Who Will Only Have Eyes For You on Xmas Day?

Civitas, 8 December 2006

In an intriguing twist to the story about Channel Four’s plan to make over its alternative Christmas Day message to a niqab-wearing Islamic Studies lecturer from Leicester, today’s Times reports the lady in question appears to have had second thoughts about appearing in the slot, claiming she hadn’t been told it was designed for broadcast at the same time as, and in competition with, the Queen’s Christmas Day message.
Channel Four is reported as not being at all concerned that the lady in question, Ms Khaija Ravat, might pull out, insisting it will go ahead with the broadcast anyway.
Could it be that, if Ms Ravat should not turn up for the recording of the message, all Channel Four need do is garb someone else in a niqab and no one would be any the wiser a substitution had been made!
Better still, should Ms Ravat pull out, Channel Four could employ a singer to do the slot and ask her to sing that time-honoured classic ‘I only have eyes for you’!
How silly of me to think Channel Four might do that. It would risk offending Muslims, whereas diss’ing the Queen by broadcasting a rival alternative Christmas Day message to hers, and ridiculing Christmas by giving over the slot to a niqab-wearing Muslim, apparently matters not one iota.