ESPN's Bonnie Bernstein Says Palestinian Kids Want to Be Suicide Bombers, Apologizes

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ESPN's Bonnie Bernstein was a guest on Mike and Mike in the Morning Wednesday, and when the subject turned to a high school basketball player who is considering playing professionally in Europe instead of going to college, Bernstein made an extremely odd comparison between American high school basketball players and Palestinian suicide bombers.

I've just reviewed the show in question and transcribed the full text of Bernstein's comments below.

It's sort of like, you know, and this isn't -- I'm prefacing this by saying this is in no way an analogy to sports because I know we live in a hypersensitive society -- but I remember a while ago I was reading an article in the New York Times about Palestinian suicide bombers and I just remember being struck by the notion that from the point of birth, people in Palestine are taught to think that dying in the name of God is a good thing.

They grow up wanting to be suicide bombers. So bringing it back to sports -- and again, I'm not making the comparison or the analogy -- if a young talented basketball player is being told at an early age that they are destined, it is a good thing to focus on basketball and not worry about what's going on in the classroom, why are any kids going to be worried about what's going on in the classroom?

Bernstein seemed to know that what she was saying would offend people, and sure enough, it did.

Ray Hanania of the National Arab-American Journalists Association sent this statement to the Mike and Mike show:

I think it was very inappropriate for Bonnie to use that racial stereotype of Palestinians as an example to back up her comments that NBA hopefuls "are programmed" to make it in the NBA the way Palestinian children are "programmed" to become suicide bombers ...

I don't need to explain that suicide bombers are not a race or ethnicity, or that there are 7 million Palestinians and have been only 50 suicide bombers over the past 15 years.

Obviously, Hanania is completely correct that Bernstein made an inappropriate comparison there. In fact, Bernstein seemed to realize the comparison she was making was inappropriate, which is why she hedged her comments "I'm not making the comparison," even though that was exactly what she was doing.

Sports Broadcasting Blunders

Bernstein's Palestinian Connection
ESPN reporter Bonnie Bernstein issued a public apology this week after appearing on a radio broadcast and saying "People in Palestine are taught to think that dying in the name of God is a good thing ... They grow up wanting to be suicide bombers. "

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"We've Gotta Do This ----ing Thing Over"
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Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman gained notoriety during a 2008 PGA Tour telecast when she suggested young golfers might want to take Tiger Woods and "lynch him in a back alley."

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Broadway Joe Gets Fresh
Jets' legendary quarterback Joe Namath talked about how he is more interested in ESPN sideline reporter Suzy Kolber than his struggling Jets during a 2003 game. During a live interview, Namath says (twice) "I want to kiss you" to Kolber.

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"That's Some Nappy-Headed Hos There ..."
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One Too Many
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"Are You Retarded?"
ESPN's Tom Jackson asked Michael Irvin that question in 2006. He later apologized to viewers for snapping at him on-air.

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"Don't Go Outside If You Have a Wallet"
After ESPN NHL analyst Barry Melrose made jabs at the area around the Devils' new Prudential Center in a 2007 ESPN.com video segment, he became persona non grata in Newark, New Jersey.

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But if you think it's strange that Bernstein would go on and make that analogy even as she said she realized that people might be offended by it, you'll find her apology even stranger. ESPN.com has posted the audio of her apology:

"Hi, this is Bonnie Bernstein, and I'd just like to take a minute to apologize for making a connection this morning on Mike and Mike between Palestinians and the adults who influence the thinking of many young NBA prospects. I was a student athlete who was lucky enough to have part of my college expenses paid for by a scholarship, and so I've always embraced the importance of higher education.

That said, it upsets me greatly -- as I think you can tell, if you heard the interview -- when I hear about adults telling impressionable kids, 'Don't worry about school, your future is in the NBA.' These stories just lend credence to the notion one is often a product of his environment, and while I emphasized that twice during our discussion, in hindsight I realize it was simply a mistake to bring Palestine into the discussion at all, and for that, I apologize again.

Lesson learned: Religion and politics have no place on public airwaves at a sports network. That's definitely a credo I will live by from this point forward. Thanks and have a great day."

The apology sounds half-hearted, and it glosses over what Bernstein actually said to instead create the false impression that what Bernstein did wrong is simply to discuss religion and politics. With all due respect, Ms. Bernstein, if the lesson you've learned is that religion and politics have no place on a sports network, you haven't learned any lesson at all.

There's nothing wrong with discussing religion and politics on a sports network. Indeed, it would be impossible to completely cover the sports world without exploring the way sports intersects with religion and politics.

What's wrong is that Bernstein took such a serious matter as Palestinian suicide bombers and applied it so flippantly. And what's even worse is that she suggested that all Palestinians are taught that being a suicide bomber is something to aspire to, which is patently false. For that, she did not apologize. She should.

UPDATE: The National Arab American Journalists Association called Bernstein's statement "a genuine apology that expressed ESPN's and Dr. Bernstein's embrace of diversity and fairness" and added Bernstein to its Honor List.

Via Deadspin.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 25)

6-27-2008 @ 5:12PM

§ said...

Not all Palestinians are taught that being a suicide bomber is something to aspire to, just some.

6-27-2008 @ 5:16PM

Dan Daoust said...

"50 suicide bombers over the past 15 years"? The people of Israel wish that were the case.

Guess I mixed politics with sports there...

6-27-2008 @ 5:20PM

Lakergregg said...

Apologize? She was right about the PAL's they are taught the martyrdom is a great thing, and what better way than by killing Jews.
Good for you Bonnie.
Jerusalem forever!

6-27-2008 @ 5:33PM

Unfortunate Reality said...

Most Palestinians are taught that being a suicide bomber is something to aspire to and at the very least something to respect and admire, wishing it wasn't so doesn't it make it so

6-27-2008 @ 5:55PM

PFS said...

She doesn't say "all Palestinians", just as she doesn't say "all American children" when discussing how the youth of America are being directed, though I suppose you could interpret it that way if you were of a mind. I think it should be fairly obvious that Bonnie Bernstein does not think all children in Palestine want to blow themselves up for God; the fact that there are many many adult Palestinians ought to be evidence enough of that. It seems more likely that, because she'd just referred to a New York Times about suicide bombers in Palestine, that the "people in Palestine" she referred to are those about whom she had read, and not the entire - region, is it? country? Considering that this was apparently a verbal interview, and not a planned out, written article, I don't think it's overboard to give some leeway for potentially confusing wording.
As for the idea that apples should never be compared to oranges - that's just a little whiny if you ask me. Just like Jamele Hill a week or so ago making a joking comparison between the Boston Celtics and Adolf Hitler, or the uproar when Kellen Winslow Jr. referred to himself as a "soldier" - it's exaggeration, it's hyperbole, and to get all up in arms about it is just silly. Why can't we, as a society, just get a little perspective?

6-27-2008 @ 6:14PM

Joel said...

She was not making a comparison between the two activities. She made that abundantly clear. She identified a common thread in two completely different and incomparable situations, and I think her point was valid.

She would have been well served to say that SOME Palestinians are raised to think that way, but the offense is in the stereotype of Palestinians, not in the comparison that she wasn't making.

6-27-2008 @ 6:22PM

Dave said...

"She would have been well served to say that SOME Palestinians are raised to think that way"

I hate to tell you but the vast majority of Palestinian kids are taught to believe that maryrdom is the highest achievement in life. You only have to watch Palestinian television and textbooks to know this.

Here are a few examples

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=palestinian%20mickey%20mouse&search=Search&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&spell=1

6-27-2008 @ 6:23PM

billyd1004 said...

Bonnie, you are right on. Please don't apologize.

6-27-2008 @ 6:31PM

Right on, ronetruth! Those folks in the WTC towers just go what was coming to them for all the stuff they did to Al Qaieda, right? If they'd just left them alone, they'd have had no problem.

6-27-2008 @ 6:53PM

J9 said...

Instead of saying "I'm not trying to compare them" she should have emphasized how one was more an important and serious matter than the other.

6-27-2008 @ 6:55PM

David said...

She should never apologize for telling the truth!

Everybody seems to have forgotten that the so-called "Palestinians" MURDERED a team of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

I'm sick of people who steal Jewish land and murder Jewish people for no reason!

6-27-2008 @ 7:06PM

bill said...

I think she was funny,,,good comment

6-27-2008 @ 7:14PM

steve said...

Relax. . .take a deep breath. . .my goodness aren't we all getting a bit sensitive. She apologized. It was a stupid comment. Let's move on. As to those who embrace the idea that leaving people alone means he/she will be left alone . . .ummm. . .a few thousand 9/11 victims and several thousand other terror victims around the world might disageee.

6-27-2008 @ 7:32PM

WackyWade said...

Should it surprise anyone that a person named Bernstein has a warped view of Palestinians, dismissing them as nothing more than a bunch of bombers?

Palestinians are people, Bonnie, and if your Chosen People would stop acting like Nazis in the way they treat the Palestinians, maybe those poor, oppressed people would stop blowing themselves up.

6-27-2008 @ 7:36PM

earth mama said...

lets see... these kids grow up in a land that someone invaded their land and killed their relatives some 60 years ago... they are herded onto land parcels with no real sustainable water/food/jobs (kinda sounds like what we did to the native americans huh?), for every rock they throw, someone gets shot... Geee tell me I'm getting close here!

I'm not mad at them! and I'd hope you'd do the same if someone invaded our country.

6-27-2008 @ 7:54PM

JFRANKMOORE1 said...

WHO GIVES A RATS ASS IF SOME PALESTINI IS UPSET ABOUT WHAT SHE SAID. IT HAS ALL BEEN TWISTED AROUND BY MEDIA IDIOTS AND MUSLIM LOVERS. THERE IS NO THING AS A GOOD MUSLIM AS THEIR CODE AND TEACHING IS TO DESTROY ALL WHITE INFIDELS.

6-27-2008 @ 7:58PM

chris said...

the what!?!?!National Arab-American Journalists Association !!
Does everybody have their own association??
Nothing wrong with waht she said!!!

6-27-2008 @ 8:01PM

T said...

What Bonny said was very true and she should not apoligize. As for the moron Michael David Smith who wrote this idiotic article why dont you do a little more research. Palestinian childern are taught that blowing up themselves is a great thing.

6-27-2008 @ 8:04PM

No Excuse For Murder said...

I think earthmama meant to say that they left their land to help their arab brethren push the Jews into the sea on the day Israel declared statehood. And when those uppity Jews actually successfully defended themselves, the Arab brethren refused to allow the Palestinians to settle in their countries, but placed them in refugee camps to use as pawns against the Jewish infidels that dared to defend themselves.

And considering that they grow up in an environment where they are taught that Jews drink the blood of Arab children on their holy days, in an environment where Hitler's Mein Kampf is a bestseller, and in an environment where people hang posters of suicide bombers on their walls and crowd the streets cheering when 9/11 occurred. Considering that environment, earthmama understands why they aspire to be suicide bombers because she wouldn't have the strength of character either to resist those influences and would happily cheer "God is Great" at the death of civilians.