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KFI HOST REPLIES TO ACCUSERS WITH CHALLENGE
Friday, January 06, 2006
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Clear Channel talk KFI Los Angeles morning man Bill Handel, who is under fire from a Muslim civil liberties group for comments he made earlier this month, has responded to his accusers with a challenge.
As previously reported, the Council on American-Islamic Relations has demanded that Handel apologize and be disciplined for making fun of a stampede that killed hundreds of Muslims during an annual pilgrimage.
Handel, who says CAIR has ties to terrorist organizations, says he will apologize if CAIR will issue the following three statements:
§ CAIR denounces all terrorist attacks.
§ Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to defensible borders.
§ CAIR has no ties of any sort, financially or otherwise, to any terror organizations or individuals.
Handel told listeners that he doesn't believe CAIR will comply.
Meanwhile, KFI management issue the following statement: “KFI-AM does not condone making light of the deaths of people engaged in religious observances. We regret that listeners found the comments of one of our on-air hosts to be insensitive. KFI does not censor its hosts, nor does it tell them what to say or not to say. KFI is a strong and passionate believer in First amendment rights and that is at the very core of this radio station.”
Over 350 pilgrims were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede Jan. 12 in Mecca, where thousands of people were rushing to carry out a symbolic ritual of stoning the devil.
That same day, Handel reportedly imitated the people screaming and then joked that the Muslims at the pilgrimage should use a helicopter to monitor pilgrimage traffic.
The group quoted Handel as saying: "This is Mahmoud Nolan. Hajj in the Sky. There is an accident. … Ali lost his sandal on the on-ramp to the Martin Luther King Jr. freeway."
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