CAIR: Canadian Newspaper's "Tabloid Journalism" Promotes Islamophobia
CAIR
CAIR-CAN ACTION ALERT #44
NATIONAL POST'S "TABLOID JOURNALISM" PROMOTES ISLAMOPHOBIA
Canadian newspaper uses disinformation and distortions to smear popular
Islamic website
(Ottawa, Canada - 8/28/2001) - CAIR's Canadian office (CAIR CAN) is calling
on Muslims to protest a series of three articles in The National Post that
used distortions and disinformation to create anti-Muslim hysteria by
suggesting that an Islamic website in Canada is recruiting terrorists.
(According to Islamway.com representatives, the site was never actually
based in Canada, a fact that could have been determined by a simple phone
call.)
The articles were written by National Post reporter, Stewart Bell, in
response to complaints from the B'nai B'rith Canada about the website,
Islamway.com.
(Earlier this month, CAIR's Washington, D.C., office called on Jewish
organizations to repudiate materials distributed at a Washington, D.C.,
news conference by B'nai B'rith International that claimed Islamophobia,
the irrational hatred of Muslims and Islam, is an "invention" that can
never exist. CAIR said the incident was but one of many attempts by pro
Israel extremists to vilify and demonize Muslims.)
Based on a private posting on Islamway.com, the initial article stated that
Islamway.com was a "Montreal website used to recruit Islamic terrorists,"
and that the posting "is the latest suggestion that Canadian-based Islamic
militants are being recruited for terrorist training in Afghanistan." The
article concluded its alarmist tone by highlighting that Ahmed Ressam, who
intended to detonate a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport, received
his training in Afghan camps.
Subsequent articles in the Post continued to smear the website and restated
the sensationalist innuendo linking Islamway.com to terrorist recruitment.
The articles also raised the spectre of cyber-terrorism in Canada and
concluded by quoting alleged hostile emails from Muslims threatening the
life of Stewart Bell and his family. The Post did not say whether the
emails quoted were representative of the responses received. Only negative
responses were selected and printed.
To view the articles, go to www.nationalpost.com, and type "Stewart Bell"
in the search box.
"We have come to expect anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias from the National
Post, but this string of inflammatory and distorted articles is
unconscionable. Using sensationalistic language and decontextualizing key
facts, the articles smear an Islamic website and create an alarming
atmosphere of Islamophobia in Canada," said CAIR CAN Executive Director
Riad Saloojee.
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ACTION REQUESTED (Be FIRM yet POLITE. As noted above, hostile comments
WILL be used to harm the image of the Muslim community.)
Contact the following to protest the use of the National Post's "tabloid
journalism" to smear Islamway.com and create an atmosphere of Islamophobia.
Ask for an investigation as to how the misinformation and distortions came
about and request that editors at the National Post meet with a delegation
of Canadian Muslims.
CONTACT:
Ken Whyte - Editor-in-chief
300 - 1450 Don Mills Road,
Don Mills, Ontario
Canada, M3B 3R5
Tel: 416-383-2301
Fax: 416-442-2209
E-mail: kwh...@nationalpost.com
COPTY TO: nha...@nationalpost.com, rmack...@nationalpost.com,
mnew...@nationalpost.com, aun...@nationalpost.com,
sb...@nationalpost.com, ontp...@interlog.com, Can...@cair-net.org
Focus on the following TALKING POINTS:
1) Innuendo and distortions should not substitute for objective reporting.
2) Is the National Post going to hold itself to the same standard that it
used on Islamway.com, by accepting responsibility from posts by private
individuals? By this standard, the National Post could logically be called
an anti-Muslim newspaper as posts on its own forum page have called Islam a
'psychotic religion,' argued '[A]nd what have the Muslims ever given us,
Nothing,' and, stated, 'If you believe they are interested in peace, you
are truly naive. Islam is a religion of holy war, not peace.'
3) Why did the National Post rely exclusively on information given by a
partisan lobby group for a foreign state?
4) Why did the Post selectively cite emails that were hostile and not those
that provided a voice to the justifiable outrage felt by Canadian Muslims?
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Council on American-Islamic Relations CANADA
P.O. Box 67058, Westboro RPO,
340 Richmond, Ottawa, ON K2A 0E8
Tel: (613) 798-0003
Fax: (613) 798-9645
Email: can...@cair-net.org
URL: www.cair-net.org
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