The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is urging its members to contact MSNBC to express their discontent. The group has also filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.
According to the Washington-based CAIR, on Friday (Nov. 19) an on-air personality pretended to be a "senior military affairs adviser" on the "Imus in the Morning" program. He referred to a wounded Iraqi who was shot and killed by a U.S. Marine in a mosque as a "booby-trapped raghead cadaver."
Imus, broadcast on 90 radio stations in addition to MSNBC, often engages in caustic humor and criticism bordering on cruelty. But CAIR said this comment crossed the line into bigotry.
On Nov. 12, Imus engaged in an on-air discussion with a colleague during footage of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's funeral.
"They're stupid to begin with, but they're brainwashed now," the colleague said, referring to Palestinians. "Stinking animals. They ought to drop the bomb right there, kill 'em all right now."
This past spring, CAIR launched a campaign called "Hate Hurts America," which is specifically aimed at what the group identifies as increasing anti-Muslim attacks on talk radio.
In a letter to NBC President Neal Shapiro, CAIR national communications director Ibrahim Hooper wrote, "We are firm defenders of the First Amendment, but these hate-filled and racist remarks can only serve to legitimize anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry in our society and could lead to further discrimination against members of the Islamic and Arab-American communities."
On Tuesday (Nov. 23), MSNBC spokeswoman Leslie Zeller Schwartz issued a statement pointing out that views expressed on the Imus program are not those of MSNBC.
"Having said that, it was unfortunate that these remarks were telecast on MSNBC," she said. "We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by these remarks."
That didn't satisfy CAIR.
"I suppose we should appreciate the fact that they responded at all," said Hooper. "But it's hard to characterize it as a strong apology."
