BBC Mecca Suicide Bombers "Joke" - Have I Got News For You

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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.

And a mass complaint at a joke doesn't? Here's a little nugget of truth for you, if this doesn't turn into a massive controversy, then Islam and those who practise it will GAIN RESPECT in the wider community.

At the moment this is reinforcing stereotypes much, much worse than the joke ever did.

Reply 21

sunspoon

It was a joke. I would be applauding the show and the BBC's liberalism and ease of dealing with sensitive issues in a lighthearted way rather than stoning them to death for it.

Reply 22

Boristhethird

how dare she make a joke!!

Reply 23

Faith01

What is the URL of the page?

Reply 24

Rhadamanthus

Why would I copy and paste a complaint which states I am a Muslim when I am in fact not a Muslim?

Besides that, it was a joke.

Reply 25

amenhotep

Original post by L i b

Er, no it isn't.

Unrelated to OP, but why do you say that?
I'm not trying to be smarmy or anything, I just thought it was a secular country and thought that everyone felt the same way.

Reply 26

Sovietpride

I will be most offended, quite frankly, if the BBC *does* issue an apology X_x.

Reply 27

rY4uGD1fMzBj4xe2

I think I'm going to ignore it, tbf.

Reply 28

Miss_Scarlett

Original post by gradjobplease

This, this and this.

Reply 29

killer whale

I thought it was very funny!

Humour is the best weapon against terrorism. The more jokes on this subject the better for our society.

As for the ridiculous po faced campaign, the BBC should just ignore it.

Nothing to see here. Move on.

Reply 30

jinglestingles

Woman with bare arms on TV = Muslims aren't permitted to look at her or talk to her.

Reply 31

mevidek

go, get a life and actually try to understand jokes, rather than find something insulting in them. This is the thing I hate about Muslims - you make a joke and they get really offended, when every other religion laughs it off as well. :facepalm2:

It wasnt funny (imo at least) but neither are a lot of the stuff comedians come out with, so why should this recieve any more attention than the offensive jokes other comedians come out with?

Reply 34

planetearth

It was funny, and I'm a Muslim, but I can understand why some might feel insulted, because it was a bit too blunt, crude and predictable.

Reply 35

hatemylife

Original post by Peace0fM1nd

As a Muslim I found this comment crass, offensive.

As a Catholic, I find your existence crass and offensive.

Reply 36

ANTI-GADDAFI

I'm a Muslim, and I watch and enjoy "Have I got news for you", "Mock the week", "never mind the buzzcocks" etc. But seeing this, regardless of it being funny or not, was too much of an insult.

I don't wanna hear somebody saying that Mekka is where Suicide bombers are, because I go there, I love it there, and the atmosphere is amazing. Comments like that are very demeaning and insulting, I do not accept it. This adds further to islamophobia, which is already too high.

I gaurantee with the amount of complaints BBC are going to get, there will be a news bit about this. You'll see.

Reply 37

tieyourmotherdown

The joke is appalling, but it's hardly worth complaining over. If you watch Have I Got News For You and are shocked when you hear an offensive comment, you're really watching the wrong programme.

Reply 38

jinglestingles

Original post by 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.

Not racial (you shoulda seen that coming) but ideological.

It is decent. It's biting and unsafe (some would say literally - and that might be a reason why it's funny), which is good. Yes it's blunt, but anything negative about Islam has edge.

The mast majority of suicide bombers are Muslim. They act in the way because they have been told (incorrect though it might be) it's wonderful according to their Islam.

And Mecca of Muslims is Mecca of Muslim suicide bombers (some Muslims might say they're not Muslim, but these suicide bombers would disagree and they revere Mecca just as much).

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 39

Alia223

I think that the problem with the growing Western culture is that people nowadays feel there is no limits to what they can joke about - and that causes tension between religions, culture, etc.
People need to know there limits, literally -