ARAB-AMERICANS PROTEST TERRORIST MOVIE ON NBC
A television drama Sunday night about Middle Eastern terrorists operating from a Detroit suburb has angered Arab-American leaders, who complain of unfair stereotyping and say they fear violent repercussions.
“Under Siege,” broadcast on NBC, depicted terrorism conducted by a group based in Dearborn, a city of about 91,000 bordering Detroit on the west. There are an estimated 20,000 people of Arab descent living in the Detroit area, with 7,564 Arab-Americans in Dearborn, according to the 1980 Census.
“I feel like I’ve been raped,” Warren David, director of the Arab-American Media Society, had said last week after previewing the three-hour film at NBC affiliate WDIV-TV in Detroit.
Local Arab-Americans had asked WDIV to delete references to Dearborn from “Under Siege,” and about 50 protesters picketed outside the station Saturday.
About 400 people called the station about the show, 250 of them while the show was on the air, WDIV spokeswoman Eileen Wunderlich said Monday. “Most of the calls were calls critical of showing the movie,” she said.
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