This is a story about why idiots like these guys DO make a difference even on other sides of the world. They should be shut down and thrown in jail. Free speech does not give you the right to slander another race!
I know a VERY good professional comic by the real name of Akmal Saleh. I used to work with Akmal and at first he went by the name of Peter, when i questioned him on this he explained to me that orginaly he had not been able to get bookings with an Arabic name so he had changed it to Peter.
The topic came up again after work one night sitting around having drinks, me and a few other work friends including the manager were able to convince Akmal to go back to using his real name as by this stage he was famous and no longer had any problems getting bookings as his own reputation was enough.
He agreed and went back to Akmal feeling much better about being able to finaly use his real name.
After the Sep 11 stuff he has had to go back to using Peter, again people are not so hot on booking a comic with an Arabic name as they figure that people will not come along to see the show.
This disgusts me and i cant even begin to imagine how my poor friend Akmal feels about it all, as per usual he simply smiles and makes a joke of it.
This is what is wrong with the rubbish and lies that these people propagate. Whilst we all pretend to be above it there is STILL an effect on peoples judgements.
I feel very deeply about this issue and would LOVE to be able to give such people a first hand discription of my views...