RUTHFULLY YOURS

The mayor of Paris told CNN on Tuesday that she will sue Fox News.

Why?

Mayor Anne Hidalgo told CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour that she must sue to preserve the honor of her fair city.

“The image of Paris has been prejudiced, and the honor of Paris has been prejudiced,” Hidalgo said. “I think we’ll have to sue, I think we’ll have to go to court, in order to have these words removed.”

Hidalgo was responding to some segments on Fox News in which various commentators stated that there are parts of Paris and other European cities where Muslims predominate and where there is so much uncontrolled violence that police are afraid to venture. These areas have been referred to as “no-go zones” for non-Muslims.

Of course, the fact that there are some areas in France as well as in England and other European countries where non-Muslims fear to go and which police have at least unofficially declared “no-go” zones doesn’t seem to play any role in this ludicrous game of “Let’s Pretend.”

One expert mistakenly referred to the entire city of Birmingham, England as a “no-go zone,” for which he apologized, as did Fox News. That expert, Steve Emerson, would have been accurate had he instead said that merely parts of Birmingham are no-go zones. And while there are certainly safe areas in Paris and its suburbs, there are indeed entire Muslim neighborhoods deemed too violent to enter.

A multi-part exposé on the topic by Soeren Kern, “European ‘No-Go’ Zones: Fact or Fiction” is currently being run at the Gatestone Institute.

While some of the statements about “no-go” zones were over-inclusive, the idea that a city is going to sue a television station for insulting its honor is at the very least equally deserving of ridicule.

Michael Clemente, Executive Vice President, News at FOX News communicated to JewishPress.com in response: “We empathize with the citizens of France as they go through a healing process and return to everyday life. However, we find the Mayor’s comments regarding a lawsuit misplaced.”

About the Author: Lori Lowenthal Marcus is the US correspondent for The Jewish Press. She is a recovered lawyer who previously practiced First Amendment law and taught in Philadelphia-area graduate and law schools.