BOEING, BELL HELICOPTER ASKED TO PULL ‘MOSQUE ATTACK’ AD
Magazine ad shows U.S. special forces rappelling onto mosque roof
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/30/2005) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today called on aerospace giants Boeing Co. and Bell Helicopter Textron to pull a print advertisement depicting U.S. troops attacking a mosque.
The ad for the CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, published in the September 24 issue of National Journal magazine, depicts soldiers rappelling onto the roof of a building, labeled “Muhammad Mosque” in Arabic. The building has a dome, crescent moon and minaret, all common features of a mosque.
To view the ad, go to: http://www.cair.com/mosqueattackad.pdf
Headlines on the ad read: “It descends from the heavens. Ironically it unleashes hell.” Ad copy states: “The CV-22 delivers Special Forces to insertion points never thought possible.”
In a letter to Textron Chairman Lewis B. Campbell, Boeing Company President James A. Bell and Bell Helicopter Chief Executive Officer Michael A. Redenbaugh, CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote:
“[The ad] clearly portrays special forces assaulting a mosque, a structure dedicated to civilian worship purposes. This gives the impression that ‘the insertion points never thought possible’ are Islamic places of worship. . .This advertisement reflects poorly on Bell Helicopter, Textron and Boeing, and offers a questionable picture of your companies’ collective opinion of Islam and Muslims.”
Awad asked the companies to withdraw the advertisement and conduct an investigation into how it was approved for publication.
