On Tuesday's New Day, CNN again spotlighted Rupert Murdoch's Friday Tweet, where the multi-billionaire asserted, "Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer, they must be held responsible." Alisyn Camerota, a veteran of Murdoch's Fox News Channel, asked global affairs analyst Bobby Ghosh about the post: "Do they bear some responsibility for eradicating this cancer?"Ghosh replied, "No. I think that Rupert Murdoch quote – the most charitable thing I can say is that, perhaps, he mistyped something." [video below]
Camerota followed up by zeroing in on a Twitter post by Parks and Recreation actor Aziz Ansari: "He [Ansari] says in response to Rupert Murdoch: 'Rupes, can we get a step by step guide? How can my 60-year-old parents in North Carolina help destroy terrorist groups? Please advise.' And you know, it's funny, but it does speak to what are they supposed to do, because speaking out actually isn't enough." Ghosh more bluntly replied, "Well, it would help to stop paying attention to Rupert Murdoch. That goes without saying."
The New Day segment came four days after Friday's CNN Tonight touted Murdoch's Tweet during a panel discussion segment. University of California, Berkeley Professor Steven Fish played up a supposed example of Christian terrorism to rebuke the media magnate. However, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen sympathized with Murdoch: "I do hold Muslims responsible to this degree: I don't think that we can solve this problem...until moderate Muslims...really say, 'This is not our religion. This is not something we can accept. This is absolutely barbaric....Until they speak out in that way, I don't think we're going to see much progress, and I think that's a responsibility they have."
On Monday's @ This Hour, guest Ahmed Shihab-Eldin replied to Cohen (and to Murdoch indirectly) by blaming Fox News, among others, for placing "an unfair burden on Islam" to denounce terrorism: "I think those who are calling for these kinds of...condemnations and denouncements are...not aware of Google; or not paying attention; or perhaps, watching too much Fox News, where hosts constantly are...driving this point home – this us versus them – you know, this point home that Muslims aren't speaking out."
The transcript of the relevant portion of the Bobby Ghosh segment from Tuesday's New Day:
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Let's bring in Bobby Ghosh. He's a CNN global affairs analyst, and managing editor of Quartz. Good morning, Bobby – nice to see you. Are moderate Muslims not speaking out against the terror attacks in Paris?
BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: They're doing nothing but speaking out about it. I mean, almost seconds after the attack took place and it became clear that it might have been the work of Muslims – if you went on Twitter; if you went on Facebook – you know, people all across the Muslim world – but especially in France – have been speaking out. Sometimes, they speak in a language you don't understand. It might be French. It might be Arabic. But speaking out is – is exactly what they're doing.
CAMEROTA: Yeah. You hear all sorts of public officials say that they're not going far enough. Here's a Tweet from Rupert Murdoch – he's the head of News Corp. – that received a lot of attention. He says, 'Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer, they must be held responsible.' Do they bear some responsibility for eradicating this cancer?
GHOSH: No. I think that Rupert Murdoch quote – the most charitable thing I can say is that, perhaps, he mistyped something. There's a – there's a whole separate discussion going on in the community about how to better keep an eye out on their angry young people – how to get better at then reporting any sign of radicalization to the right authorities. There's concern, though, that if – that at a very early stage, if they were to report to the authorities, the authorities may overreact. There's also a fear – nobody fears radical Islam more than Muslims do, because all over the world, Muslims are far more likely to be targets of radical Islamists than any other community.
So, there – there is a certain amount of fear, which is understandable, but there is also great discussion that's taking place. We saw this happen in the UK after the 7/7 bombings from a few years ago – the London Underground and bus bombings. And a similar kind of conversation, I have no doubt, will take place in France, where the community asks itself – well, these people came from us – could we have spotted them before? Could we have stopped this thing from happening?
CAMEROTA: Well, this speaks exactly to the next Tweet we have. This is from the comedian Aziz Ansari, and he says in response to Rupert Murdoch: 'Rupes, can we get a step by step guide? How can my 60-year-old parents in North Carolina help destroy terrorist groups? Please advise.' And you know, it's funny, but it does speak to what are they supposed to do, because speaking out actually isn't enough.
GHOSH: Well, it would help to stop paying attention to Rupert Murdoch. That – that goes without saying. But beyond that, I think – as I said, if the community itself is – is extremely alarmed – they are very conscious of the portrayal of Islam that these terrorists are giving off. They are very alarmed about the potential backlash from the wider French and European community against them. So there's – they don't need Rupert Murdoch to tell them to start-
CAMEROTA: Yes, but what do they need to do? I mean, speaking out isn't enough. So you're saying, just be vigilant; just keep an eye on your community; and get more engaged with, perhaps, local law enforcement? Is that the answer?
GHOSH: Yeah, not just, but that's – that's a pretty good place to start. And then, there are questions about when you find young people being radicalized, what is the cause of that? What is the immediate cause of that? We know that there's – there's a lot of explanation about economic circumstances; opportunities; slights – perceived and real. But also, how do you find the one mosque or the one person in the mosque who is actively radicalizing people? How do you go online and find the website or the person using the Internet who is reaching out to angry young people and trying to get them to do hideous things?
Those are – that's a very complex and long-term thing. It's a little hard at a moment like this, when we are all so angry at what's happened and so distressed and desperately want quick solutions – the sad fact is that there are no quick solutions. But – but a solution – you know, even a long-term solution has to start somewhere.
