"Silence, I kill you" indeed
Wait a minute. Aren't we supposed to believe that Muslims condemn and abhor terrorism? At least until someone mocks an Islamic terrorist. Then suddenly one has offended all Muslims. But if they really condemn terrorism, wouldn't they find Achmed the Dead Terrorist inoffensive and maybe even helpful?
Free Speech Death Watch Update: "Comedian Defends 'Achmed the Dead Terrorist' Puppet Routine Against South African Ban," by Joshua Rhett Miller for FoxNews, October 2 (thanks to Sidekick):
It's no laughing matter.Funnyman ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is fuming after a ringtone advertisement based on his popular comedy skit, "Achmed the Dead Terrorist," was scrubbed from South African TV because it mocks Islam.
The ringtone was taken from a puppet routine performed by Dunham, a native Texan, in a TV special on Comedy Central. A 10-minute clip of the comedian's routine that was posted on YouTube has been viewed more than 66 million times since April.
But the government of South Africa doesn't think it's funny. According to iafrica.com, South Africa's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that a GloMobile ringtone commercial featuring Dunham and his puppet was offensive to Muslims.
The commercial depicts Dunham holding his skeletal puppet, Achmed, dressed with a white cloth around his head and demanding that the audience keep quiet, uttering, "Silence! I will kill you!"
ASA officials said a South African man, Moegamat Khan, had filed a complaint that the commercial was offensive to the Islamic religion and created an impression that all Muslims were terrorists.
Questions: Have you ever seen a Muslim spokesman say, "Hey, we really liked this anti-terror presentation"? Have you ever seen a Muslim spokesman say, "Hey, we really liked this anti-terror presentation because it stated that not all Muslims are terrorists"? Have you ever seen a Muslim spokesman react to an anti-terror presentation without saying that it gave the impression that all Muslims were terrorists, even when the presentation in question explicitly denied that all Muslims were terrorists -- as does Obsession?
And the ASA agreed. "To associate this divine inspiration to a terrorist is offensive to the people who believe in [Muhammad]," the authority ruled. Muslims make up 2 percent of South Africa's population.But Dunham begs to differ. In a statement to FOXNews.com, he said: "Achmed makes it clear in my act that he is not Muslim, so I'm sorry the gentleman Khan didn't see my entire show.
"I've skewered whites, blacks, Hispanics, Christians, Jews, Muslims, gays, straights, rednecks, addicts, the elderly, and my wife. As a standup comic, it is my job to make the majority of people laugh, and I believe that comedy is the last true form of free speech."...
Achmed is not Muslim? How insanely PC.
"Achmed makes it clear in my act that he is not Muslim, so I'm sorry the gentleman Khan didn't see my entire show.
"I've skewered whites, blacks, Hispanics, Christians, Jews, Muslims..."
Ok, so if Achmed isn't an example of how he has skewered Muslims, please give us an example, Mr. Dunham.
Hey, Achmed has been one of my key spiritual advisers! I'm offended and demand an apology plus several hundred million dollars in reparations.
We know that Achmed is muslim.
Jeff Dunham needs to just say 'so what' and get on with 'the show'.
And Achmed needs to just bring this whole thing into his act.
Is it still ok to make fun of Nazis?
SILENCE!!!
I'm sure the S Africans have bigger problems than this.
And so it starts in South Africa....;o(
i was going to say something but i'd been told to SILENCE!!! and being a good dhimmi, i don't have any choice but obey.
i was going to say something but i'd been told to SILENCE!!! and being a good dhimmi, i don't have any choice but obey.
Posted by: theygottago
And therein lies the true meaning of peace!
Halloween isn't that far off! Will it be banned because Muslims find it offensive?
How about skeleton costumes? Will they remind too many people of Achmed the Dead Terrorist and so be banned lest they make Muslims uncomfortable?
What's with making people comfortable anyway? And how come the shoe is never on the other foot? Why have Muslims never been called upon to open up Mecca and Medina to those who appreciate history? Those two hamlets weren't always Muslim. They have a pagan shrine in the middle of one of them. Pagans are being kept away from their heritage.
South Africa's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that a GloMobile ringtone commercial featuring Dunham and his puppet was offensive to Muslims.
From the article.
So, what, exactly, does this mean? What authority does ASA have outside it's little advertising domain? What are the penalties for flouting the "ban" and telling ASA to take a flying leap? Will YouTube be blocked? If not, then this sounds like not such a big deal beyond knowing that there are dhimmis in South Africa. Is there anyone there with stones willing to take ASA to South Africa's version of a court and challenging this in the name of freedom of speech?
"Achmed is not Muslim? How insanely PC."
http://www.islam-qa.com/en/ref/22809
This act may be construed as being an insult to Mohammed, and therefore someone think it is their divine right to kill him. Since he has a wife, and kids, which he needs to support. To reduce the likely hood that his act will lead to his death, the artist artfully supposes that his puppet is not a Muslim. Reverse taqiyya used as a life preserver.
Not insane, smart it’s just the sort of multicultural world we now live in nowadays.
"Achmed makes it clear in my act that he is not Muslim"
Oh, right. Give us a break. Yeah, "he" is Mohammedan. What do you think we are? Stupid?
Is it still ok to make fun of Nazis?
Posted by: MP at October 2, 2008 4:43 PM
But, MP, we wouldn't want to OFFEND them!
Obviously no, you can't make fun of Nazis...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3QVeyVe03s
Does anyone remember the t-shirts with the pink triangles worn by gay activists back in the 1980s, that read, "Silence is Death."
Words never more true.
Achmed makes it clear that he is a terrorist and dead. If Muslims are offended.......................Does this mean all Muslims are terrorists? No! It can't be! Where is CAIR? Where are the PC police?
Seriously, it doesn't mean that all Muslims are terrorists. What it does mean is that all terrorists are Muslims.
This is censorship.
Guys ... guys ... (and ladies ) ...
Achmed is NOT a Muslim, because he's dead.
You can't practice Islam if you're dead.
I mean, you can flop forward at prayer time, but you sure can't get back up on your own (unless you figure out how to do a Muslim 'Weekend at Bernie's' thing).
There, problem solved.
No, that's not right...
Put aside that this is a puppet's only distinctive is being a terrorist (apparently these critics have some difficulty distinguishing "terrorist" and "muslim". Now where did they pick that up?)
Let's grant, for the sake of argument, that "Achmed" is in fact supposed to portray a muslim, to represent muslims as a whole.
Then the bit perhaps portrays the muslim community as demanding others remain silent on the issue of terrorism ... and as associating this demand with threats of violence ... I kill you!
The critics response? Well, some are trying to silence the puppet, and before long some of their friends will probably threaten to kill the puppeteer.
Wait a minute. Aren't we supposed to believe that Muslims condemn and abhor terrorism? At least until someone mocks an Islamic terrorist. Then suddenly one has offended all Muslims.
.........................................
Yes--odd how this works, isn't it? Now, I'm of European extraction, but I don't find a mocking of the Klan or neo-Nazi skinheads offensive to myself, or to other white Americans. I find these groups entirely abhorent, and *welcome* their being mocked or condemned. I do not believe that a comedy routine specifically skewering these groups would in any way imply that all caucasians are Klansmen or Nazis.
more:
Achmed is not Muslim? How insanely PC.
.......................................
Well, that *is* insane. It is one thing for Jeff Dunham to emphasize that he is in no way implying that all Muslims are terrorists. But to claim that a character named "Achmed the Dead Terrorist" is not meant to be Muslim strains credulity...
(By the way--I've never seen the act, but just the visual of this turbanned, pissed-off skeleton is pretty hilarious)
Hi,
First time on Jihad Watch. I have followed it for some months and wish more people would wise up to Islam.
I live in Cape Town where the muslim population is considerably higher than 2%. I am sick and tired of the way muslims use freedom of religion to force their medieval customs on non-muslims.
Two well known South African comedians, one non-muslim and one muslim (a qualified medical doctor) have had to stop making jokes on stage about muslims because they received death threats for "insulting Islam".
Welcome, Mohammed Bear! (I love your username. For anyone who doesn't know the reference, you can google "jihadwatch" and " mohammed bear" and find the whole story).
We have posters here on JW from all over--The US, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, even the ME--I'm not sure we have anyone else from South Africa. I for one would be very interested in conditions there. I hope you post again with more info.
Gravenimage
It kinda looks like the martian leader from "Mars Attacks!", after his head exploded of course.
The old bomb in the turban trick.
According to the CIA fact book, the Muslims form 1.5 % of the total population of South Africa. About 70 % of the population is at least nominally Christian, of various traditions. There are also Hindus, nonreligious people, and those who follow traditional African animist beliefs.
My other source, which - by the way - is of South African authorship, Johnstone's 'Operation World' [2001] notes that "Muslims exercise an influence far greater than their numbers *with many holding high office in the government* [my emphasis added]."
It also notes 'many are of the Cape Malay and South Asian communities, but there are now over 40 000 Africans who have become Muslims'.
The so-called 'Cape Malays' (240 000) "mainly live around Cape Town and are part of the Afrikaans-speaking coloured community'.
The 'Asians' are described as follows: "mainly in the Durban area of Kwa-Zulu-Natal". "Nearly 23 % of the South Asian community is Muslim" [50 % of Indo-S Africans are Hindu].
Mohammed Bear - feel free to correct or amplify this picture.