[Peace0fM1nd]

Yesterday 3/6/11 on BBC1 at 9pm the host of a satire show made a comment which was basically saying that Makkah is a breeding ground for suicide bombers. Look, DON'T IGNORE THIS! Put a complaint in to the BBC. It's not going to take long. It will literally take you one minute to do it if you just copy and paste what Brother Tahir Hussain has written below. Feel free to change it or make your own comment.

Go To: https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/

Channel: BBC One

Program Name: Have I Got News For You

Transmission Date: 03/06/2011

Complaint Category: Offence

Summary: Sharon Horgan comment about Mecca and suicide bombers.

Full Complaint: On "Have I Got News For You" (Fri 3rd June) aired 9pm on BBC1, the host Sharon Horgan on 25 minutes said "...not to be confused with the Mecca for suicide bombers... which is Mecca".

As a Muslim I found this comment crass, offensive, in poor taste and an utter waste of tax payers money going to people who either cannot exercise restraint in their views or who are complicit in broadcasting these views to millions of people. It is unacceptable.

I am upset that you would broadcast this to millions when you could have easily cut the "joke". It was a sick comment which only serves to reinforce the Islamaphobic negative stereotype and perpetuate prejudice against Islam and its followers. Is your corporation supporting the ridicule of my religion? The real culprit here is the BBC. You didn't have to broadcast the comments or repeat them on your iPlayer service, you saw them before it was aired and you obviously deemed it fit for broadcast so you are just as much to blame.

Ignorant views such as this only help fuel hatred. How can you justify this? You are supporting this by broadcasting such comments. What kind of standards are you setting? I suggest you make an on-air apology at the end of next weeks show. I look forward to hearing from you.



*EDIT: WOW... surely this must be a record breaking thread for neg reps ever! lol, plus it's ironic how some people are so wound up with it and trust me i can take a joke but frankly the BBC has failed to make me (and many MANY others) laugh on this occasion. Surely they can write better material than that and also bring back Brian Blessed!!




**p.s. to all those under the umbrella of 'it's only a joke', why did the BBC apologise to Eamon Holmes for making 'jokes' which he was offended by - the BBC made an apology to him >> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10684974 READ IT
did all you people go and attack Eamon Holmes for complaining then??? hypocrites

[Jingers]

Do you understand the concept of jokes?

[MancStudent098]

It was fairly crass and not particularly funny, surprised it made it to the edited version if it did (although I've only watched the unedited one). On the other hand I don't personally think that's a good enough reason to censor it or anything to apologise about. Also worth bearing in mind that it wasn't 'her' joke, she was just reading from the autocue.

[Cinamon]

I found it funny and it didn't cause me to hate Islam and it's followers.

[L i b]

(Original post by Jingers)
Do you understand the concept of jokes?

Apparently not.

The text bits of that Youtube video involve some of the loosest logic I've ever seen.

[B-Man.]

I didn't find it offensive or funny

(Original post by Bilco)
It was a joke. That show takes snipes at everyone. No need for Muslims to take it any worse than the rest of us. Chill.

Who says Muslims are taking it worse? Jokes about any religious group will receive complaints. The only difference is that TSR users doesn't make threads when Non-Muslim groups write letters of complaint about a show.

[The Owl of Minerva]

I posted this on another topic pertaining to the same issue:

I think complaining that Muslims can't take jokes is taking the whole issue of religion from a very ethnocentric viewpoint.

Muslims from immigrant backgrounds grow up in a a very religious/conservative environment. Whereas Europe has gone massive secularization since The Reformation, Muslims and Islam has not.

I think one needs to understand where the inability to take jokes comes from and be a bit more sensitive to the issue rather than going, "Why can't they take my jokes?".

Also we live in a very charged atmosphere where many Muslims feel that their religion is being attacked from two sides, the fundamentalists and Modernism. Seemingly harmless jokes tend to ignite flames in such an atmosphere.

Nevertheless, one should understand that popular culture and religion has never gone together and that Jokes such as these never dent a religion and one should be a bit more lax about it.

[Bilco]

It was a joke. That show takes snipes at everyone. No need for Muslims to take it any worse than the rest of us. Chill.

[Planar]

They knew this was a secular country. Get over it.

[gradjobplease]

No to needless censorship.

[Eye of Ra]

If the truth offends, then that's your problem....

You can't censor the type of humour which is part of the national psyche, just because it hits a raw nerve....

She is not attacking pilgrims to mecca, she is attacking suicide bombers, who in almost 100% of cases, are moslems who pray towards Mecca....

[L i b]

(Original post by Planar)
They knew this was a secular country. Get over it.

Er, no it isn't.

[boba]

and then next week they will post an apology they don't mean just like everytime people go crazy and complain. will that really be such a great achievement?

[-Invidious-]

You can see it in their faces right after, the moment when they knew that joke would have repercussions.

Muslim's will probably start complaining to the BBC saying they are a tolerant religion, suicide bombers aren't muslim and they should apologize for the joke etc. But tbh it just reinforces stereotypes that they aren't tolerant. Best thing to do here would be to take it on the chin.

[bill-e]

(Original post by Eye of Ra)
If the truth offends, then that's your problem....

You can't censor the type of humour which is part of the national psyche, just because it hits a raw nerve....

She is not attacking pilgrims to mecca, she is attacking suicide bombers, who in almost 100% of cases, are moslems who pray towards Mecca....

stop spewing bollucks

[MedicineStuudent]

off with her head

[beesbees]

Waaambulance on its way.

[amiparanoid]

(Original post by Eye of Ra)
If the truth offends, then that's your problem....

You can't censor the type of humour which is part of the national psyche, just because it hits a raw nerve....

She is not attacking pilgrims to mecca, she is attacking suicide bombers, who in almost 100% of cases, are moslems who pray towards Mecca....

Hmm, they're not. But this is beside the point.

The BBC wrote a bad joke, so what? I'm not about to start writing angry letters.

[sunshiyne]

(Original post by B-Man.)
I didn't find it offensive or funny

me too.

[Fynch101]

That wasn't funny at all
I would prefer to complain on the grounds that their writers get a pay cut until they start coming out with decent material rather than on the grounds of racial hatred.

Its a shame most non muslims don't realise quite how poor this is.