt and embarrassment he knows he caused." "I was wrong and I am sorry," Cotterell said. "My remarks were grossly inappropriate and do not reflect my views toward Muslim people." Hooper said the punishment was fair. "It will send a positive message to the Muslim community in Florida that this kind of bigotry will not be tolerated and I appreciate the swift action of the Tallahassee Democrat in resolving this issue," he said. "We don't want to be vindictive in this. We just want to make sure bigoted views don't color the news related to Muslim and American-Arab issues." So much for the concept of a free press, oh sorry, that's anti-Muslim too. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 alert readers will note that the reporter was responding to someone bitching about the "What would Mohammed drive?" cartoon. Now, far be it from me to suggest that people writing to complain about things they think is offensive might get snitty, but we *do* know that we are missing one half of the conversation here. People do tend to return rudeness for rudeness, you know. Even reporters. |
| Posted by: Ryan Waxx 2003-01-04 09:05:34 |
| #5 According to CAIR, the article stated: "Except for Jordan and Egypt, no Arab nation has a peace treaty with Israel. They've had 54 years to get over it. They choose not to. OK, they can squat around the camel-dung fire and grumble about it, or they can put their bottoms in the air five times a day and pray for deliverance; that's their business…And I don't give a damn if Israel kills a few in collateral damage while defending itself. So be it." |
| Posted by: Paul 2003-01-03 22:37:58 |
| #4 Where the hell are the liberals who scream censorship! censorship! now that SOME ACTUAL CENSORSHIP is going on? |
| Posted by: Ryan Waxx 2003-01-03 22:35:57 |
| #3 Ok, for these comments: "Except for Jordan and Egypt, no Arab nation has a peace treaty with Israel. They've had 54 years to get over it. They choose not to." Which are all truths which are easily verifiable, Mr Cotterell has to apologize for inappropriate remarks to the Muslim people. How on earth can his comments be interpreted as bigotry? If I lived in Tallahassee, I'd cancel my subscription to the 'Democrat'. Miller sounds like a spineless wimp as well. Oh, and to get some background on Mr Hooper, check this out: http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/206 |
| Posted by: Tony 2003-01-03 16:35:09 |
| #2 Oh-Oh. CAIR's pissed! Stop the presses!!! When isn't CAIR pissed?? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-01-03 15:44:43 |
| #1 The Tallahassee Dhimmicrat? |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2003-01-03 14:49:31 |