10:08PM
O'Reilly on Islam
Issandr El Amrani
It's an uncomfortable fact of life for Muslims that the most prominent terrorists of our times commit murder in the name of their religion. That is something that has caused a fair amount of soul searching in the Islamic world, even if it is sometimes muddied by conflicting thoughts on other problems that preoccupy Muslims like imperialism and occupation.
Of course, you wouldn't turn to the O'Reilly Factor for thoughtfulness when tackling that debate. Here is what Bill O'Reilly said in an interview with Franklin Graham, the son of the popular American televangelist Billy Graham, who is holding a "crusade" in New York this weekend:
None of this is a surprise, of course, but what pisses me off the most about this exchange is that O'Reilly comes back to is obsession media conspiracy to hide the fact that the people behind recent acts of terrorism are Muslims. Does he live on a different planet? Is the American media really hiding the religion of the perpetrators? I seem to remember cover pictures of Muslims with the headlines "Why do they hate us?" right after 11 September.
The funny thing is, as I went to read the transcript of interview, the sidebar on the Fox News site had the following link to a video:
If you can find the segment (there's no way to link directly to it), watch it. It's incredible in that you actually have Bill O'Reilly saying things like:
You can catch the whole segment if you go the page linked above. Pretty sickening.
Of course, you wouldn't turn to the O'Reilly Factor for thoughtfulness when tackling that debate. Here is what Bill O'Reilly said in an interview with Franklin Graham, the son of the popular American televangelist Billy Graham, who is holding a "crusade" in New York this weekend:
O'REILLY: Now, the problem that many of us — I'm a Christian. I'm a Catholic. And the problem that we have is that our enemy, our primary enemy, is centered around Allah. And most media people sweep that under the carpet.
GRAHAM: Yes.
O'REILLY: But if Islam didn't exist, there wouldn't be a war on terror. That's the fact. Now, we know that Islam has been hijacked by extremists and that most Muslims aren't terrorists and don't wish us ill. We know that. But how do you deal with an enemy that is religious-centric?
None of this is a surprise, of course, but what pisses me off the most about this exchange is that O'Reilly comes back to is obsession media conspiracy to hide the fact that the people behind recent acts of terrorism are Muslims. Does he live on a different planet? Is the American media really hiding the religion of the perpetrators? I seem to remember cover pictures of Muslims with the headlines "Why do they hate us?" right after 11 September.
The funny thing is, as I went to read the transcript of interview, the sidebar on the Fox News site had the following link to a video:
If you can find the segment (there's no way to link directly to it), watch it. It's incredible in that you actually have Bill O'Reilly saying things like:
"Why does Britain let so many Muslims - if you go to London, Edgware Road and other areas of London - it's just packed with dense Muslim neighborhood , which just breed this kind of contempt for Western society. Why do they let them in?"
You can catch the whole segment if you go the page linked above. Pretty sickening.
Reader Comments (2)
Guess there's no point in trying to answer O'Reilly's question reasonably, but it seems obvious to me, a non-expert, that the UK lets in lots of immigrants from countries formerly under its dominion. That's why there are so many Jamaicans in England as well. And many of the countries of the former empire have large Muslim populations (Pakistan, anyone?)
But O'Reilly is just being a bigot.
Too bad, too, because there was a time when persons named O'Reilly were considered deeply suspicious in the USA. "No Irish or dogs allowed" was the famous sign on saloon doors in 19th century New York. Catholics, too, were so objectionable to the then Protestant majority, well into the 20th century, that JFK almost lost the presidency in 1960 because so many protestants didn't want a Catholic in office. The Pope might "influence" him to do malevolent things to American society, was the fear. Really, my own American Protestant relatives had this belief.
I also like that James Carafano, Heritage Foundation National Security analyst, is pontificating on Muslims. In my own lifetime men with names like his couldn't get hired at the best New York law firms and stock brokerages - "too many vowels in his name". Italians were lower on the ladder than the Irish, because of their coloring and 'funny' names.
This Muslim bashing is just another form of ethnic bigotry born of fear and ignorance. It's shameful and I'm sorry my countrymen (Americans) still suffer from it.
I've been a Fox fan for years and also an O'Reilly fan but this is beyond the pale. First of all his reference to Allah being the center point of terroristic activities illustrates his ignorance that Allah is the arabic name for God. Second, he states that if there were no such religion as Islam there would be no terrorism. Huh? On what planet does he reside. Has he taken a look at what goes on everyday in Palestine? The occupation is the highest form of terrorism and you must add curfews, checkpoints, land grabs, collective punishment. Does Mr. O'Reilly know who perpertrated the massacre at Deir Yassin? And please, let's not forget the Crusades carried out by the Catholic church in the name of God. I guess without Islam, Tim McVeigh would have never done what he did or Eric Robert Rudolph. Mr. O' Reilly needs a lesson in history and religion.