#1 Radio talkshow host suggests killing muslims can bring peace
Posted: 16/08/2004 06:38
Radio talkshow host suggests killing muslims can bring peace http://www.boston.com/news/local...construed/
By Michael S. Rosenwald, Globe Staff | April 27, 2004
Radio talk show host Jay Severin said in an interview last night that perhaps he should have acknowledged that he wasn't talking about all Muslims in the United States last week when he said to a caller, "You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them."
Severin, who on his show yesterday afternoon vehemently defended the comment, said that anyone who listened to his show for "any length of time longer than 10 minutes has heard me say that Muslims are not our enemies, that all Muslims are not terrorists."
"But, thus far, all the terrorists killing us are Muslims, and that distinction is one I have made every single time, including last Thursday, and every single time that we have discussed the topic of Islam and the war on terror, as those of you who listen, at least most of us who listen know," he said on yesterday's show.
In a telephone interview later, he said: "I have so many times offered the disclaimer that I didn't feel it necessary to utter the words, `You know, the ones who are killing us.' I appreciate that under the surgical circumstances here that I wish I kind of had." But he added, "I can't assume that everyone party to the conversation joined it five seconds ago."
"I guess," he said, "that I didn't sufficiently hit the refresh button."
The Globe reported on Sunday that the Council on American-Islamic Relations received a complaint in which a listener told the organization that Severin had said, "I've got an idea, let's kill all Muslims."
Severin's employer, WTKK-FM, declined to offer a tape or transcript of last Thursday's show, but the Globe obtained a copy from a radio monitoring service yesterday. Severin's comment, "You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them," came at the end of a conversation with a caller named Chris from Rhode Island who suggested that the United States befriend Muslims in this country "to help us root out their leaders who aren't really Muslims."
As part of his response, Severin said, "I believe that Muslims in this country are a fifth column. . . . The vast majority of Muslims in this country are very obviously loyal, not to the United States, but to their religion. And I'm worried that when the time comes for them to stand up and be counted, the reason they are here is to take over our culture and eventually take over our country."
He said: "My suspicion is that the majority of Muslims in the United States, who regard themselves as Muslims first and not as Americans really at all, see an American map one day where this is the United States of Islam, not the United States of America. I think it pays to harbor those suspicions."
Toward the end of the conversation, Severin asked, "Do you think we should befriend them?"
The caller said, "Well, I see Muslims in this country, they seem to like freedom."
"Would you answer my question?" Severin said. "Do you think we should befriend them?"
"I think we should . . ." the caller said before being interrupted.
"I'm going to try one more time," Severin said. "The host takes pains to phrase questions sometimes and in a fashion such, the appropriate reply is a yes or a no. This is a three-strike state; you're about to get your third strike. Do you believe we should befriend them?"
"Yes," the caller said.
"I've got good news for you: We have," Severin replied. "Thanks for the call and that's what I'm worried about."
Then, introducing another caller, Severin said: "I have an alternative viewpoint. It's slightly different than yours. You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them."
Speaking on yesterday afternoon's show about that specific comment, Severin said: "To anyone who may have been offended by misunderstanding or misconstruing my remarks, I want you to know that I regret that. This is never my intention."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington advocacy group, said Severin's explanation of the "kill them" comment "is a common dodge."
"Whenever someone attacks Muslims or Islam or gets called on it, they say they didn't mean the moderate or peaceful ones, that they only meant to harm those militant radical Muslims, when what they are really saying is that they meant all Muslims," Hooper said.
By Michael S. Rosenwald, Globe Staff | April 27, 2004
Radio talk show host Jay Severin said in an interview last night that perhaps he should have acknowledged that he wasn't talking about all Muslims in the United States last week when he said to a caller, "You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them."
Severin, who on his show yesterday afternoon vehemently defended the comment, said that anyone who listened to his show for "any length of time longer than 10 minutes has heard me say that Muslims are not our enemies, that all Muslims are not terrorists."
"But, thus far, all the terrorists killing us are Muslims, and that distinction is one I have made every single time, including last Thursday, and every single time that we have discussed the topic of Islam and the war on terror, as those of you who listen, at least most of us who listen know," he said on yesterday's show.
In a telephone interview later, he said: "I have so many times offered the disclaimer that I didn't feel it necessary to utter the words, `You know, the ones who are killing us.' I appreciate that under the surgical circumstances here that I wish I kind of had." But he added, "I can't assume that everyone party to the conversation joined it five seconds ago."
"I guess," he said, "that I didn't sufficiently hit the refresh button."
The Globe reported on Sunday that the Council on American-Islamic Relations received a complaint in which a listener told the organization that Severin had said, "I've got an idea, let's kill all Muslims."
Severin's employer, WTKK-FM, declined to offer a tape or transcript of last Thursday's show, but the Globe obtained a copy from a radio monitoring service yesterday. Severin's comment, "You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them," came at the end of a conversation with a caller named Chris from Rhode Island who suggested that the United States befriend Muslims in this country "to help us root out their leaders who aren't really Muslims."
As part of his response, Severin said, "I believe that Muslims in this country are a fifth column. . . . The vast majority of Muslims in this country are very obviously loyal, not to the United States, but to their religion. And I'm worried that when the time comes for them to stand up and be counted, the reason they are here is to take over our culture and eventually take over our country."
He said: "My suspicion is that the majority of Muslims in the United States, who regard themselves as Muslims first and not as Americans really at all, see an American map one day where this is the United States of Islam, not the United States of America. I think it pays to harbor those suspicions."
Toward the end of the conversation, Severin asked, "Do you think we should befriend them?"
The caller said, "Well, I see Muslims in this country, they seem to like freedom."
"Would you answer my question?" Severin said. "Do you think we should befriend them?"
"I think we should . . ." the caller said before being interrupted.
"I'm going to try one more time," Severin said. "The host takes pains to phrase questions sometimes and in a fashion such, the appropriate reply is a yes or a no. This is a three-strike state; you're about to get your third strike. Do you believe we should befriend them?"
"Yes," the caller said.
"I've got good news for you: We have," Severin replied. "Thanks for the call and that's what I'm worried about."
Then, introducing another caller, Severin said: "I have an alternative viewpoint. It's slightly different than yours. You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them."
Speaking on yesterday afternoon's show about that specific comment, Severin said: "To anyone who may have been offended by misunderstanding or misconstruing my remarks, I want you to know that I regret that. This is never my intention."
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington advocacy group, said Severin's explanation of the "kill them" comment "is a common dodge."
"Whenever someone attacks Muslims or Islam or gets called on it, they say they didn't mean the moderate or peaceful ones, that they only meant to harm those militant radical Muslims, when what they are really saying is that they meant all Muslims," Hooper said.
