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Marrakech – American Muslims and Arabs have roundly condemned the new Oscar-nominated film, American Sniper, which has been breaking the record for audience ratings, accusing it of contributing to an escalation of hate and discrimination against Muslims.
As discrimination and hate speech against Arabs and Muslims escalated on social media after the screening of American Sniper, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) wrote letters this week to actor Bradley Cooper and director Clint Eastwood asking them to speak out “in an effort to help reduce the hateful rhetoric,” according to London’s Guardian newspaper.
The Guardian has quoted several tweets, applauding the film, for carrying negative messages and stereotypes about Arabs:
“Great f…king movie and now I really want to kill some f….king ragheads,”
“American sniper makes me wanna go shoot some f…kin Arabs,”
“Nice to see a movie where the Arabs are portrayed for who they really are — vermin scum intent on destroying us.”
The film, which narrates the biography of American navy seal sniper Chris Kyle, brought about a heated dispute on social media, as Arabs and Muslims were subjected to hate speech and verbal abuse.
“We want Mr. Eastwood or Mr. Cooper to say, ‘Don’t use our film to promulgate hatred or bigotry. Don’t use our film to push hate and bigotry, or use it as a platform for these racist views,” Abed Ayoub, the national legal and policy director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) was quoted by the Guardian as saying.
“If they want to go further, they can say Arabs in America are just as American as the next person,” he added.
The American Sniper film presents the life of sharpshooter Chris Kyle, who served as a soldier the U.S. Navy’s principal special operations force in Iraq, where he reportedly killed more than 160 persons. Kyle received several awards during his service, including Silver Stars from the President of the United States.
Chris Kyle was killed at a shooting range by a U.S. military veteran on February 2, 2013 in Texas.
Edited by Elisabeth Myers
