National Post Column On Religious Id Badges “Unprofessional, And Dangerous”
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Canadian PM Harper’s Response Described As “Embarrassing”
By Dr. Mohamed Elmasry
The Canadian Islamic Congress has denounced as “blatantly false and incompetent” a National Post column by London-based commentator and Iranian exile Amir Taheri that ran on Friday (May 19). In it, Taheri claimed Iran had passed laws that would soon require non-Muslims — especially Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians — to wear identifying colours or badges.
Based on Taheri fabrication the National Post front page story on May 19, 2006 was “IRAN EYES BADGES FOR JEWS” with a front page photo of “A Jewish couple wear yellow stars in the Budapest ghetto in 1944.”
“To print this alarmist drivel by a proven dubious source represents the worst of unprofessional journalism,” today’s CIC statement said. “It was unprofessional, and dangerous for the National Post to lead a frenzied pack of major Western newspapers in giving space to this so-called news story, without checking any of its ‘facts’ at the source.”
And it is even more shameful for Canada, the CIC continued, that “Prime Minister Stephen Harper would rush in to affirm that Iran is capable of enacting the ridiculous extremes that Taheri’s column suggests. Harper is just as guilty as the National Post for not doing his homework.”
Iranian government legislators — including the country’s only Jewish MP –were also quick to condemn the numerous falsehoods and inaccuracies in Friday’s Post article.
The Toronto Star reported on May 20 that “Repeated calls to Post editor-in-chief Doug Kelly went unreturned. The paper’s website ran a story headlined “Experts say report of badges … is untrue.”
While authorities have confirmed that regulations regarding clothing styles have been approved in principle — mainly as a deterrent to expensive and provocative Western designer apparel, as well as advertising logo wear –many of the specifics have yet to be worked out.
The proposed new laws make no mention of religious minorities, much less of identifying them, as Hitler did in 1930s Germany. “But that didn’t deter the National Post from running Taheri’s column with photos of the yellow stars that the Nazis made all Jews wear,” the CIC noted. In its annual reports from an ongoing monitoring project called Anti-Islam in the Media, the CIC has repeatedly found the National Post to be the worst offender in Canada for its repeated, unmitigated use of discriminatory, divisive, and stereotypical terms or epithets referring to Muslims and Islam.
“Based on its track record, we are unfortunately not surprised to see that the Post accepted this sensationalist and dangerously twisted article,” the statement continued. “Regardless of subsequent stories that now show the Taheri column to be full of falsehoods, a great deal of preventable damage has been done. This is a new low for the National Post.”
The CIC is demanding the Post make an official admission of factual error and apologize, particularly to Canadian Muslims, for knowingly conveying a false impression of Islamic morality and principles.
For some other interesting reading on this subject please see:< br/>
Fake but Accurate< br/>
The War Party fabrication factory is revving up its motor again. Destination: Tehran
@ May 24, 2006