The curse of being different:: New Age Xtra

This article was originally published in New Age Xtra on July 30, 2010

The curse of being different

by Syed Tashfin Chowdhury

The First amendment of the US constitution evidently promotes the freedom of speech. It is the freedom of any American to say what he/she feels without limitations or censorship. While most Americans are quite proud of it, the amendment provided the American media with the leeway to criticise and protest about any and all violations of the amendment, even in other nations. However, of late, the amendment is being violated rampantly in the US while the US government, the natural guardians of the constitution, totally ignores the incidents.

During May of this year, Rima Fakih became the first Muslim Arab to win the Miss USA 2010 pageant. While her taking the stage clad in a bikini annoyed most Muslims, she also suffered some controversy due to a ‘pole dancing’ stunt she had performed years ago during her teens and some images of her in lingerie. As soon as the clips and images hit the net, it brought about a barrage of exclusive reports on most of the major media outlets like Fox, CNN and others. On the internet forums, there were comments from various ‘patriotic Americans’ ridiculing her religion, with some even calling her a ‘Hezbollah sympathiser’ due to her Lebanese background. Some media and freelance journalists even sought links between her family and the Hezbollah, leading to some experts considering whether it would be best to strip her off her Miss USA title. However, Donald Trump stuck to his decision and she was allowed to hold onto the title and will now be appearing in the upcoming Miss Universe 2010 pageant.

 In June came the Helen Thomas controversy.

The most recent of all these incidents occurred with Octavia Nasr, CNN’s senior Middle East editor, who had served the company for around 20 years.   

Following the death of the Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah on July 4, the man who established the Hezbollah in Lebanon, Octavia had posted the following on her CNN twitter account: ‘Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot.’

The tweet was immediately picked up by anti-Hezbollah and ‘extremely influential Jewish associations’ like the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for one, who released immediate statements, demanding Nasr to ‘apologise to all victims of Hezbollah terrorism whose loved ones don't share her sadness over the passing of one of Hezbollah's giants.’

On July 6, Nasr responded through a blog on the CNN website that her initial message was ‘simplistic’ and ‘an error of judgment’. She went on to explain that having interviewed the Ayatollah for the Lebanese television in 1990, he had earned her respect through his stance for women's rights and mostly against ‘honour killings’.

However, the damage was already done. On July 7, Nasr was called in by her bosses at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. Later, the New York time quoted an internal CNN memo from the senior vice-president, Parisa Khosravi, which said: ‘We have decided that (Nasr) will be leaving the company. At this point, we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.’ The memo also mentioned that the tweet ‘did not meet CNN's editorial standards.’

Later Nasr, wrote on her blog: ‘Reaction to my tweet was immediate, overwhelming and provides a good lesson on why 140 characters (Tweeter limit) should not be used to comment on controversial or sensitive issues, especially those dealing with the Middle East.’

While most international media protested the outcome of the incident, the leading US ones seem to be just fine with the decision. After all, who has the nerves to take on the ‘giants’ that control the most powerful economy in the world!