 Radio host goes on anti-Muslim tirade
Washington DC, 2007 Nov 2, IQNA
A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group called on radio listeners of all faiths to contact companies that advertise on Michael Savage's nationally-syndicated radio program to express their concerns about the host's recent anti-Muslim tirade.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Savage, whose "The Savage Nation" airs on nearly 350 radio stations nationwide, screamed attacks on Muslims, Islam and the Quran, Islam's revealed text, during his October 29, 2007, program. A number of concerned listeners contacted CAIR about Savage's attacks on Islam.
Michael Savage has a long history of rhetorical attacks on Muslims and other minorities. In 2004, Savage stated: "I think [Muslims] need to be forcibly converted to Christianity...It's the only thing that can probably turn them into human beings." In 2006, he called for a ban on Muslim immigration and recommended making "the construction of mosques illegal in America."
"Michael Savage obviously cares little about the safety or civil rights of American Muslims, but the stations that carry his hate-filled rants do care about listeners' attitudes toward advertisers who pay to air commercials during his program," said CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin. "Americans of all faiths should take a few minutes to contact any local station that broadcasts Savage's inflammatory tirades to say they will not buy the goods or services of his advertisers."
Michael Savage, the pseudonym of Michael Alan Weiner, is a San Francisco-based right-wing author and radio personality, commonly referred to as Savage. Savage's daily syndicated radio program Savage Nation appears on approximately 350 stations, reaching an estimated weekly audience of 8 million listeners. Savage Nation is syndicated by Talk Radio Network, which also syndicates right-wing personality Laura Ingraham.
Rubin added that hate-filled words can and do lead to violent actions against American Muslims. She said there have been several recent apparently bias-related incidents targeting mosques, Islamic institutions and Muslim individuals nationwide.
In Ohio, Nazi swastikas and the phrase "white power" were spray-painted on a Toledo Islamic school and rocks were thrown at worshipers outside a Columbus mosque. In Texas, a shot was fired into a mosque. In New York, a Muslim woman was badly beaten in a bias attack. In California, arsonists torched one mosque and a group of men attacked another. In Maryland, vandals slashed the tires of vehicles owned by a Muslim activist.
CAIR's latest annual report on the status of American Muslim civil rights showed a 25 percent increase in the total number of complaints of anti-Muslim bias from 2005 to 2006.
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