AP News, February 10th, 2007
Five college students stripped of residence hall duties for making a video that mimics a Middle Eastern hostage-taking apologized Friday but demanded their jobs back, saying the 2-minute video was never intended to be offensive.
An attorney for the students also announced the filing of a lawsuit against Long Island University and its C.W. Post College in Brookville.
In the video, five figures in ski masks speak in crude Middle Eastern accents as they threaten their captive, a rubber duck that serves as the mascot of a residence hall.
The "hostage takers" invoke the Prophet Muhammad and mention "jihad" and "infidels" as they ask for a payment of doughnuts and pastries in exchange for the duck's release.
The students say the video was a parody inspired by the animated film "Team America: World Police."
"We would all like to apologize, to use this moment now as our public forum to say that we are sorry if we offended anyone," said William McDermott, 21, a senior criminal justice/pre-law major from Snow Hill, Md. "That was not our intention."
The students' attorney, Frederick Brewington, complained that a group of female residence hall assistants who made a similar video were only suspended. He said he filed a lawsuit in state court against the college, claiming discrimination.
C.W. Post spokeswoman Rita Langdon declined to comment, citing the lawsuit.
Provost Joseph Shenker said in a statement earlier this week the college takes "seriously our obligation to create a campus environment that is free of prejudice and intolerance ... We don't find anything about terrorism and hostage-taking to be humorous."
The five students said they would like to visit the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury to discuss issues of tolerance. The episode has drawn criticism from Muslim leaders.
"I think it's not a prank. ... Campuses are for enlightenment and for teaching us to get along, to respect each other, to know how to live together," said Ghazi Khankan of Long Beach, a member of the board of the American Muslim Alliance.
