November 17, 2009, - 2:32 pm
Thanks, UAE: Gulf News “Cites” Schlussel on Oprah Lies re Islam, Dubai
Recently, I wrote about Oprah’s suck-up job on Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, not the first time she’s served as official Propaganda Minister for Gulf States or other Muslim dictatorships. (See here and here also.) I noted Oprah’s soft-pedaling Dr. Lamees Hamdan and her lies about Dubai, the hijab, and Islam. Dr. Hamdan, by the way, isn’t a practicing medical doctor anymore as she claimed to Oprah, and she’s not the egalitarian humanitarian she claims on healthcare either (her gimmicky beauty products are expensive and exclusive).
What’s kind of funny, though, is that the Gulf News, the Dubai-based English-language newspaper owned by Muslim businessmen close to the UAE’s rulers, agrees with me that Dr. Hamdan lied about Islamic headscarfs and full ninja gear being religious. The publication cites me, while attacking me. Gotta love it (can’t win for losin’ with them). But I have to applaud the paper for showing what a fraud and a liar Oprah is and the fiction presented on her show as fact to gazillions of mindless women (and some gay men and Mr. Moms) every afternoon.
Kinda surprising they’d attack her, since Dr. Hamdan is tight with Dubai’s and UAE’s royals–yes, she’s not the typical Dubaian, contrary to Oprah’s claim on her “women around the world” show. But we knew that (and I noted it at the time, and as I surmised she was raised in America, NOT Dubai–not typical).
Views on Emirati culture and lifestyle aired by a Dubai-based doctor on American talk show Oprah have sparked a controversy among Emiratis who have said they are not representative of the UAE.
Dr Lamees Hamdan, who appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show earlier this month, aired personal views on Oprah that made her the subject of an internet debate among Emiratis that has turned into a personal campaign in some cases.
A number of Emiratis have taken offence to her claims that the abaya [black full-body outer layer of clothing] and shaila [loose veil, partly covering the head] are “cultural” and not religious, and that Emiratis do not pay utility bills.
A number of Arabic language internet forums have harshly attacked her for her statements, with some resorting to personal attacks. Others attacked Winfrey for being “anti-Arab” and “anti-Muslim”. . . .
The campaign against Lamees led Mohammad Sultan Al Habtoor to print T-shirts that read “Leave Lamees alone. She will pay our bills”, in reference to her claims about utilities being free of cost.
Yup, another lie she told on Oprah.
The shirts, selling for Dh250, have been criticised on the internet, but Al Habtoor says he is not profiteering from the incident and insists that he stood behind Lamees in airing her views.
“I would like to see Lamees wear the shirts too. But I’ll stop this if she asks me to. I support her and have even made a Facebook group in her defence,” he said, adding that she had been treated very unfairly. He did not say how many T-shirts have been sold. Even Debbie Schlussel, a radical anti-Muslim blogger from the US, took issue with Lamees’ comments about the veil. “It’s a flat-out lie. Clearly, the headscarf is, indeed, religious,” she wrote.
Under a blog entry entitled “Daytime TV’s Jihadi Sister Now Dubai’s Propagandist” she called Winfrey, a “career-long Islamist” for airing what she considered a positive perspective of Muslims.
Um, nice lie, guys. But I have no problem with a “positive” TRUTHFUL perspective. I didn’t even use the word positive. As Gulf News, itself, even notes, I objected to the lies, which is what this was–pure propaganda. And when it comes to Islam, as I’ve noted on OprahSucks.com, that’s what Oprah does.
Damn, they called me “radical.” I’m so hurt that a state that practices anti-Semitic and anti-Israel apartheid and enabled 19 hijackers to murder nearly 3,000 Americans doesn’t like me. Won’t be visiting anytime soon . . . not that I could if I wanted to.
You know that inconvenient Israeli stamp on my passport and all.
Tags: Dr. Lamees Hamdan, Dubai, Gulf News, headscarf, HOprah Watch, Islam, Islamic headscarf, Lamees Hamdan, Oprah, United Arab Emirates, utility bills
Wow, I watched Oprah for years and stopped a few years ago because I felt she was becoming racist. I cannot believe the propaganda out of her mouth. Guess her hero Obama has had quite the impact on her. Now she is spreading the word on how wonderful Islam and public healthcare is, all in one show. Unbelievable!
CJ on November 17, 2009 at 3:44 pm