American-Arab group raps release of anti-Muslim movie

Rasa - Muslims of the United States are facing a “drastic increase” in anti-Muslim threats following the release of the movie "American Sniper," says an American-Arab organization.

News ID: 2050

Date: 25 January 2015 - 08:29

RNA - According to a Press TV report, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) wrote letters to director Clint Eastwood and star Bradley Cooper, censuring the depiction of Muslims and Arabs in the newly-released movie.

"A majority of the violent threats we have seen over the past few days are (a) result of how Arab and Muslims are depicted in American Sniper," the ADC said.

The group added that it had received hundreds of messages against the Oscar-nominated war film, many of them through social media.

"Your visibility, influence, and connection to the film would be a tremendous force in drawing attention to and lessening the serious dangers facing the respective communities," read the letters, addressing the two Hollywood stars.

Released earlier this month, the movie, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including best picture, tells the story of an American soldier called Chris Kyle deployed in Iraq.

Kyle, who was shot dead in 2013, is a notorious US navy Seal who has a record for the highest known single kill count in the US military history.

In a book on which the movie was based, Kyle writes of killing 60 Iraqi "savages".

"Savage, despicable evil. That's what we were fighting in Iraq," he writes.

Many other viewers, including combat veterans, have also objected to the release of the movie.

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