PBS Suppresses Film on Islamic Extremism

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has suppressed a planned documentary on Islamic extremism which shows the struggle between moderate Muslims and the radical, kill-all-infidels, Islamists.

Featured in the film is Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, known for speaking out against the "six imams" of terrorist impersonation notoriety. Dr. Jasser stated that the suppression of the film is an example of how the government is facilitating Islamist extremism.

Via Bluto at The Jawa Report, one source claims the film is being suppressed because PBS executives couldn't bring themselves to recognize the difference between moderate and radical Muslims. Obviously, PBS is exercising considerable editorial control over productions which may specifically offend the Islamists.

Via Chad at In The Bullpen, the maker of the film, Martyn Burke, weighs in.

Martyn Burke says that the Public Broadcasting Service and project managers at station WETA in Washington, D.C., excluded his documentary, Islam vs. Islamists, from the series America at a Crossroads after he refused to fire two co-producers affiliated with a conservative think tank.

"I was ordered to fire my two partners (who brought me into this project) on political grounds," Burke said in a complaint letter to PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supplied funds for the films.

Burke wrote that his documentary depicts the plight of moderate Muslims who are silenced by Islamic extremists, adding, "Now it appears to be PBS and CPB who are silencing them."

In their defense, WETA and PBS officials contend there simply wasn't room on the broadcast schedule. One official said the film has a chance of being aired in the future but "they need to work on it."

Meanwhile, allegations of political string-pulling have surfaced with PBS producer Leo Eaton being criticized for alleged family ties to a British Islamist group and wanting to change the entire context of the film.

Let's not forget that American tax dollars are funding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Frankly, both appear to have outlived their usefulness as public projects.