[wvns] Does U.S. tolerate anti-Muslim speech?
The latest flap: Radio-show host says Muslims should be deported,
sparking a backlash.
By Omar Sacirbey
The Christian Science Monitor
December 4, 2007
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1204/p02s02-usgn.html
Reporter Omar Sacirbey discusses anti-Muslim feelings in the US. Lu
Gronseth listens regularly to WWTC, a conservative talk-radio station
in Minneapolis, and even advertises his mortgage-loan business on the
station. But when he learned that a nationally syndicated radio show
host had told WWTC listeners that Muslims should be deported and made
rude comments about what they could do with their religion, Mr.
Gronseth pulled his ads from the station.
So have at least two other Minnesota businesses, at the urging of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C., as have a
handful of national companies, including OfficeMax, JCPenney,
Wal-Mart, and AT&T. But the comments by host Michael Savage in October
– and previous anti-Muslim speech – have not created the furor that
knocked radio icon Don Imus off of MSNBC and CBS Radio after he
denigrated a black women's basketball team. That leaves many
Muslims-Americans – and non-Muslims like Mr. Gronseth – suspicious
that Americans have a double standard when it comes to Islam.
"My sense is that you could say anti-Muslim comments that you could
never get away with, saying for example, as anti-Jewish comments,"
said Stephen Wessler of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence
in Portland, Maine. "There's a much greater public level of acceptance
of denigrating Muslims."
Indeed, anti-Muslim feeling in the United States, far from cooling
since the immediate aftermath of 9/11, has edged higher, polls suggest.
For example: 35 percent of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of
Muslims, up from 29 percent in March 2002, according to a survey by
the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The same survey
shows a rise in the number of people who say Islam is more likely than
other religions to encourage violence: 45 percent in 2007 versus 25
percent in 2002, although that figure has fluctuated over time.
In the current flap over Mr. Savage (whose real name is Michael
Weiner), Oregon-based Talk Radio Network did not return phone calls
and e-mails requesting comment. The network syndicates his
five-day-a-week program to more than 300 stations.
"I think it was every bit as inflammatory as what [Mr.] Imus said,"
Gronseth says of the October broadcast. "I would have thought there
would have been a much stronger reaction."
Imus, meanwhile, returned to the air Monday with a new radio show,
seven months after his derogatory comments about the black basketball
players got him in hot water. Imus has apologized for those statements.
While anti-Semitism and racism against African-Americans, Latinos, and
other groups still exists, Mr. Wessler and other observers say that
well-known figures who say offensive and inflammatory things against
these groups are almost certain to suffer consequences.
For example, Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson resigned his
post as head of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York after
suggesting in October that black people are less intelligent than
other races. ABC executives decided this year not to invite actor
Isaiah Washington back to the cast of the hit TV show "Grey's Anatomy"
after he allegedly used an antigay slur. When presidential candidate
Jesse Jackson failed to distance himself from anti-Semitic remarks
made by Louis Farrakhan in 1983, his campaign suffered. Sen. Trent
Lott (R) of Mississippi resigned as majority leader in 2002 after
jokingly suggesting that America would be better off today had Strom
Thurmond, the late South Carolina senator, won the presidency in 1948,
when he campaigned as a segregationist.
On the other hand, presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani has endured
little scrutiny for touting an endorsement this month from TV
evangelist and onetime presidential candidate Pat Robertson, who has
called Islam "Satanic" and the prophet Muhammad "a wild-eyed fanatic."
Several other radio and TV commentators regularly use similar language
against Muslims without consequences, while conservative politicians
have, in the view of some observers, sought to exploit anti-Muslim
sentiment. Last year, US Rep. Virgil Goode (R) of Virginia sent
supporters a letter expressing alarm that Rep. Keith Ellison (D) of
Minnesota would take his ceremonial oath of office using a Koran.
Today's anti-Muslim sentiment is similar to American attitudes toward
Japanese-Americans during World War II, says Jack Levin, a hate-speech
expert at Northeastern University in Boston.
"You see more hostility towards Muslims now than you did the year
after 9/11," says Shahed Amanullah, editor of a Muslim web-zine,
AltMuslim.com. He and other observers point to America's failure to
capture Osama bin Laden, the continuing difficulties in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and news of terrorist plots overseas as reasons why many
Americans feel hostile towards Muslims.
At least twice, anti-Muslim comments have gotten media personalities
fired. The National Review magazine dropped columnist Ann Coulter
shortly after 9/11. In 2005, WMAL in Washington, D.C., fired radio
host Michael Graham for calling Islam a "terrorist organization."
===
Text of Michael Savage Suit Against CAIR
http://www.savage-productions.com/Savage_CAIR_suit.html
===
Savage lawsuit calls CAIR 'vehicle of international terrorism'
Accuses group of seeking 'harm to those who
speak against violent agenda'
November 30, 2007
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/staticarticles/article58970.html
Trend-setting radio talk show host Michael Savage has filed a
copyright infringement lawsuit against the Council on Islamic-American
Relations, and has accused the organization of being a "political
vehicle of international terrorism" that seeks to do "material harm to
those voices who speak against the violent agenda of CAIR's clients."
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in California, seeks damages
equal to the ongoing donations from CAIR supporters "who expect CAIR
to act in this manner in exchange for continuing financial support" as
well as "actual damages according to proof."
A spokesman for Savage indicated the top-rated talk show host would
have no further comment, saying the text of the lawsuit itself would
answer questions.
The focal point of the lawsuit is a series of audio clips CAIR has
been using in its promotions and fundraising efforts.
Those comments from Savage's show include his criticisms of Islam and
Muslims, including:
"I'm not gonna put my wife in a hijab. And I'm not gonna put my
daughter in a burqa. And I'm not getting' on my all-fours and braying
to Mecca. And you could drop dead if you don't like it. You can shove
it up your pipe. I don't wanna hear any more about Islam. I don't
wanna hear one more word about Islam. Take your religion and shove it
up your behind. I'm sick of you."
But the lawsuit maintains such comments, taken in context, are
Savage's verbal expression of the feelings of many Americans.
"The audience of 'The Savage Nation' expects this type of
from-the-heart outrage and when it is directed at a murderer such as
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his ilk, the piece is far more understandable
and far more American mainstream. While the strength of the outrage is
remarkable and a hallmark of 'The Savage Nation,' the sentiment is
shared by a huge number of Americans," the lawsuit said.
"The copyright material properly viewed is a scream of outrage on
behalf of the American public against beheadings, hangings of
homosexuals, mutilation of women, the torture of rape victims and the
thought that CAIR and other groups are trying to import these
atrocities into American life," the lawsuit said.
However, it claimed CAIR has misappropriated the copyright material
and reconfigured it in order to generate funds for its operations,
despite being warned that its use was a copyright infringement.
Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for CAIR, told WND the group
would not comment on the action until the document had been reviewed.
The lawsuit, filed by celebrity attorney Daniel Horowitz, also named
as defendants "Does 1-100."
"'The Savage Nation' is unique among so-called 'Talk Radio' in that it
combines serious intellectual analysis with dramatic and emotional
soul baring that the show advertises as 'Psychological Nudity'. This
performance aspect of the show is critical in that it conveys an
emotional power and a fundamental honesty to the programming that is
meaningful to the listening audience," the lawsuit said.
"There are segments of the show that are as lyrical and as emotionally
powerful as live theater, poetry, rap music or other genres where a
performer combines social commentary with powerful performance. In
fact the start of show always begins with the admonishment: 'Warning:
This show contains adult language, adult content, psychological
nudity. Listener discretion is advised," the document continued.
Thus, the lawsuit maintains, when people hear Savage's comments they
understand "they are hearing radio that is as cutting, raw, emotional
and fundamentally honest as any programming that has ever existed on
the airwaves."
Another statement targeted by CAIR, and subject of the lawsuit, was:
"What sane nation that worships the U.S. Constitution, which is the
greatest document of freedom ever written, would bring in people who
worship a book that tells them the exact opposite? Make no mistake
about it, the Quran is not a document of freedom. The Quran is a
document of slavery and chattel. It teaches you that you are a slave."
CAIR, however "expropriated" Savage's comments, including those from
the Oct. 29, 2007, show and used them "for fund-raising purposes" and
"in a manner designed to cause harm to the value of the copyright
material in the long and short term," the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit further accuses CAIR, "which is self anointed as the
representative of the civil rights of Muslim Americans," of being "a
political organization that advocates a specific political agenda."
"The CAIR misappropriation [of the talk show excerpts] was done for
political purposes unrelated to civil rights � [but instead] to raise
funds for CAIR so that it could self perpetuate and continue to the
(sic) disseminate of propaganda on behalf of foreign interests that
are opposed to the continued existence of the United States of America
as a free nation."
The "repackaged" material suggests a hatred for Islam, but in fact,
the lawsuit said, "Michael Savage has presented various views and
various perspectives. The purpose of his show (among other purposes)
is to present uncensored, genuine points of view that force listeners
to both think and feel in ways that normal polite discourse may not
allow," said the lawsuit.
"Just as all religions are free to practice in the United States,
Michael Savage is free to exercise his beliefs without having someone
in the opposition steal his property and convert it for their own use.
The violation of the copyright and the desecration of that copyright
material is a violation of the freedoms of Michael Savage to express
his views," said the action.
"Michael Savage's right to speech is protected by both the First
Amendment and in Savage's view is also biblically required. �Surely
the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his
servants the prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the
Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?� (Amos 3:7-8). It is
essence of freedom that voices can be raised strongly and without fear
of illegal retaliation," the claim continued.
"CAIR attempted to silence Michael Savage by stealing his work,
misrepresenting it and then seeking to have advertisers drop his show.
This is a violation of Michael Savage's rights to speech and to his
religious beliefs," the action said.
The lawsuit noted CAIR was founded in 1994 by Ibrahim Hooper, Nihad
Awad and Omar Ahmad, "all of whom had close ties to the Islamic
Association for Palestine (IAP), which was established by senior Hamas
operative Mousa Abu Marzook."
And the action noted the FBI has concluded the IAP is "a Hamas front �
(that is) controlled by Hamas, it brings Hamas leaders to the U.S., it
does propaganda for Hamas."
The action seeks a jury trial, plus "general and special damages" for
the actions that were "wanton, willful and malicious."
===
Radio Host Sues Group That Quoted Him
By KIM CURTIS
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jsK2v37SLNSrAJfdRfDoikb4v8hgD8TAA2PG0
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A conservative radio talk show host sued an
Islamic civil rights group on Monday for copyright infringement over
the organization's use of a portion of his show in which he called the
Quran a "book of hate."
Michael Savage said the Washington, D.C.-based Council on
American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, violated his rights by wrongfully
using a 4-minute segment of his Oct. 29 "The Savage Nation" show in a
letter-writing campaign directed against talk radio advertisers. Audio
from the show remained on CAIR's Web site Monday.
In the broadcast, Savage called the Muslim holy book "a throwback
document" and a "book of hate."
"What kind of religion is this? What kind of world are you living in
when you let them in here with that throwback document in their hand,
which is a book of hate," Savage said during the portion of the
broadcast highlighted by CAIR. "Don't tell me I need reeducation. They
need deportation."
In an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, Savage said he
was talking about Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his dangerous
and violent brand of Islamic extremism, not about the religion in general.
Savage said he strongly supports freedom of speech, but "it's another
thing to take away a man's millstone and try to put him out of business."
A CAIR spokeswoman, who said the audio was not a four-minute segment,
but a series of clips separated by beeps, called the suit, filed in
federal court in San Francisco, "bizarre, sloppy and baseless."
"We expect to prevail based on the facts, the law and the
Constitution," Amina Rubin said.
The group's "repackaging" of Savage's comments was "deliberately
designed to obscure the specific message conveyed by Michael Savage,"
according to the suit. "The actual message, while highly provocative
and strongly worded, was not intended as an attack on people of faith."
CAIR claims advertisers have stopped airing or refuse to air
commercials during Savage's show.
Bill Crawford, a spokesman for Talk Radio Network, which syndicates
the Savage show, said "there have been advertisers who've canceled
Michael's show because of the CAIR situation." He refused to identify
the companies or reveal the amount of lost revenue. Savage said he's
lost at least $1 million in revenue.
The suit alleges CAIR is not a civil rights group, but a political
organization funded by foreigners with ties to Hamas and other
terrorist groups. CAIR denies those claims, saying it opposes
terrorism and religious extremism.
*********************************************************************
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