| We're back to defining Moose limbs as a race... |
A rights group has blasted some US media organisations for allowing for 'racist and hate-filled speech' during its coverage of the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's death. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) said it was deeply concerned with "the alarming hostility expressed by media commentators towards the Palestinian people in the wake of the death of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat," according to a statement released this week. The ADC said US networks MSNBC and CNN both broadcasted hostile commentary regarding Palestinians. Don Imus, of the Imus in the Morning programme aired weekends on MSNBC referred to Arafat as a "rat" and called him "stinky" with "beady-eyes". Imus also said that "all Palestinians look like him."
| The second half of the statement's obviously wrong. There isn't anyone who looks like Arafat. He was distinctively ugly. Referring to him as a "rat" expresses an opinion. I'd even differ on the beady eyes part. They were more bulgy, giving him the aspect of a startled frog. But in our country, unlike in Paleostine, everybody's entitled to an opinion, even the Anti-American Anti-Discrimination Committee. |
The racist comments continued with one of his guests who described the Palestinians attending the funeral as "animals" and joked about their hygiene. "They're dropping soap from the helicopters," the guest laughed.
| Hmmm... Some of us make the same sort of comments about the Frenchies. That's prob'ly racist, too... |
Also on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough, presenter of Scarborough Country, began his programme by declaring, "Some are calling Yasir Arafat's passing a tragedy. He's actually the father of modern terrorism. Good riddance".
| Sounds like a statement of fact followed by a statement of relief... |
"This was, after all, the man who invented modern terrorism in the Middle East and by extension was the godfather of September 11."
| Another true statement... |
Among the guests on the show was the Palestinian Authority representative to the United States, Hasan Abd al-Rahman, who while attempting to express his view, was interrupted by shouts of "where's the money?" by Scarborough in reference to international aid.
The ADC also said that CNN was guilty of one-sided, hostile comments. "Plans call currently for Yasir Arafat to be buried in his compound in Ram Allah, which will eventually be turned into some kind of shrine. Maybe they'll put a sign out front for the Palestinian people, that read 'here lays the body of the thief who robbed you blind'," said Jack Cafferty on CNN's morning programme American Morning.
| Boy! Statements of fact from CNN? What's the world coming to? Yasser did, in fact, skim a goodly portion of the aid money that was supposed to assist the Paleostinians. So what's the beef? |
"Comments such as the ones listed can only be regarded as an overt incitement to ethnic hatred of the Palestinians. Surely the denigration of an ethnic group, a people who have been living under an ongoing 37-year Israeli military occupation, constitutes a violation of any system of journalistic standards," the ADC said in a statement.
| I'd say it's more an expression of the revulsion most of us feel toward Yasser and his henchmen, and by extension to the lemmings making up most of the population of Paleostine. We'd feel the same revulsion toward Samoans, if Samoans slaughtered 5-year-olds in their beds and exploded without warning on buses. But they don't, and most of us either like Samoans or we're neutral toward them. Paleostinians do, and must of us categorize them with snakes, scorpions, and other creatures that are a danger to those around them. That's much the way I feel about the Anti-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, come to think of it. |
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