MOVIES - March 13, 1996

‘Executive’ Protest: Muslim leaders protested outside Warner Bros. studios Monday, claiming that “Executive Decision,” a Kurt Russell movie that opens Friday, inflames anti-Muslim sentiment by depicting terrorists justifying their violent acts with Islam’s holy book, the Koran. The film depicts Chechen terrorists of Islamic heritage hijacking an airliner bound for Washington with a cargo of lethal nerve gas. “There is no positive Muslim character who speaks against the whole concept of violence being linked with Islam,” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said. “The norm in the movie is for a Muslim to be a terrorist.” After a screening of the film and a discussion with five Warner Bros. executives, the Islamic leaders said the studio heads told them it was too late to edit offending parts from the film. Meanwhile, a statement issued by the studio defended the film as portraying “a make-believe situation involving a renegade terrorist who has betrayed his own organization, his faith and his people.”