US Muslim Group: Cabbie Slashing A Warning On Anti-Muslim Rhetoric - Fox News Has Blood On Its Hands

[Turborama]

Ryan J. Reilly

=snip=

"I think that this incident should be viewed as a warning that should be heeded," said Edina Lekovic, communications director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council. "The hateful rhetoric that is being spewed by people like Newt Gingrich and then being amplified by mainstream media outlets poses a grave danger to the safety and well-being of everyday Muslim Americans like this cab driver, an innocent person."

The Cordoba House project -- the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" -- has had a "ripple effect" that had an immense impact across the country, Lekovic said. All Muslims and Islam are now being painted as the problem, and the "gap between hate speech and violence is shrinking rapidly," she added.

Lekovic said she did not believe this incident was part of any sort of pattern of violence against Muslims, but called the assault on the cab driver a defining moment. "This is ultimately the tragic result of fear-mongerers stirring up hate," Lekovic said. She cited Gingrich, blogger Pamela Geller as the "tip of the iceberg" of voices on the right who were failing to distinguish between al-Qaeda and Muslims.

"If there's blood on anyone's hands, I think part of that blood goes on Fox News' hands, and, you know, the kind of round-the-clock news cycle that is just amplifying the hysteria rather than having an intelligent conversation about matters where, you know, people have differences of opinion," Lekovic said. A Fox News spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

MPAC has received an increased number of concerns from Muslims around the country and is "working around the clock" with those communities concerned about the safety of their congregations. They are telling local communities to contact their authorities to ask for protection, especially as Muslims prepare to celebrate Eid, the holiday marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

From: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/muslim_group_cabbie_slashing_a_warning_on_anti-mus.php

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8976871">Faux Is Very Dangerous! Their Propaganda War On Islam Is Broadcast Unfiltered ALL OVER THE WORLD

[Scurrilous]

1. Thanks.

K & R :thumbsup:

[Bitwit1234]

2. What the right doesn't understand or refuses to

understand is a lot of people are not going to put up with this crap. It is going to cause a lot of conflict from the other side. And I think the right will be the ones who will get the worst of it.

[sabrina 1]

5. I think the 'left' is like a sleeping giant. They are more tolerant

and less likely to resort to violence as long as they believe they can resolve issues reasonably. But you are right that if the other side pushes too hard, they may be surprised at the results. They are like temper-tantrum throwing children who only have on goal, to get their way regardless of how that might affect others. Watching them right now, is fascinating, they are expending energy on issues that have nothing to do with their own welfare. Sooner or later the adults will have to start taking over or go down with them.

[ihavenobias]

3. # 13. n/t

[sabrina 1]

4. Don't we have laws against 'hate speech'?

Where is the line between free speech and speech that rouses up unstable people who become a threat to others?

I don't know, I have not researched the question. But I thought that hate speech was not covered by the 1st Amendment especially when directed at specific groups of people.

[Turborama]

6. I'd like to know the answer to that, too

I know there are laws against inciting violence against the government, but is there a law against inciting violence against others?

[sabrina 1]

7. I've done a little research and generally speaking

mere insults are not illegal, and I agree with that. But there are laws against harassment and certain kinds of speech, if it is pervasive, are included in those laws according to this:

POLITICAL, ARTISTIC, RELIGIOUS, AND SOCIALLY THEMED SPEECH MAY CONSTITUTE "HARASSMENT"

The first place to look in determining the scope of harassment law, of course, is the legal definition of "harassment." Speech can be punished as workplace harassment if it's

"severe or pervasive" enough to

create a "hostile or abusive work environment"

based on race, religion, sex, national origin, 1 age, disability (including obesity), 2 military membership or veteran status, 3 or, in some jurisdictions, sexual orientation, marital status, 4 transsexualism or cross-dressing, 5 political affiliation, 6 criminal record, 7 prior psychiatric treatment, 8 occupation, 9 citizenship status, 10 personal appearance, 11 "matriculation," 12 tobacco use outside work, 13 Appalachian origin, 14 receipt of public assistance, 15 or dishonorable discharge from the military 16

for the plaintiff and for a reasonable person.

Note what the definition does not require. It does not require that the speech consist of obscenity or fighting words or threats or other constitutionally unprotected statements. It does not require that the speech be profanity or pornography, which some have considered "low value." 17 Under the definition, it is eminently possible for political, religious, or social commentary, or "legitimate" art, to be punished.

I have not read the whole essay, but I could see a class action suit by Muslims against the kind of speech that has been directed at them. For one thing, all Muslims are being harmed, accused of being terrorists eg, by the hate speech coming from people like Newt Gingrich and Faux.

Maybe the ACLU might take an interest if they have a 'person or group of standing' to file the complaint.

This article deals mostly with the workplace. But skimming it briefly it seems that one requirement has been met in the anti-Muslim campaingn. The speech has to be 'freguent and pervasive' which I think it certainly has been.

I would love to see this happen. For one thing it would silence some of the haters if they were named in the complaint, like Faux among others and it would be a real statement of how wrong what is going on is and how it is as attack on the rights of citizens, like the Imam who himself has certainly been libeled, slandered and harassed, to live in a harassment free environment.

I will do a little more research as I think it may be a way to fight this bigotry.