Justin Pearce
NNTV this week cancelled a scheduled screening of the=20 documentary Jihad in America, following an onslaught of=20 complaints from angry Muslims.
NNTV’s head of marketing, Red Metrowich, said the=20 station was initially determined to go ahead with the=20 screening, but the volume of calls had become so=20 “overwhelming” that NNTV had decided to postpone=20 screening the programme, pending discussions with=20 organisations representing the Muslim community.
Metrowich said that if the organisations objected to=20 the programme, NNTV would screen it, followed by a=20 panel discussion which would give the Muslim community=20 representatives a chance to air their views.
Jihad in America is about violence waged by Islamic=20 fundamentalists in the United States. Callers=20 complained that the documentary portrayed Islam in a=20 bad light. Metrowich denied such claims, saying the=20 programme made it quite clear that it dealt with the=20 violent activities of a few extremists, and did not=20 make any accusations against Islam as a religion. He=20 added that most of the callers had not seen the=20
The programme was produced by Steven Emerson who,=20 Metrowich said, has “a good track record as an=20 investigative journalist”, and it was originally=20 screened on public service television in the United=20
The news of the last-minute withdrawal of the programme=20 drew a fresh round of objections from callers saying=20 that, in a free country, they had a right to see the=20 programme. One caller threatened to sue the SABC for=20 breach of promise, since the programme had been well=20 publicised, Metrowich said.