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BBC accused of “Islamophobia” for satirizing the Islamic State in “The Real Housewives of ISIS”

Jan 10, 2017 11:47 am By Robert Spencer

“Yet another allegation made against the sketch writers is that they might be fueling Islamophobia by playing on draconian stereotypes of Muslim family life.”

But isn’t the Islamic State supposed to have nothing whatsoever to do with Islam? So how could this possibly be “Islamophobic”? The cognitive dissonance is off the charts.

“Can terrorism be a joke? Britain’s ‘Real Housewives of ISIS’ is finding out,” by Rick Noack, Washington Post, January 6, 2017:

The last time Shamima Begum, Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana, all either 15 or 16 years old, were seen on British soil was in February 2015. Blurred CCTV footage showed the three East London pupils carrying bags at Gatwick Airport. But what appeared to be a vacation trip ended in Syria.

Their departure to a war zone became one of the strongest symbols of the Islamic State’s potential allure to Muslims in Europe, alarming a country that considered itself at war with the organization the three girls had joined. But now a BBC comedy sketch is lampooning the lives of young women who joined the militant group — and sparking a debate in Britain about whether you can really joke about terrorist groups.

“The Real Housewives of ISIS,” which aired this week on the BBC comedy show “Revolting,” follows a group of fictional Western women who are living wildly restricted married lives in the Islamic State. “Ali bought me a new chain, which is eight feet long,” one female actor says as she stands in a kitchen. “So I can get outside, which is great.”

Another woman featured in the controversial clip remarks, “It’s only three days to the beheading, and I’ve got no idea what to wear.”

The punchlines have left some people wondering if it’s appropriate to make fun of a phenomenon that has torn communities and families apart, especially while social workers are still trying to prevent girls and young women from being lured to Syria.

“Bad taste, not funny at all,” one woman commented on BBC Two’s Facebook page. “With everything going on in the world, I’m sure those who have been effected by Isis, or been victim’s of them, or the relatives of those killed in terrorists attacks, won’t be laughing?”

Yet another allegation made against the sketch writers is that they might be fueling Islamophobia by playing on draconian stereotypes of Muslim family life. The “Real Housewives” creators have strongly denied such claims. “It’s important not to pull your punches in satire. You have to be fearless or it undermines your credibility,” Heydon Prowse, one of the two creators and writers behind “Revolting” told Britain’s i-newspaper….

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Filed Under: "Islamophobia", Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) Tagged With: bbc, The Real Housewives of ISIS


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Comments

  1. jewdog says

    Jan 10, 2017 at 11:51 am

    Very funny. I laughed my head off.

    • Alexius Comnenus says

      Jan 10, 2017 at 12:50 pm

      Me too. Hah! Hah! Hah!

    • FP says

      Jan 11, 2017 at 12:55 pm

      And if you didn’t laugh your head off, they would be glad to remove it for you!

  2. Veka Fitzfrancis says

    Jan 10, 2017 at 11:56 am

    Good on them. Either ISIS is not Islamic and as such SHOULD be mocked, or it IS Islamic and we have to get serious about the threat we are facing.

    Only under Islamic law would banning satire be appropriate, because it would hurt Muslim snowflake feelings.

    Air it, and prove the BBC hasn’t been completely deballed.

    • efoc says

      Jan 10, 2017 at 7:34 pm

      Correct.

      In fact, by Muslims’ own admission, when they say it is “Islamophobic” to criticise ISIS, then they themselves confirm that ISIS is actually Islamic, as we’ve been saying all along. So that part is correct.

      But of course, they are wrong on believing “Islamophobia” is something real when I t is not. Islamorealism is the apt term instead.

  3. James P Sullivan says

    Jan 10, 2017 at 12:03 pm

    I dislike Islamic culture and views.. Am I an islamophob.so be it

  4. Kay says

    Jan 10, 2017 at 12:05 pm

    This is one of the things we have LOVED about the British– their sense of humor and ability to bring light to things most of us won’t talk about.

  5. JW_reader says

    Jan 10, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    Loved it. Awesome. I heard BBC is also working on “The Bachelor of ISIS”. There will be eleven donkeys vying for the love of one ISIS hunk.

    • Achmed says

      Jan 10, 2017 at 2:01 pm

      What about the goats? What about the goats?

    • lynn says

      Jan 12, 2017 at 12:49 am

      Surely not.. Donkeys have better taste

  6. Angemon says

    Jan 10, 2017 at 2:38 pm

    “Ali bought me a new chain, which is eight feet long,” one female actor says as she stands in a kitchen. “So I can get outside, which is great.”

    Huh, what? I’ve seen the sketch – it’s “I can *almost* get outside, which is great”. That’s the joke – and she pushes the stove until it falls.

    • Angemon says

      Jan 10, 2017 at 2:38 pm

      Sorry, she pulls the stove

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 11, 2017 at 6:29 pm

      True, Angemon.

  7. citycat says

    Jan 10, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    Islãmophobia- unreasonable fear of Islãm.
    Muslims have a reasonable fear of Islãm that is absorbed by surrender. Maybe not all.
    Allah is all powerful and controls everything.
    Muslims love Allah out of fear of Allah.
    A blend of love and fear topped with lashings of misogyny and sexual booty.
    Maybe not all.
    It’s like the word Islãmophobia is delaying the realization of the intention of Islãm to kill or convert all infidels.
    How come there no Hinduophobia or Christophobia or Sikhophobia or atheistophobia.
    Who accepted the word Islãmophobia in the first place. It’s a weapon of war, and it is doing damage.

    • Achmed says

      Jan 10, 2017 at 4:15 pm

      Who accepted the word Islãmophobia in the first place? Islamophiliacs accepted the word.

  8. davej says

    Jan 10, 2017 at 10:36 pm

    Satire, humor and mockery are some of the best weapons we have against totalitarianism and are fundamental to free speech. Free speech is the bedrock of all other freedoms. In the immortal words of Mick Jagger “fuck them if they can’t take a joke”.

    Highly recommended: Douglas Murray – “When speech goes wrong”

  9. Peter says

    Jan 10, 2017 at 11:43 pm

    It’s not “islamophobia”… the correct term is islamhasaphobia.

  10. Mark Price says

    Jan 11, 2017 at 4:40 am

    If ISIS has nothing to do with Islam, as so many people claim, then they shouldn’t be bothered if the makers of the show make fun of ISIS.

  11. Ade says

    Jan 11, 2017 at 5:13 am

    Instead of airing this CRAP the BBC could have chosen to broadcast something informative about islam for once instead of covering up for them and constantly reciting the “religion of peace” mantra
    Please join me in boycotting the BBC .. and put in a few complaints about their rampant islamophilia while you are there

  12. FYI says

    Jan 11, 2017 at 6:08 am

    So I guess it’s too soon for the release of the forthcoming musical by the acclaimed film director Monty Boa(writer of the controversial “Aisha diaries” and the musical “Five hundred and four brides for seven jihadist brothers”)??
    …
    The LIFE OF BRIAN MUHAMMED.

  13. Hector Archytas says

    Jan 11, 2017 at 6:15 am

    It shows the difficulty to have 2 cultures who can’t get along cohabing in the same “house”.

    The satyre makes sens for moderate muslim and help the their cultural evolution but obviously it is weird for european native.

    Marriage does not always succeed. It is time to negotiate the settlement for the divorce.

    The issue is that both culture claims to be co-landlord of the European land. Native European sees them as tenant or guess.

    • gravenimage says

      Jan 12, 2017 at 5:21 pm

      This is not about a marriage that is rocky–this is a marriage where one of the spouses is trying to murder the other…

  14. Neil says

    Jan 11, 2017 at 12:29 pm

    Funny thing is, going to Syria probably didn’t turn out too well for these tarts. I’m sure they’re loving in in Raqqa. All those bombs and middle-aged flithy Jihadis raping them all day.

    No sympathy whatsoever. They’ve probably cheered on plenty of murders and child abductions. Scum.

  15. Seabird says

    Jan 11, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    Great suggestions but I’m waiting for “Jannah-The Movie”.
    Maybe it could follow your “500 and 40 wives for 7 Jihadist brothers” through their “blessed operations” where they now reside in top-level penthouses with Mo, bin laden and Arafat for neighbors.
    This film would make Bob Guiccione’s “Caligula” look like wholesome “family entertainment” in comparison and would surely get an “X” rating.
    “Jannah–finally;..a movie to die for”.

  16. gravenimage says

    Jan 11, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    BBC accused of “Islamophobia” for satirizing the Islamic State in “The Real Housewives of ISIS”
    …………………………

    Does this mean they are acknowledging that ISIS is mainstream Islam?

    I think ISIS and the rest of Islam should be mocked mercilessly. This skit was a fine start.

    As for the idea that we should not engage in mockery but be more serious, we can do both. During WWII, we were able to mock the Axis and fight Fascism at the same time.

  17. lynn says

    Jan 12, 2017 at 12:56 am

    Anything that is absurd needs to be mocked, and Islam is REALLY Absurd, unfortunately it is also dangerous.. But during WW2, most of the European countries under the Nazi yoke made outrageous jokes about Hitler et al It was good for their morale.. Why should islam be sacrosanct..More and more people are coming to see this psuedo religion as the threat it is..So why not make fun of it.

  18. Krag says

    Jan 12, 2017 at 5:11 am

    Agreed. One way to fight islam, isis wtc is to relentlessly take the piss. The louder the anguish the better.

  19. ele says

    Jan 15, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    So now the video has been removed. Must be getting around. The only people who fear the truth are the liars! Taqiyya anyone?

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