Fox's newest Islamic journalists?
"My name is Steve, I am American, after I entered Islam I changed my name to Khaled," Fox News Correspondent, Steve Centanni said in the Video.
"My name is Olaf, I am from New Zealand. After I entered the Islam I changed my name became Yaqoub," said Fox News Cameraman, Olaf Wiig.
What's going on here... did they really convert? What was the reaction to this, and how does it compare to other such situations?
No, it was all done
under duress:
Before the journalists' release, a new video was released, showing Wiig and Centanni dressed in beige Arab-style robes. The kidnappers claimed both men had converted to Islam. "We were forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint," Centanni later tells FOX.
Now, Fox News or not, I'm thrilled that these guys made it home safe--much as I was thrilled that Jill Carroll made it home safe. And I could care less if they had honestly converted to Islam. But what about the far right? I remember their predictable reactions to Jill Carroll before she was released:
Here's a clue for the obviously dimwitted. Why was Jill Carroll freed? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she HATES AMERICA and our Mid-East policy. And, oh yeah, she HATES ISRAEL, too.
Is that why these Fox journalists were freed too? Because they HATE AMERICA and our Mid-East policy and HATE ISRAEL? Is that what the far-right was saying about them? Well, Schlussel is as nutty as they come, and while she didn't exactly let them off scott-free, she definitely went easier on them than she did with Jill. The same goes for LGF, although some of their commenters are slamming the journalists for saying things like "I have the highest respect for Islam". Go figure.
I'd like to think that just for once, in situations such as this, we could all put aside partisanship and just welcome these Americans back home, without judging them. The important thing is, they made it back safe and in one piece. But apparently we can't always do this, because some people can't get out of attack mode. Ahem. Wingnuts, I'm looking in your direction.