MEDIA SHOULD NOT CALL TERRORISTS "ISLAMIC," GROUP SAYS

MEDIA SHOULD NOT CALL TERRORISTS "ISLAMIC," GROUP SAYS

In an apparent reference to recent reports about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, the international Organization of the Islamic Conference, has charged that "some circles" had attempted to associate "such evil" with Islam, which, the group said, "condemns, scorns and outlaws" terrorist deeds. The attacks, the OIC said, were the acts of "deviant and fanatic individuals." It added that reporters "who refer to the perpetrators as acting on behalf of Islam help them by offering them justification, anchor and premise that they don't have or deserve." However, Robert Spencer, who oversees the website JihadWatch.org, which has been called an "Internet hate site" by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told CNSNews.com, a unit of the conservative Media Research Center "[The OIC] is trying to hoodwink the U.N. and the West into passing speech codes that will forbid non-Muslim analysts from connecting any act of violence or terror to Islam, even when the perpetrators themselves make that connection. This will render the West mute and defenseless in the face of continuing Islamic jihadist aggression."

04/12/2008