# Muslims protest '24'



## -gunut- (May 8, 2006)

CLIFTON, New Jersey (AP) -- Two years ago, Muslim groups protested when the plot of the hit Fox drama '24' cast Islamic terrorists as the villains who launched a stolen nuclear missile in an attack on America.

Now, after a one-year respite during which Russian separatists played the bad guys on the critically acclaimed series, Muslims are back in the evil spotlight. Unlike last time, when agent Jack Bauer saved the day, the terrorists this time have already succeeded in detonating a nuclear bomb in a Los Angeles suburb.

Being portrayed again as the heartless wrongdoers has drawn renewed protests from Muslim groups, including one that had a meeting with Fox executives two years ago over the issue. (Watch why "24" is worrying Muslims)

"The overwhelming impression you get is fear and hatred for Muslims," said Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. She said Thursday she was distressed by this season's premiere. "After watching that show, I was afraid to go to the grocery store because I wasn't sure the person next to me would be able to differentiate between fiction and reality."

She said the group had a conference call Wednesday with Fox executives to protest the current plot line and request more positive portrayals of Muslims on the show, but was not promised anything.

After a January 2005 meeting with CAIR, Fox aired a commercial in which the show's star, Kiefer Sutherland, urged viewers to keep in mind that the show's villains are not representative of all Muslims.

In a written statement issued late Wednesday night, the network said it has not singled out any ethnic or religious group for blame in creating its characters.

"24 is a heightened drama about anti-terrorism," the statement read. "After five seasons, the audience clearly understands this, and realizes that any individual, family, or group (ethnic or otherwise) that engages in violence is not meant to be typical.

"Over the past several seasons, the villains have included shadowy Anglo businessmen, Baltic Europeans, Germans, Russians, Islamic fundamentalists, and even the (Anglo-American) president of the United States," the network said. "The show has made a concerted effort to show ethnic, religious and political groups as multidimensional, and political issues are debated from multiple viewpoints."

The current season began with Muslim terrorists waging an 11-week campaign of suicide bombings across America, culminating in the detonation of a suitcase-sized nuclear bomb in Valencia, California, about 26 miles north of Los Angeles. Estimated death toll: 12,000.

Watching the show's characters talk about detonating a nuclear weapon a few blocks from where she works unnerved Sireen Sawaf, an official with the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, and a self-described "huge '24' fan."

"It's a great show, and I do realize it's a multidimensional show that portrays extreme situations," she said. "They have gone out of their way to have non-Muslim terror cells.

"But I'm concerned about the image it ingrains in the minds of the American public and the American government, particularly when you have anti-Muslim statements spewing from the mouths of government officials."

Sohail Mohammed, a New Jersey immigration lawyer who represented scores of detainees caught up in the post September 11, 2001 dragnet, watched the episode depicting the nuclear attack with an Associated Press reporter.

"I was shocked," he said. "Somewhere, some lunatic out there watching this will do something to an innocent American Muslim because he believes what he saw on TV."

Engy Abdelkader, a member of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee from Howell, New Jersey, launched a campaign Wednesday to encourage Muslims offended by the program to complain to Fox.

"I found the portrayal of American Muslims to be pretty horrendous," she said. "It was denigrating from beginning to end. This is one of the most popular programs on television today. It's pretty distressing."

Concerns about Muslims' civil rights, detention of terror suspects in Guantanamo-like holding centers, and stereotyping are given vastly expanded treatment on '24' this year. In one exchange, the show depicts the president's national security adviser challenging the White House chief of staff over the detention of Muslims without criminal charges.

"Right now the American Muslim community is our greatest asset," the security adviser says. "They have provided law enforcement with hundreds of tips, and not a single member of that community has been implicated in these attacks."

"So far," the chief of staff responds.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/19/24.muslims.ap/index.html


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## Charlie (May 13, 2006)

Too f*ckin' bad...................:smt022 :smt033


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)




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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

They could always go back to what ever sandbox they crawled out of.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

Its a tv show.

I grew up in Louisiana - but I put up with a lot of jokes. People from Louisiana are portrayed as idiots in movies quite often - Look at the Water Boy movie...

I gotta deal w/ that. The truth is that the terrosorists who want to kill us are from the middle east. What else would a tv show about terrorism show?


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## -gunut- (May 8, 2006)

Shipwreck said:


> What else would a tv show about terrorism show?


How about Canadians? :mrgreen:


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## scooter (May 9, 2006)

-gunut- said:


> How about Canadians? :mrgreen:


Yeah, the canucks are close enough to launch a snowball bomb at us and we wouldnt have time to react at all!:watching:


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

:smt022 :smt022 :smt022 

A) Cry me a river. It's TV! People need to get a grip! I didn't see Russians protesting last year. 

B) They need to deal. Most of the terrorists now are Muslims. It wouldn't make sense to have the terrorists be a group of Mexicans.

I think that Walther owners should protest that their gun is used to kill people on the show. Ship and Jenglish need to get a class action suit going. 

Sometimes people in the country make me sick.


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## Shipwreck (Jan 26, 2006)

Todd said:


> I think that Walther owners should protest that their gun is used to kill people on the show. Ship and Jenglish need to get a class action suit going.
> 
> Sometimes people in the country make me sick.


I agree


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## js (Jun 29, 2006)

I'd leave a comment about muslims... but I'm too busy wiping my ass with Quran, so I'll have to get back to you...


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## Todd (Jul 3, 2006)

js said:


> I'd leave a comment about muslims... but I'm too busy wiping my ass with Quran, so I'll have to get back to you...


Infidel! :mrgreen:


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## 2400 (Feb 4, 2006)

-gunut- said:


> Being portrayed again as the heartless wrongdoers has drawn renewed protests from Muslim groups...
> 
> Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said Thursday she was distressed by this season's premiere. "After watching that show, I was afraid to go to the grocery store because I wasn't sure the person next to me would be able to differentiate between fiction and reality."
> 
> Watching the show's characters talk about detonating a nuclear weapon a few blocks from where she works unnerved Sireen Sawaf, an official with the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council


:smt022 :smt022 :smt022 :smt022 :watching:


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## jenglish (Dec 29, 2006)

boo fricken hoo! :smt022 :smt022


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## jenglish (Dec 29, 2006)

Shipwreck said:


> I agree


I second.


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## big dutchman (Jan 9, 2007)

it does bother me that these muslims consider themselves to be arabic OVER american. i have no problem with people immigrating into the US as long as they become americans, think and act american. this was how our fine country was founded. as for the rest: you will be happier where you came from, we won't prevent you from returning to your country.


Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith 
becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality 
with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, 
or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an 
American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who 
says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but 
one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English 
language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American 
people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907


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## Waffen (Feb 8, 2006)

They are just going to have to get over it... So sad...


W


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## js (Jun 29, 2006)

Todd said:


> Infidel! :mrgreen:


Why yes... Yes I am... :smt023


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## SigZagger (Aug 16, 2006)

> "The overwhelming impression you get is fear and hatred for Muslims," said Rabiah Ahmed


Well, they should hire a public relations firm to tell the American public that muslims are good people. All I ever see and hear about muslims is they hate Americans (christians in general) and are killing and blowing up everything in sight...world-wide. If they don't like American television, drive to the airport and catch a flight back to the middle east.


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## Charlie (May 13, 2006)

js said:


> Why yes... Yes I am... :smt023


Damn, js, your shirt is cooler than mine!


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## 2400 (Feb 4, 2006)

Charlie said:


> Damn, js, your shirt is cooler than mine!


I got one of those shirts for Christmas. :smt033


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## Silly (Nov 19, 2006)

*What???*

Yeah, the television program it going to influence perception of Muslim/Islam people. Maybe they should have thought about that before 9/11. FFFFFFF Them and the sandbox they came from. Being American means that you can handle the B.S. on T.V. and not get upset. Anybody that believes that you can come to America and not have to adapt to the American culture is wrong!!!!!! Speak English and enjoy the freedom. If you are a foreigner and do not agree then get the F out.


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## redfox (Jan 12, 2007)

I take no sides but I do believe people need to respect each others culture and understand that not every single person can be judged because of the wrong doings of a few. there are bad WHITES, BLACKS, ASIANS, INDIANS, JEWS, MUSLIMS, CHRISTIANS,GAYS, STRAITS and all the OTHERS i didnt mention.JUST IMAGINE IF WE ALL AS HUMANS WERE TO BE JUDGED by another life form or animal.
LETS REMEBER people
NOT EVERY WHITE PERSON IS A KLAN MEMBER.
NOT EVERY BLACK MAN IS A BURGLAR.
NOT EVERY CHRISTIAN HATES JEWS.
NOT EVERY MUSLIM IS A TERRORIST.
AND NOT EVERY AZZ WHO OPPOSES GUN OWNERSHIP IS AN IDIOT.(I take that 1 back, but you get the picture):smt066


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## Thor (May 11, 2006)

24 is based on current events. Guess what Muslim people, it's YOUR fellow believers that are trying to kill us!! Where I see the larger problem is the fact that the Muslims are far too quiet in opposing radical Islam. Sure, there are a few Muslim voices out there opposing radical Islam, but not that many. Instead they get pissed off about cartoons, free speech and many other things that may not be congruent to the Islamic faith and start riots and kill people. It's not just the fact that Muslims are fighting our troops, but the larger fact that Muslims are killing old men, women, and children, without regard to faith or the fact that these people are innocents of ANYTHING. There are some 1.5 BILLION Muslims in this world and 10% of them are radical Muslims. Regardless of it being a small percentage, that still equates to some 150 MILLION radical Muslims out there, blindly following their leaders and trying to destroy everything not Muslim and even then, some things that ARE Muslim.


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## js (Jun 29, 2006)

Thor said:


> 24 is based on current events. Guess what Muslim people, it's YOUR fellow believers that are trying to kill us!! Where I see the larger problem is the fact that the Muslims are far too quiet in opposing radical Islam. Sure, there are a few Muslim voices out there opposing radical Islam, but not that many. Instead they get pissed off about cartoons, free speech and many other things that may not be congruent to the Islamic faith and start riots and kill people. It's not just the fact that Muslims are fighting our troops, but the larger fact that *Muslims are killing old men, women, and children, without regard to faith or the fact that these people are innocents of ANYTHING. There are some 1.5 BILLION Muslims in this world and 10% of them are radical Muslims. Regardless of it being a small percentage, that still equates to some 150 MILLION radical Muslims out there, blindly following their leaders and trying to destroy everything not Muslim and even then, some things that ARE Muslim*.


+1


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## SigZagger (Aug 16, 2006)

> It's not just the fact that Muslims are fighting our troops, but the larger fact that Muslims are killing old men, women, and children, without regard to faith or the fact that these people are innocents of ANYTHING.


Good and valid point. Remind you of past history? Anyone? How about the Nazi's. The attempt to create the master race of the world. Now, the uniform has changed. But the idea and theme for today is the attempted takeover for a master religion of Islam.


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