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AAI, ADC and MPAC Send Letter to ABC News
AAI
Posted on Tuesday January 16, 2007
Robert Iger
President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company
David Westin
President, ABC News
Jim Murphy
Senior Executive Producer, Good Morning America
The Walt Disney Company
77 West 66th Street
New York, New York 10023
Dear Mr. Iger, Mr. Westin and Mr. Murphy,
We are gravely concerned that ABC News has hired Glenn Beck as a regular commentator on “Good Morning America.” As a talk-radio host and during his tenure with CNN, Beck has consistently fueled his commentary with vitriol and falsehoods aimed at stirring resentment towards Arabs and Muslims.
His addition to Good Morning America would disseminate his prejudiced, openly-hostile and ignorant commentary to an even broader national audience, and diminish the credibility of your reputable and highly-rated news show. To provide a platform for his hateful speech is dangerous and irresponsible, and we strongly and urgently implore you to reconsider this move.
Several disturbing instances highlight Beck’s blatant anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias:
On August 10 and September 5, 2006, Beck stated that Arab and Muslim Americans are apathetic to terrorism – completely ignoring the positive contributions of the community, especially in regard to national security – and warned that Muslims “who have sat on [their] hands the whole time” rather than “lining up to shoot the bad Muslims in the head” will face dire consequences. One of those consequences being that Muslims will be “looking through a razor wire fence at the West.”
On November 14, 2006, Beck interviewed then Congressman-elect Keith Ellison and asked him to “prove to me that you are not working with our enemies” simply because of Ellison’s religious affiliation.
On November 15, 2006, Beck said he was surprised by a letter written by an American criticizing Al Qaeda because “the man who wrote it is a Muslim.”
These are only a few instances of his inflammatory rhetoric. Many more examples can be provided.
We urge you to reconsider your hiring of Glenn Beck. Additionally, we are formally requesting a meeting with you and Good Morning America’s producers to address this troubling situation. We hope this can help us to establish a dialogue with ABC/Disney to ensure that the company’s decisions reflect an accurate understanding of the Arab and Muslim American communities. We hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience to address this timely matter.
Signed,
James Zogby
President, Arab American Institute
Kareem Shora
Executive Director, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Salam Al-Marayati
Executive Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council
