I’ve subscribed for a long time to all of CAIR’s newsletters — CAIR stands for Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR’s site). Some rightwingers like Daniel Pipes think it’s got terrorist ties. But he’s nuts. (That’s hate speech too, isn’t it — but he can take it, I’m quite sure.)


Today’s newsletter asks us all to take an action step against hate speech, and I hope we’ll all pitch in:

The Southern California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) announced today that KFI-AM 640 radio and talk show host Bill Handel have apologized for mocking the deaths of Muslims on Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. Handel has also been reprimanded in writing ,B>by the station for his “insensitive remarks.”


CAIR-LA recently called for the apology and reprimand after being contacted by concerned Muslims who heard Handel’s January 12 broadcast, in which he made light of the more than 300 pilgrims who died in a stampede during this year’s Hajj.


Here’s what KFI-AM host Bill Mandel said about the pilgrims’ deaths, according to a CAIR site story:

Handel: “And what happens every year when you have a zillion Muslims…ah, you get stampedes, as I said earlier. You get, you know, hundreds of thousands of people pouring across and all you need is one…one little word: ‘Mohammad up there is a Jew.’ (Imitates people screaming) Ahhhh! And they start screaming, right? Or, I think there’s a fire here. Or…mouse on the floor, and everybody goes crazy…”


Handel: “…What they need is sort of ‘Mahmoud Nolan in the Sky’ to control all this.” (Note: Mike Nolan does the traffic report for KFI from his helicopter.)


Man with heavy accent: “This is Mahmoud Nolan. Hajj in the Sky. There is an accident…Ali lost his sandal on the on-ramp to the Martin Luther King, Jr. freeway…”


Handel: “. . .that’s our annual stampede report from the Hajj, which we do every single year right here on KFI, and thank you to Mahmoud in the Sky.” (MP3)


Handel also referred to Islam as a “strange religion.”


Muslims says Handel has a history of making Islamophobic remarks. In March 2004, he aired a skit that claimed Muslims have sex with animals, avoid bathing and are obsessed with killing Jews. KFI was forced to apologize after many Muslims responded to a CAIR alert about the incident.


Here’s the link to all the contacts you can make to protest Handel’s remarks.(I’ve also reprinted all the contact info below. At the end, CAIR asks YOU to “cc” them.) I think he should be fired. This is not satire. This is hate speech. In my opinion.

ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be firm but POLITE. Hostile comments WILL be used to further defame Islam and Muslims.) Contact KFI and Clear Channel Communications, the station’s parent company, to demand that they apologize to the American Muslim community and reprimand Bill Handel for his Islamophobic remarks.

CONTACT:

1) Greg Ashlock, Regional Vice President
Clear Channel Radio
3400 West Olive Ave., Suite #550
Burbank, Ca. 91505
TEL: 818-566-6301
FAX: 818-729-2510

2) Robin Bertolucci, KFI Program Director
TEL: 818-566-6476
FAX: 818-729-2510

3) Mark Mays, President and Chief Executive Officer and Lowry Mays,
Chairman of the Board Clear Channel Radio, 200 Basse Road, San Antonio,
TX 78209
TEL: 210-822-2828
FAX: 210-822-2299

E-MAIL: programming@kfi640.com, robinbertolucci@clearchannel.com, gregashlock@clearchannel.com, bill@kfi640.com, JaniceUngaro@clearchannel.com, justinlevine@clearchannel.com, pr@clearchannel.com, MarkPMays@clearchannel.com, LLowryMays@clearchannel.com, lisacdollinger@clearchannel.com, KFINEWSDIRECTOR@KFI640.COM

COPY ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO: socal@cair.com, cair@cair-net.org

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To subscribe to CAIR’s newsletters, go to its news release page, and look in the left column. There, you’ll see “JOIN CAIR-NET: Receive daily news through email!” Submit your e-mail address. That’s all it takes.