ADC Chicago slams WLS Radio talk Show Host hate speech

AMERICAN-ARAB ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Fadi Zanayed
JANUARY 7, 2009
707-257-7755

(ADC) Chicago Launches Discrimination Watch List To respond to incidents of discrimination and media bias

WLS Radio Host Erich Mancow Muller cited for outrageous call to kill Hamas people

Chicago – The Chicago Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Chapter today issued a letter to Mr. Mike Fowler, President and General Manager of WLS AM Radio to express outrage for the comment made by Erich “Mancow” Muller that “Hamas people should be lined up and killed” during today’s morning broadcast. While ADC does not speak for the political party of Hamas, we do take offense to any language that would cause tensions to be escalated toward the American-Arab community.

As we witness a growing atmosphere of hatred and animosity, comments like this cross the line and encourage more hate. Everyone knows that when Mancow or anyone else refers to “Hamas people,” they are in fact referring to Arabs, Muslims and particularly Palestinians.

The Chicago Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee monitors media bias and hate speech and we believe this offensive commentary falls into the category of hate speech, especially given the circumstances that have engulfed tensions between Arabs and Israelis in the past week.

We are demanding that Mr. Muller apologize for his comment. We feel that while he has the right to express his viewpoint, advocating violence only serves to create an atmosphere in which hatred can persist. We also insist on having one of our distinguished community members appear on Mr. Muller’s show to present what we feel is a balanced reply to the clearly racist show he had on today.

In the meantime, ADC-Chicago is placing Erich Mancow Muller and his midday program at WLS AM Radio on the ADC Chicago Discrimination Watch List. We plan to circulate our protest and any responses we receive from you or the station to our community to increase their awareness about these issues.

The ADC Chicago Discrimination Watch List is a part of the ADC Chicago “Rapid Response Committee” to monitor instances of discrimination, bigotry and bias on the part of the news media, government officials and other public agencies.

The committee is managed by the ADC Chicago Executive Committee and chaired by ADC Board member Ray Hanania.

ADC Chicago will soon be launching a new web site at www.ADCChicago.com where a Discrimination Watch List will be published and members of the Arab American community can come to report alleged instances of discrimination and bigotry.

The ADC Chicago Chapter will carefully review all allegations and immediately request clarification from individuals and organizations accused of discrimination or bias.

Our purpose is not to punish those who discriminate but to instead stop the discrimination by heightened awareness and vigilance. As the premier Arab American organization in the United States, ADC is vested with the responsibility to stand up for its community. We take that charge seriously and will work to help sift through the difficult issues of discrimination and hopefully make a difference not only for our community but for American society as a whole.

We urge anyone who feels they may have been discriminated to visit our web page and to submit facts involving cases of discrimination.

In many cases, we believe confronting the issues can resolved in a rapid resolution of the problems and prevent them from being exacerbated.

Some cases, however, will be referred to attorneys for possible legal action. All of the instances will be documented and all responses will be posted on our web site.

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