NEW YORK (YBH) – Dawoud Kringle, an American convert to Islam and an Imam that volunteers with the New York City Department of Corrections, was a guest on Fox Business Network this week with host David Asman. During the debate with Mr. Asman and former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, Mr. Kringle made headlines of sorts for refusing to label Hamas a terrorist organization. When asked by Mr. Asman if he agrees with the U.S. State Department in labeling Hamas a terror group, Mr. Kringle refused to answer with a clear “yes” or “no”.
Mr. Kringle “facebooked” about the appearance afterward:
Last Tuesday I was a guest on “Scoreboard”, on Fox Business. The show was live, hosted by David Asman and the other guest was Andrew McCarthy.
The experience of walking into Fox on their own territory and engaging them in their own game was truly memorable and instructive. I was actually outnumbered, and the deck was stacked against me. These boys play rough and don’t fight fair! To top it off, I was fasting; and was not only a bit tired and hungry, but in observance of Ramadan, I had to control my reactions and make a beautiful presentation. Below is the transcript. You can make up your own mind.
Insha Allah, something good will come from this. I ask no reward for what I did.
Pass this on, if you like.
Ma’a Salaam,
Dawoud
Mr. Kringle doesn’t elaborate on what he means by “their” territory. Some of the comments on Mr. Kringle’s page are illuminating.
One friend remarked “what is terrorism? is the state department in a position to tell who’s a terrorist and who’s not? the hypocrisy of these people is bottomless… nice job dawoud, especially for keeping your cool amidst such stupidity and arrogance.” Another said that, “Fighting golieth is not an easy task!!!! but I do believe, and from what I’ve read and heard form this <sic> discoarse is that the real problem is fear and bigotry towards Muslims….notice they “fox (faux) news couldn’t stay on point…and didn’t distinguish a difference between a political organization and a religion….Dowoud..you brought to light their real agenda!!!! Great Job !!!!!”
Most shockingly, a third friend states that “First of all ( smile),The Muslims nor anyone else who practices Islam had anything to do with what happened on 911.”
Mr. Kringle in no way refutes any of the above remarks in subsequent posts. He did however post some further thoughts about his appearance on Fox and his refusal to answer the Hamas question:
When they questioned me about Hamas, I knew they were throwing me a curve; but I wouldn’t play their game. There was a lot that I could have said, and it was an effort to restrain myself. My “evading” the Hamas question was nothing more than to show the spiritual dimensions of Islam, and how it is applied in a practical social situation. That was my agenda; and I wanted to bring this message into a place where there may have been no other possibility that it could be spoken.
And
But these guys are good at what they do; and they fight dirty. That’s probably what made me such an easy target for them: I fight fair.
Insha Allah, perhaps someone from a more reputable new agency or publication will give me a few minutes.
Fox is a whore house.
The “whore house” gave Mr. Kringle valuable air time. He used it well, and in avoiding the Hamas terrorism question, he also gave himself a bigger name within the media. Mr. Kringle states that Fox has already asked him back. However, Mr. Kringle stated in the same Facebook thread that, “I have my doubts that I will accept any future offers”.
Related posts:
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- MSNBC Host Calls Republicans “Terrorists”
- CBS News “Declines to Comment” Over Suppressed Obama Recording
- BBC Commentator Dies After Relaying Fear of News Corp. Retribution
John Romano is the publisher and editor of Yes, But However!, a musician, a former political correspondent for BBC Radio London, and a serial web entrepreneur. Follow him on twitter: twitter.com/yesbuthowever or John Romano on Google+John Romano article archive.
