U.K.: Comedy show host threatened over suicide bomber joke

“giving the message that the holiest site in Islam is the centre of all terrorism and that Islam is inherently linked with violence"
"the message that Islam has something within its fundamental beliefs that makes it a threat to civil society"
"implies that all Muslims are terrorists and all terrorists are Muslims.’"

It does nothing of the sort. It does however imply that a very, very large amount of terrorism is based on the fundamental beliefs of Islam and that Saudis very, very often are right of the center of it. Also that we all are aware of it in some way, but that it is best not talked about loudly in public and in polite society ...if you know what's good for you.

Actually this "Muslim Public Affairs Committee" expresses the problem more clearly than many an Islamophobe is capable of.

The joke received a slightly uncomfortable reaction from the studio audience

Having watched this I had the same uncomfortable reaction - that's not to say it wasn't funny, it most certainly was and most of the audience probably thought it was too - but I remember thinking 'Jeez, she's putting her life on the line there!' At the very least I reckoned all the Islamic supremacists and useful idiot apologists would be out in force with their threats and lies about Islam being a religion of peace and the media being islamophobic. Lo' and behold...

Some people put a clip of this joke on youtube with information for how to complain to the BBC about it and a link.

HOWEVER the complaints page has, besides "Make a Complaint", the option to "Send Praise" Which you bet your goddamned bippy I did.

The show was Have I got News For You, aired on June 3rd.

Here is the link so you can send the BBC praise to counteract the impression that people condemn it.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/

In an episode of HIGNFY a few weeks ago the guest host, Alexander Armstrong, made a similar joke. I can't remember the details but it was something about mohammedans stoning rape victims.

I think this trend (if two events can be a trend!) is a result of the growing awareness among the public of the true nature of mohammedanism. I hope HIGNFY have the chutzpah to keep it up!

It's always been one of my favourite shows!

Just watched the segment. the uncomfortable moment occurred after the big laugh, when Horgan grimaced humorously to a grim-faced pair of colleagues.

I suggest that the "uncomfortable" reaction was due to the message of Islam having been communicated all too effectively to the British public, which is, as supported by the hysterical reaction of MPAC, that Islam is a violent totalitarian system and that any one of its many belligerent, violent adherents will seek to kill you for daring to point out its true nature.
It is very telling that audience members, who would probably not know the details of many religions other than their own, have a uniform reaction to jokes about this one.

Re the issue of laughter in the UK BTW, a friend who has spoken to English migrants to Oz told me they say that one of the notable differences between life in Oz and that in the UK (London, anyway, but you know what I mean) is that the sound of laughter is seldom, if ever, heard in the streets; mainly due to the advent of Muslims.
Apparently hearing Aussies laughing in the streets is a strange experience for these immigrants. Interesting isn't it?

Since laughter is generally the feature of confident people, and the UK is busy killing itself, it probably won't have too many jokesters on TV left soon either.

Personally, though I think it's horrendous that Horgan should be receiving threats - but understandable, since the Uk has delibrately arranged itself that way - it's a bit of poetic justice that the BBC is receiving protest threats.
I bet they thought that sort of thing was reserved exclusively for Jews.

The reaction was not an uncomfortable laugh, that is just spin. There was an instant gut reaction laugh to the joke, then a fearfull pause, and then a different, more liberated and defiant laugh.

That they paused and then laughed defiantly shows that many english people have become afraid of islamic supremicists in their midst and know it is something that should be stood up to.

One of the more interesting laughs I have heard.

Here is the information on how to contact the BBC to give praise in relation to this in order to counteract the complaints. Please forward this information to others if you agree with it.

Select "Send Praise"

You will be sent to ther FAQ site to fill something in.

Type of contact: Apreciation
Topic: TV
Channel: BBC One
Program Title: Have I Got News For You
Transmition Date (D/M/y) 03/06/11

Then fill in the info and short comment.

Here is the link again:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/

Now what is real fun, real big fun, is to intimidate, threaten and mock policemen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VVcfzUu4tQ

Campaign group The Muslim Public Affairs Committee said: ‘By making such a comment she is giving the message that the holiest site in Islam is the centre of all terrorism and that Islam is inherently linked with violence.

‘This offhand comment does nothing except reinforce the message that Islam has something within its fundamental beliefs that makes it a threat to civil society Allowing this comment to go unchecked justifies the statement and condones such demonisation, as the comment implicitly implies that all Muslims are terrorists and all terrorists are Muslims.’

Well, uh, yes, that's exactly what she is saying, isn't it? And a masterful job encapsulating this elementary concept in a joke, wouldn't you say?

Is anyone ever going to say what they mean and stick to it?

YES -- MECCA IS THE MECCA OF SUICIDE BOMBERS!

For how long are we going to allow them to threaten us, without so much as a counter threat? Sometimes, I'm not sure which side is more detestable: the savages or the cowards.

Perhaps, as I see it, it's time that non-Muslims threaten those who threaten non-Muslims -- with a show of force greater than that of the enemy.

Either fight back, or give it up and submit.

I watched the show - it was a great joke. It's undoubtedly true, would anyone deny that most (i.e. all Muslim) suicide bombers pray facing Mecca - no of course they wouldn't.

The Muslim Public Affairs Committee are spot on in their analysis. Going by their name I'd imagined they would be a pro not an anti Islam group - but hey maybe Leopard do change their spots.

Will she be the first person to be killed in the name of comedy, rather than ducking for cover all comedians should come out in support by telling similar jokes.

Thanks Truthiocity I just sent a praise comment to the BBC following your link (carpediadem - you should too - they are a bunch of liberal nazis but someone will add up the complaints v compliments).

There is truth in comedy and it has a license to speak. Muslims kill, rape, burn, slash - that ain't funny! Take away the PC and eventually they'll get use to it and see the error of their islamic ways!

''Campaign group The Muslim Public Affairs Committee said: ‘By making such a comment she is giving the message that the holiest site in Islam is the centre of all terrorism and that Islam is inherently linked with violence.

‘This offhand comment does nothing except reinforce the message that Islam has something within its fundamental beliefs that makes it a threat to civil society''

I *love* how the MPAC have shot themselves in the foot here ! Ain't it the truth !

Truthiocity: I left this message on the BBC --

Sharon Horgan should not have apologized to the Muslims for her first-class, spot-on joke. She should have told the Muslim Public Affairs Committee and all other “offended” persons: “It’s the truth, my frail, sensitive darlings. The Mecca of suicide bombers is not Penzance. It’s Mecca. Deal with it. Seek self-esteem therapy, or something. Any more threats from you, and I’ll burn a Koran.”

There are a variety of modes of censorship. The chief one is a government banning certain kinds of speech and promising penal retribution if the ban is violated. The second is the Islamic kind, consisting of dire threats to one's life if one mocks Islam or its faithful.

My god, it was a joke! How many "A priest and a rabbi walk into a bar" jokes have we heard over the years with nary a peep from priests or rabbis or the Catholic archdiocese/Jewish equivalent?

Are comedians now going to be forced to either self-censor their jokes or apologize for offending people now? That's part of their job/appeal. Just as ridiculous was a Canadian comedian recently convicted of hate speech for hurting the feelings of some lesbians who were making out during his show. Disgraceful!

In closing, have you heard about the new Muslim sex doll? It blows itself up!!!!

Ima

See the comments tagged to the end of the HIGNFY video on the
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee website: http://www.mpacuk.org/story/060611/sharon-horgan%E2%80%99s-mecca-suicide-bombers-jibe-have-i-got-news-you-%E2%80%93-joke-or-insult.html

They are disgusting, they state that quote: "Sharon Horgan has accused over a billion Muslims, who have visited Mecca or who intend to visit, of being suicide bombers". This is untrue and grossly inflammatory and tantamount to inciting violence against the comedian. I've complained to the website (on http://www.mpacuk.org/contact )

Here it the text, I recommend others to complain too.

I am writing to complain about the content of the video posted on your website titled: "Sharon Horgan’s "Mecca Suicide Bombers" Jibe on Have I Got News For You – Joke or Insult?".

It is untrue and incites hate. The caption on the video states: "Sharon Horgan has accused over a billion Muslims, who have visited Mecca or who intend to visit, of being suicide bombers".

This is a lie, the comedian said “The Mecca of suicide bombers….is Mecca.” How can you agree to a video that states she accuses all Muslims of being suicide bombers?

Clearly the caption is inciting Muslims commit acts of violence against Sharon Horgan and is therefore illegal.

Unless you take the video down from your site immediately I intend to forward a copy of this complaint to my MP and the police.

In Kuwait there is a stand-up female Muslim comedienne, Salwa al-Mutairi, who delivers a spiel about reintroducing sex slaves. The punch line is that sex slaves will help devout Muslim men preserve their “chastity.” She recommends captive Russian women in Chechnya as the best kind of sex slave. You think I’m joking? See this:

http://www.meforum.org/2930/muslim-woman-seeks-to-revive-institution-of-sex

Oh, excuse me. SHE isn’t joking. Makes you wonder how many Russian women are enslaved in Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Iran. Guess this is the Muslim version of “feminism.” Wahhabist Women’s lib – “lib” standing for Muslim male libido.

John: The Sharon Horgan/BBC video has already been taken down from the MPAC site, for "copyright" reasons.

Skeen66

Must've been in the last half hour then

To paraphrase George Orwell from "Nineteen Eighty-Four":

SpeakCrime is not punishable by death. SpeakCrime IS death.

BIG MOHAMMAD IS WATCHING YOU.

or,

No jokes, please. We're Muslims.

or,

Hold your tongue! Or we'll cut it out!

or,

I will NOT defend to the death your right to disagree with me. I will hurt you. Probably kill you. Now, where did I put that suicide vest?

or, to paraphrase Cyrano de Bergerac, who paraphrased Faust:

Is this the creed that launched a thousand jihads, and burnt the topless towers of Canary Wharf?

She's now back-pedaling like mad upon the realization that Muslims will try and kill her.

Muslim groups are urging a widespread protest at the BBC over a Have I Got News For You joke they say was Islamophobic.

But if anyone misunderstood the intention of the joke – for it was a joke – then I apologise for any offence caused.'...

Islam now headed for "joke riots"? Not enough to riot over Mo' cartoons, the Pope's speech, Koran burning riots, 'peace' blockade busting riots, church building riots, Israel border riots, insulting Islam riots, apostate riots, insufficient 'apology' riots, hate America-UK-Israel riots, drone attack riots, causing 'offense' riots, French banlieus riots, draw Mohammed day riots, 'allah' in the bible riots, pro-Sharia riots, Islamophobia riots... now they will riot over ... a joke?

There is no laughter in Islam, but there are plenty of riots. Sick bunch. Go back on your meds. Mohammed/allah must be laughing his pants off. What a riot! - LOL

There is no fun in Islam, which is part of the reason why making fun of Islam is such a delightful thing to do. There are few phenomena more humorous than that which is humorless. Islam heads the list here. I say mock away because Islam so richly deserves it. In fact, a major element in why Islam is headed for complete marginalization within a century is that it will pretty much be laughed to death, notwithstanding the stupidity of the present Western elites in the media, politics and academia. This will be a good thing. Very good.

"Really hope that people understand this and stop threatening me." I commend Horgan for keeping her cool head. A teachable moment.

‘By making such a comment she is giving the message that the holiest site in Islam is the centre of all terrorism and that Islam is inherently linked with violence.

C-o-rrr-e-ct!!

It was a perfectly good and accurate joke!!! All suicide bombers are Muslims, and their Mecca is... well, Mecca!!!

incidentally her tv show "pulling" is absolutely brilliant and completely free from career and life threatening jokes

Beyond Jihad Watch or this specific story, I have to say I despise the "I apologize if anyone was offended" half-assed apologies that are so common today, by people on all sides of the political spectrum. It's spineless and dishonest. Either say that you apologize for what you said because you concede it was objectively wrong---or else don't apologize at all!!!

Regarding the quote: "Muslim groups are urging a widespread protest at the BBC over a Have I Got News For You joke they say was Islamophobic.":

It is obvious that the 'average' British Muslim isn't that concerned over the joke and that is why these groups have to egg them on.

In part, or in whole, these groups are responsible for the violence and hatred that follows, death threats in this case.

Well, the British Government should now turn the argument propounded by these 'advocacy' groups on its ear.

Namely, state that their public outcry is producing violence and hatred (death threats) that would not have happened had the outcry not been made in the first place.

The Government should also demand an apology from the Muslim community leaders because the very act of protesting is an act that portrays European Brits as racist and hateful.

The British Government next should 'go after' as many members in these groups as they can.

Specifically, those who have come to Britain and attained citizenship. They should be charged with breaking their citizenship oath.

As I understand it, part of the citizenship pledge goes:

"I will give my loyalty to the United Kingdom and respect its rights and freedoms. I will uphold its democratic values. I will observe its laws faithfully and fulfil my duties and obligations as a British citizen."

To me, it is obvious that inciting violence and hatred (over a joke) as these Muslims did, is a breach of this oath.

That's 'Deportation Time for Bonzo'.

For this approach to work, the judiciary in Britain has to be willing to uphold the letter and the spirit of the law. They have to respect the word "faithfully" that appears in the citizenship oath and interpret it broadly and appropriately.

This also means that the judges must uphold the oath that they swore when they became judges. That oath requires them to uphold the law and protect society. It does not require them to UPHOLD POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.

How the concept of Political Correctness was coupled to rendering legal judgments escapes me. It is not as though a Political Correctness Law was actually passed (maybe I'm wrong on this thought).

Political Correctness is a social philosophy not a legal concept. The judges can be as Politically Correct as they want to be when they are not presiding over a court case but once on duty they have to do their duty as opposed to doodoo their duty.

If judges won't uphold the law and protect ALL of those living in Britain they should be replaced with judges who actually understand the law and understand why they are on the bench and who are willing to render judgements accordingly.

This may seem to some to be a subversion of Democracy but I would say that it is the complete opposite.

It is the judges (among others) in European countries who have subverted democracy in the name of Political Correctness.

Geert Wilders knows this all too well. I hope to see the day when the judges who presided over his trial are charged for the despicable and possibly illegal way they handled his trial. If Wilders' party ever wins a majority, I'm sure that is what is going to happen. If it does, it won't be an act of revenge, it will be a signal that real justice has at last been restored to the Netherlands.

Now, do I really think that in the current case the British Government should be laying charges? No. That type of action, under the circumstances, would be an extreme abuse of state power and would be a major step towards destroying democracy. The British Muslims are doing a good enough job in that department already. They won't like the competition.

I do think however, that the British Government should be expressing concern over this incident publicly and hinting that these concerns are leading them to a conclusion that SOME members of the Muslim community are not fulfilling their obligations as required in their citizenship oaths and this may require a direct response if that trend continues.

The Government should emphasize that these (alleged) oath breakers, who don't represent the Muslim community, are nonetheless seen by the rest of Britain as representing that community and as such these bad eggs are sending the wrong message to both peaceful societies. For the sake of social harmony and for the sake of the honour of the Muslim community, the British Government would have no choice but to consider sending some, or all, of these bad eggs back to their countries of origin.

The British Government will have to be careful in who they chose to 'go after', in conformance of the above. The purpose of the exercise is to protect British society and British democracy. It must not be used as a tool to further political agendas.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Flood the BBC with demands that they do not appease this vile religion by apologising.

fuck them.....i've worked with these people.......they are so programmed to think the dog words.......!!!!

so then i bring my dog in

I have hastilly cobbled together an open FB group with the information on how to contact the BBC over this issue. It is only for that purpose.

This isn't a request that JW readers join. You can if you want but it is mainly for dissemination on how to contact the bbc in support of this. It is mainly so you can reccomend it to facebook friends who do not read JW.

Maybe you can "like it" (or maybe not- I'm pretty new to this FB activism lark) and send info about the page to other FB friends who you think would agree with it and who might want to follow the instructions it provides. If you can join but not "like" that will then show how many people support the show in this.

As it is a very short term issue and there is info on how to contact the bbc against this issue available already, I'm not concearned about trolls.

Here is the FB group page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_179169888803757&ap=1

stupidity si the source of terorists
religion leads the way

It's just after 1 PM Eastern Time, June 8th. It appears I can no longer view this clip anywhere? It seems to have been removed from the internet.

Just like the stinkin' cartoons! I didn't go online the day that all hit the fan and couldn't find any of the cartoons online for quite a while. A day late on this story, and the clip is GONE.

I suppose the Ministry of Truth couldn't cope with the proles actually watching the clip for themselves and making their own judgement about audience reaction.

There is another version of the video here:

http://vladtepesblog.com/?p=34351

Just saw Mock The Week (a more punchy version of Have I Got News For You) june 9th.

On it Milton Jones said:

"You don't want the world cup in the middle east because if any match goes to sudden death..."

So that's what he thinks.

Somehow I get the feeling a lot of british comedians aren't going to take this business lying down.

IF that's the mild mannered Milton Jones reaction, I can't wait until Frankie Boyle weighs in.