The slick US drama Homeland, now into its second series on Channel 4, draws praise from critics and viewers, but its ridiculous view of Arabs and Islam is a distortion of Middle Eastern realities, argues Peter Beaumont.
Category Archives: USA
CAIR unveils advertising campaign to counter Geller’s ‘savage’ ads
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today unveiled an advertising campaign designed to counter anti-Muslim “savage” advertisements sponsored by a designated hate group that are now on display in Washington, D.C. , metro stations.
CAIR’s counter ads feature a verse from the Quran stating: “Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant.” (The Holy Quran, 7:199) The CAIR 16-foot banner ads, which are scheduled to go up next week and stay up for a month in stations featuring the hate ads (Glenmont, Georgia Avenue/Petworth and U Street), also direct metro riders to the organization’s “Explore the Quran” initiative.
Terry Jones barred from entering Canada for debate
The U.S. pastor behind “International Burn a Koran Day” said he would “possibly” try again to enter Canada after border officers turned him back Thursday as he was on his way to speak in Toronto.
“We will see,” Terry Jones said in an interview. “We were looking forward to coming there and we were looking forward to speaking. … We were definitely disappointed and we were surprised.”
U.S.: Pushback against growing Islamophobia
Faced with a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and a well-funded campaign to promote Islamophobia, a coalition of faith and religious freedom groups Thursday said it will circulate a new pamphlet on frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Islam and U.S. Muslims to elected officials across the United States.
The initiative, which coincides with the appearance in subway stations in New York City and Washington of pro-Israel ads equating the Jewish state with “civilised man” and “Jihad” with “savages”, is designed to rebut the notion that Muslims pose a threat to U.S. values and way of life.
Religious groups counter anti-Muslim ad campaign in DC
The placement of Pamela Geller’s anti-Muslim “savages” ads in the District of Columbia have spurred a wide range of religious groups to counter the ads’ message. A coalition of 157 religious groups from across the DC Metro-area signed onto a letter to the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority, pressing them to take stronger steps to work against hate speech.
In the letter, the coalition requested that WMATA pursue greater outreach to communities before publishing possibly inflammatory advertisements in and on the area’s public transit, add disclaimers to such ads that they do not represent WMATA’s views, and allow free ad space to counter hate speech.
Quran-burning pastor rallies outside high school in Dearborn
Speaking today outside a high school in Dearborn, Quran-burning pastor Terry Jones said he was there in a show of solidarity with non-Muslim students that he alleges are being bullied by Muslim students. It was Jones’ fourth rally against Islam in Dearborn over the past year.
DC Metro ad gets makeover within hours
A controversial ad was posted in four Metro stations under court order Monday, but within hours one had already been covered with yellow Post-it notes giving an alternative message to the ad, which equated Muslims with savages.
Debbie Polhemus, of D.C., covered up the letters of the ad, which read “In Any War Between the Civilized Man and the Savage, Support the Civilized Man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”
Rabbi Jill Jacobs explains message behind New York subway ads
Inae Oh of the Huffington Post interviews Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, which took out an advertisement urging New York subway users to “help stop bigotry against our Muslim neighbors”, in an effort to counter Pamela Geller’s notorious “savages” ad. Rabbi Jacobs explains:
“I was very concerned that people might think that these ads speak for the Jewish community, as Geller couches her anti-Muslim message in the language of supporting Israel. The suggestion that she is speaking only about terrorists, and not about Muslims in general, falls apart as soon as you read her writings, which are fear mongering about Muslims in the U.S. and in the world, and about Islam as a religion.”
She adds: “I want to spread the message that 1800 rabbis – along with the majority of the American Jewish community – believes in partnership with our Muslim neighbors. We, of course, oppose all acts of terrorism. We will not, however, allow the actions of a small minority to be an excuse for dehumanizing an entire people.”
Arkansas Republicans distance themselves from candidate who wants to expel all Muslims from the US
Arkansas Republicans tried to distance themselves Saturday from a Republican state representative’s assertion that slavery was a “blessing in disguise” and a Republican state House candidate who advocates deporting all Muslims.
The claims were made in books written, respectively, by Rep. Jon Hubbard of Jonesboro and House candidate Charlie Fuqua of Batesville. Those books received attention on Internet news sites Friday.
On Saturday, state GOP Chairman Doyle Webb called the books “highly offensive.” And U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, a Republican who represents northeast Arkansas, called the writings “divisive and racially inflammatory.”
Speaker at Geller’s New York conference advocated genocide against Muslims
Loonwatch draws our attention to an attack on Islam made by a Hindutva extremist named Babu Suseelan at the so-called “International Freedom Congress” in New York last month that was organised by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer’s Stop Islamization of Nations.
“If we do not kill the bacteria, the bacteria will kill us”, Suseelan told the audience. Otherwise, he warned, “Muslims will breed like rats and they will be a majority”. But Suseelan finished on an upbeat note: “Islam can be stopped! And it can be wiped out.”