By Matea Gold
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) NPR's decision to fire news analyst Juan Williams for controversial remarks he made about Muslims on airplanes was not only roundly criticized by conservatives Thursday but was viewed with alarm by Soros, logged as one of President Obama’s frequent White House guests, appreciates that a human-rights mantra, particularly when amplified with the U.N.’s global megaphone, is a formidable tool for manipulating public policy. A tool, mind you, and not a principle.some Muslim-American activists and scholars.
Public radio executives defended the move, saying that Williams' comment on Fox News violated the news organization's ethics guidelines and undermined his credibility. Williams said Monday on "The O'Reilly Factor" that he worries when he sees Muslims in traditional garb on airplanes.
But some prominent Muslim thinkers expressed concern Thursday that his firing would contribute to what appears to be a widening gulf between Muslims and non-Muslims in the United States.
"The greater American public remains unsure about Islam and very often hostile about Islam," said Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic Studies at American University, who examines the divide in his new film and book, "Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam."
Ahmed said he was disappointed by Williams' comments. But he added that NPR's abrupt firing of the news analyst "does not bring the temperature down against Muslims. … Now the debate is, are we being oversensitive to Muslims?"
The flap over Williams' remarks is the latest example of how the topic of Islam has become a political live wire in this election year, perhaps even more than in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The latest furor was kicked off last week when Fox News host Bill O'Reilly made an appearance on ABC's "The View" and declared "Muslims killed us on 9/11." That prompted co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar to walk off the stage.
That was the incident O'Reilly and Williams were discussing Monday night when the latter said, "I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they're identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried." He also noted that it was not fair to cast all Muslims as extremists.
"We as a country are engaged in a very wild and woolly conversation about Islam and Muslim-Americans," said Suhail Kahn, a conservative activist who is Muslim-American, noting that minorities such as Catholics, Jews and Japanese-Americans have faced similar hostility throughout U.S. history. "Sometimes the conversation is thoughtful and sometimes it's ugly."
But Kahn said NPR overreacted in letting Williams go. "While Juan's comments may have been a little rough around the edges, he was voicing an honest opinion and trying to articulate his personal questions and struggles with perceptions in regards to Muslims," he said.
The decision drew an avalanche of complaints against the media organization. By Thursday evening, more than 5,400 comments had been posted on NPR.org, many of them angrily accusing the organization of political correctness. Conservative leaders such as Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called for cuts to NPR's funding.
NPR receives no direct federal money for its operations, but between 1 percent and 3 percent of its $160 million budget comes from competitive grants awarded by publicly funded entities such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National
In a piece for FoxNews.com Williams called his firing "an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff." He said his discussion with O'Reilly included "no support for anti-Muslim sentiments of any kind."
My Notes:
"The greater American public remains unsure about Islam and very often hostile about Islam," ... Wrong! In a poll taken by Fox News after the firing of Williams, 86% of Americans voted that they, too, are fearful of Muslims in traditional garb flying on planes.This morning, it was revealed that William's firing came two days after his comment on Fox News - enough time for the NPR to be influenced by one of its major contributors, George Soros, the liberal darling of this administration. Soros has, to-date, contributed 1.8 Million to NPR, and another MILLION earlier - TWO MILLION DOLLARS can purchase freedom of speech under the guise of manipulation, for the politically correct crowd.
NPR will go bankrupt for its decision, just as another liberal radio station did when it became too "liberal" even for liberals!
More about Soros: "Soros, logged as one of President Obama’s frequent White House guests, appreciates that a human-rights mantra, particularly when amplified with the U.N.’s global megaphone, is a formidable tool for manipulating public policy. A tool, mind you, and not a principle." .... http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2010/09/george-soros-perfect-storm.html
Bee Sting
