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Emails to the MCB on issues and events since Sept 11
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Page 155
| 12 /01/ 2004
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| John Fitzpatrick
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I wish to offer my support and congratulations to the MCB for your stand
against Robert Kilroy Silk. It seems to me that Mr Kilroy Silk routinely
uses racists remarks to drum up free publicity and then gets off the hook
with an apology.
An article in the Daily Express November 9th 1992 forced him to make a
public apology to the Irish. No further action was taken by the BBC or the
Express. Further details can be found here:
http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2391796
As I'm sure you are aware he also wrote an article January 16th 1995 which
caused great offence to the Muslim Community and for which he has never
made an apology (probably because the complaint was not upheld by the
PCC). In other words he didn't apologise because he didn't "have to".
So Mr Kilroy-Silk is a serial racist and this is at least his third
offence. It would be a shame if he gets off the hook with an apology and a
boost to his TV ratings.
Regards
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| 12 /01/ 2004
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Salaam,
I have just read that MCB have dismissed Kilroy's so-called "apology" out of hand. I am happy to hear this as Kilroy's "I regret the offense my comments have caused" reads as "I regret the fact that I've been taken to task over my comments."
It is by no means "I regret what I wrote and apologise for the offense they caused."
I am glad that the MCB have the linguistic sophistication to pick up on Kilroy's diseased word-play.
Perhaps when the MCB make a statement demanding a "full apology," you should mention that the actual word "sorry" is completely absent from the Kilroy statement. Also, "full and unequivocal apology" sounds a little more concise.
I would also advise the MCB to send a message out on your emailing list telling Muslims to email the BBC again to say "we Muslims don't accept this pretend-apology." For it is surely the BBC that Kilroy must satsify if he wants his show back. This would turn up the heat another notch or two.
I myself have written for Q News and EMEL if you ever need an another editor / writer for your work. I must say though - you are doing a magnificent job as it is: keep up the pressure!
Respect to Br. Sacranie, Br. Inayat and the rest...
Wassalaam,
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| 12 /01/ 2004
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| Robert Black
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Dear Sir,
I am a retired white, non Muslim 56 year old Scottish Council employee.
Had I or anyone else with whom I worked In the City of Edinburgh Council, said what Kilroy wrote in the Express newspaper, there would have been a definite expectation of being dismissed for gross misconduct.
Whether or not KIlroy Silk apologies in full, the BBC should sack him, otherwise the BBC's Anti Racist and Equal Opportunities Policies will be brought into disrepute.
Yours faithfully,
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| 12 /01/ 2004
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I would just like to respond to Sue Hudson’s(09/01/04) little rant. She seems to think that MCB and “people like you” have not done enough to condemn 9/11 and that Kilroy-Silk is sticking up for her and others who are fed up.
What, I wonder, does she feel constitutes ‘doing enough’ to condemn terrorist attacks, and why should Muslims have to go out of their way to condemn them all the time and in that sense *prove* we don’t support such activities. Muslim groups and leaders world-wide DID condemn 9/11, when it happened, 2 years on we’re still not apparently doing enough? Sue, wake up and stop being so ignorant. Why don’t you click on page 1 or 2 of the emails sent to MCB, you will see that they did condemn the 9/11 attacks and were even mentioned by Tony Blair in a speech for having done so!
You are obviously of the same racist ilk as Kilroy-Silk with your “go back” if you don’t like the west attitude, and Muslims do not need people as bigoted as YOU to tell us its fine for us to live here, as long as we take criticism of our religion! Ignorant as you are, you obviously don’t realise that Kilroy-Silk was being racist towards arabs and not in this case talking about Islam.
It’s reassuring to see that comments like yours are far out-weighed by comments of support to MCB.
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| 12 /01/ 2004
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Miss Marie Xenophontos
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Dear all at MCB,
I have just emailed this letter on to the BBC and I am forwarding it to you for your interest. Well done for making a strong stand against this disgusting example of racism.
Marie
Dear BBC,
Re: Kilroy's vicious racist attack in the Sunday Express on 4th January 2004
I applaud your decision to suspend Mr Kilroy-Silk's programme. I would just like to register my disgust at his comments however, and stress that it will be wholly unacceptable for this man to ever return to our screens.
His comments were blatantly racist and moreover dangerous. It is a criminal offence to incite racial hatred and I am glad to hear that the Commission for Racial Equality has referred this matter to the police. It is a very serious one indeed. I was disturbed to find out that this is not the first time Mr Kilroy-Silk has made such deplorable comments - he has made attacks on Irish people and even more vicious attacks on Muslims in the past. I am amazed therefore that this is the first time he has been punished by the BBC. He made comments in 1995 in which he called Muslims 'evil' and 'backwards'. Incredible then that he has been allowed to remain on the BBC all this time.
The BBC is a public service provider meaning that it should behave strictly in the public's interest at all times. I would therefore urge you to terminate this man's contract permanently. I have just returned from the U.S.A where I was surprised to see just how well-respected the BBC is over there. It would be incredibly harmful to the BBC's reputation if it were to reinstate this racist, bigoted and vile presenter who has no qualms about making such vicious attacks on a group of people who are by now no stranger to persecution. Muslims have without a doubt been used as scapegoats by greedy governments and the media has shamelessly assisted in promoting this mass anti-Arab hysteria which is well past verging on the ridiculous.
Mr Kilroy-Silk must be extremely ignorant or have another agenda, it is hard to tell which as his comments are so incredibly stupid. He committed career suicide the moment he chose to write - yet another - racist article. It was not a comment blurted out in the heat of the moment; it was a carefully constructed piece for a regular column and is totally inexcusable. I appreciate the fact that you have suspended him and are investigating the matter however his words are there for all to see, in black and white.
At these increasingly sensitive times his words are all the more hard to take in. This man does not deserve to come away from this disgusting episode without facing serious repercussions and apart from hopefully never working on the BBC again, I sincerely hope the police takes this matter as seriously as it is.
Yours sincerely,
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| 13 /01/ 2004
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| Imran
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Having read most of the emails posted I am filled with so much happiness that the Great British public, except for Sue “Go back to your own country” Hudson, feel that kilroy Silk was indeed racist. People have made the comment regarding freedom of speech. I have to say that people have every right to say what they want to, but people in the public eye and especially newspapers have to take a moral and in this case a sensible standpoint.
Yes there are countries where there are human rights violations, but the problem with Kilroy was his sweeping generalization and the venom in which he wrote his column.
Some of the less intelligent who have written in say “Don’t complain about freedom of speech, if you don’t like it you can leave (you should have thought of something a bit more original Sue)”, I’d like to put this to you. How about if a black or asian celebrity wrote in a national newspaper that all white men are paedophiles and they have an unhealthy interest in young girls. Looking at the cases over the last few years, regarding missing or murdered teen or preteen girls, a white man has always been found guilty. This is a shocking and downright disgusting accusation, as offensive as the comments made by Kilroy Silk. Do you find them offensive (all you people who wrote in about freedom of speech). Would you complain? I think you would. You cannot generalise about a whole race, community or gender, because it is WRONG.
Regards
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Page 155
For further information please contact the MCB:
The Muslim Council of Britain
Suite 5
Boardman House
64 Broadway
Stratford
London E15 1NT
Tel:0208 432 0585/6
Fax:0208 432 0587
admin@mcb.org.uk
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