American-Muslim TV Network Host Urges Votes for Democrats

From the "Bridges to our Doom" Files: This just in.

Bridges TV, the first English-language American-Muslim TV network, is expanding into six states and creating a potential audience of nearly 2 million.

The network, which began broadcasting in the Buffalo, N.Y., area in November 2004, offers a mix of entertainment, sports, news, and documentaries.

Its mission statement declares that the network seeks “to improve the image of Muslims in the United States" and to "offer a unique perspective on the Middle East and the war on terrorism."

But in a recent interview, one of its hosts criticized the “Jewish lobby” in the U.S. and called on American Muslims to vote for Democrats in November.

Other examples of the network’s “unique perspective” include these offerings, according to The New York Sun:
A religious figure who appeared on Oct. 3 asserted that Muslims have a duty to increase the percentage of Americans who are Muslims from 2 percent to 50 percent, and recommended that Shariah, or Islamic law, be implemented in American courts.
The next day, Bridges TV aired a speech by Muslim scholar Jamal Badawi, who in an interview raised questions about who was really behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks and suggested that Americans could be responsible for car bombings in Iraqi markets.
That same day, Imam Mohammad Alo Elahi was a guest on a news program, “Talking Points.” According to his Web site, Elahi was a spiritual leader in Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iranian navy, and has met with the spiritual adviser of the Hezbollah terror organization.
On Oct. 5, listeners heard an anti-Jewish, anti-Christian sermon that included the call, “May God destroy them!”
A Koranic verse broadcast on Oct. 9 praised martyrdom.
One of the stars of Bridges TV is Donald “Skip” Conover, a co-founder of the health care company CBay Inc. He hosts and produces a show called “Words Matter,” and was the subject of an article in the Saudi daily Arab News in September.

In the article, Conover discussed the power of the “Jewish lobby” and called on Muslims to vote for the Democrats, the Sun reported.

“I have news for the Muslim community,” he said. “All American politicians are in the pocket of the Jewish lobby today because they control a lot of money, and they spend a lot of money in politics.

“If the Muslims of America believe that they don't want Bush to have a free hand for the next two years, then the Muslims of America need to get organized and make sure they get out to vote for Democrats for both the House and the Senate. Every Muslim in the Middle East who has a relative in the U.S. should get the message across to their relatives. They need to make sure that all their friends vote against Bush.”

Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute, writes in the Sun: “Bridges TV claims that its ‘major purpose’ is ‘to build bridges between American Muslims and other Americans.’ After viewing the channel, I find this highly unlikely.”

Me too Steve...Me too.