![[Skip to Page Content]](graphics/skip_sliver.jpg){kind=small}
|
       |
 
 |
The Link ArchivesTitle: Arab Defamation in the Media: Its Consequences and Solutions About This Issue “Appalling acts of hatred,” was President Bush’s description of the rash of incidents against Arab-Americans in the wake of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. In Boston’s Charlestown district, for example, Ahmad Taha, 41, heard a voice at midnight outside his apartment telling him to “move out or you’ll die.” That morning his landlady said she had received several calls from neighbors with friends and relatives in the armed forces demanding his ouster. Taha, a Palestinian American, moved. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) reports three to four such threats each day, as opposed to one a week prior to the invasion. The image of the ugly Arab has been manufactured, in large part, by the entertainment industry. NBC’s soap opera “Santa Barbara” recently built a story line around a mythical Arab oil-producing kingdom whose inhabitants were depicted as backward, irrational, lustful, deceitful and violent. Following the Iraqi invasion, radio station WDFX in Detroit asked listeners to phone in “bad Iraqi jokes,” some of which the station’s own general manager acknowledged “crossed the line.” And some disc jockeys have been playing pop songs dubbed over with blatant Arab stereotyping. Which brings us to Casey Kasem, himself a former disc jockey, now celebrating his 21st year on radio as the crackling voice that is synonymous with radio’s musical countdowns. If you don’t know him, ask any teenager. Over the past few years, Casey has done TV spots and specials aimed at combating alcohol abuse, drunk driving and hunger, as well as a major campaign against smoking for the National Cancer Institute. Several times he has been arrested for his stand against nuclear weapons and homelessness in America. He is a board director of FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) and has helped the Foundation for Mideast Communications hold workshops that bring Arabs, Jews and others together to discuss conflict resolution. When the anti-Arab incidents broke out in August and September, Casey went on the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour, CNN, and the Phil Donahue Program to help correct the negative Arab perceptions. When we asked him to do this issue on his personal feelings about the subject, the man who is known as “America’s DJ,” who was born Kemal Amen Kasem, the son of Lebanese Druze parents, said “Yes” without missing a beat.--John F. Mahoney, Executive Director, December 1990. Contents
|
 |
Special Reports:
|