BBC Views Online’s Entertainment

page trumpets Does Islam have a sense of humour? – a happy story, illustrated with a glossy library picture of burka clad girls (with one peeking out to smile at the camera), where:

Keen comedy fan Tosifa Mustafa nails a widely-held stereotype, before dismissing it in the same breath. It’s “just not the case,” she says.

Protests over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad combined with images of Muslims criticising frivolous aspects of Western culture have left the impression for some that Islam and comedy are incompatible.

And as with most stereotypes, there is a kernel of truth. In some Islamic societies entertainment – music, film and comedy – are forbidden.

Gotta love the understatement and juxtaposition of the last two paragraphs. “Protests over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad” is just a bit milder than the reality, as BBC Views Online well knows. Murderous threats on the streets of London, murder, death threats, people in hiding, uncontained anger and aggression and widespread destruction of property just about covers it – just a bit more than the “kernel of truth” our fearless Views Online Beeboids think they can get away with…

Update: Biased BBC reader Pounce points out that the BBC have somehow managed to miss out some relevant background to their cheery report on the muslim comedians of the Allah Made Me Funny show: University ban on Muslim comedy attacked:

MUSLIM comedians have been banned from performing at a Scottish university in a move described as “ridiculous and undemocratic”.

Glasgow Caledonian University backed out of hosting Allah Made Me Funny: The Official Muslim Comedy Tour this month after complaints from its Muslim students’ association…

A spokeswoman for Glasgow Caledonian University said: “The university’s responsibility is to listen to and respect the views of all students on campus.

“When the Muslim Students’ Association expressed reservations about the show, it was decided the booking would not go ahead.”