The Volokh Conspiracy
[David Bernstein, November 6, 2006 at 9:33pm] Trackbacks
More on the Penn Halloween Controversy:

Saad Saadi, who has become notorious for dressing up as a suicide bomber for a Halloween Party at the university president's house, has issued the following statement:

My friend, Jason, and I express our condolences and sympathy to all offended by our costumes. We wish to make it clear that we do not support terrorism, violence, or anything that is against society. There is no agenda or statement associated with our behavior shown in these pictures. The costumes are meant to portray scary characters much like many other costumes on Halloween. We are deeply sorry for anyone who has been hurt or upset. Additionally, we strive for all societies to instill healthy non-violent values.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. More on the Penn Halloween Controversy:
  2. Ah, Yes, the Press Release:
  3. Dressing as a Suicide Bomber to a Halloween Party:
Kovarsky (mail):
it's depressing that a penn student can't pen (pun intended) a more articulate apology.

"anything that is against society..." uh, yeah.

their punishment should be a writing class.
11.6.2006 10:06pm
davod (mail):
It wasn't just the dress up part. Additional photois showed them acting out the part of killing kneeling people while holding a green book.
11.7.2006 5:02am
anonVCfan:
Oh, come on, Lee. It sounds like the guy half-assed it on purpose.

S. Saadi: "I should issue a statement? How stupid is that? Do I really need to put it on the record that I don't actually support suicide bombing? Umm, ok."


Also, if you read it, it's not actually an apology. "Condolences and sympathy" are actually much more appropriate than an apology.

"Against society" is also probably an accurate description of at least part of what's wrong with suicide bombing.

* I realize that this is a pretty inarticulate blog post, but I've got some work to do right now.
11.7.2006 6:27am
Anonymous Jim (mail):
"The costumes are meant to portray scary characters much like many other costumes on Halloween."

Sounds like he read Prof. E. Volokh's commentary.
11.7.2006 6:37am
Andy Freeman (mail):
> It wasn't just the dress up part. Additional photois showed them acting out the part of killing kneeling people while holding a green book.

How is that different from someone in a freddy kruger costume threatening to cut people.

Scary costume, fake acts - it's Halloween.
11.7.2006 7:49am
TC (mail):
Freddy Krueger, witches, etc., are all make-believe and can be taken as such. Dressing up as a suicide bomber is different because they are real evil people who do evil deeds.

Why not dress up as a Gestapo Konzentrationlager guard and pretend to sort the healthy adults from the weak and the children? Scary costume, fake acts, it's just Halloween.
11.7.2006 8:07am
Chumund:
I'm still waiting for someone to explain why depicting "real evil people who do evil deeds" on Halloween means you endorse their evil deeds. Again, I've seen many costumes of, say, famous murderers. Are people seriously suggesting that such costumes endorse murder?

By the way, Keith Olbermann named Saadi his Worst Person in the World recently.
11.7.2006 8:52am
Eugene Volokh (www):
TC: How about pirates? Gangsters? The occasional serial killer (e.g., Jeffrey Dahmer), when serial killings are in the news? Saddam Hussein, back when he was in power? These aren't make-believe, and can't be taken as such -- but neither can they be taken as an endorsement of the actions being portrayed.
11.7.2006 8:56am
Chumund:
I had forgotten all about Saddam Hussein--that was a very popular costume as I recall.

All this being said--obviously something about this costume is triggering at least some people's sensibilities. I'm not sure that this reaction can be justified, but it would be interesting to at least identify what it is about this costume that makes some people take offense.

Obviously, "real evil versus fake evil" isn't very promising, since many costume depictions of real evil people don't give rise to such a reaction. Similarly, "contemporary evil people versus historic evil people" (something Instapundit suggested) doesn't work either, as in fact the Saddam Hussein costumes also showed.

But maybe we can do better.
11.7.2006 9:13am
Houston Lawyer:
If he could have PC'd it up a little more it would have been funny. He didn't even mention that he apologizes "for the children".
11.7.2006 9:56am
Chumund:
By the way, I like the catch-all "or anything that is against society," and I also wonder if that is a subtle joke.
11.7.2006 10:28am
Michael Simpson (mail) (www):
I think there is a sense in which gangster and pirate costumes (mentioned by Eugene above) do actually signify a kind of endorsement of those lives, if only in part (i.e. swashbuckling pirates in the mode of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean"). If someone came dressed to a Halloween Party as, say, a pirate or a gangster and you discovered, in the course of a conversation with him, that he dressed that way in part because he thought those were good lives to live, you'd probably find that sort of disturbing, no? What made the terrorist costume so striking, I suspect, is that - unlike pirates or gangsters - there are large swathes of folks in our world who seem to think that blowing oneself up in civilian areas or executing representative members of certain groups (i.e. Jews) is not just acceptable but desirable. Nope, Eugene is right to say that no one thinks that someone who dresses up as a pirate actually endorses a life of rape and pillage. In today's climate, we can't be altogether sure that someone who wears a suicide bomber costume doesn't endorse blowing up a cafe in Jerusalem.
11.7.2006 10:41am
Andy Freeman (mail):
Would it be poor form to ask if the folks offended by "Halloween Jihidists" are opposed to fighting real ones?
11.7.2006 10:51am
te:

Why not dress up as a Gestapo Konzentrationlager guard and pretend to sort the healthy adults from the weak and the children?

That costume was already rented?
11.7.2006 11:24am
Deoxy (mail):
"What made the terrorist costume so striking, I suspect, is that - unlike pirates or gangsters - there are large swathes of folks in our world who seem to think that blowing oneself up in civilian areas or executing representative members of certain groups (i.e. Jews) is not just acceptable but desirable. Nope, Eugene is right to say that no one thinks that someone who dresses up as a pirate actually endorses a life of rape and pillage. In today's climate, we can't be altogether sure that someone who wears a suicide bomber costume doesn't endorse blowing up a cafe in Jerusalem."

QFT.

That's it, exactly.
11.7.2006 11:37am
Chumund:
This new theory strikes me as promising. So, suppose I dressed as Kim Jong Il, or just a member of the North Korean Army. My sense is that such a costume would not trigger the same response.

Assuming I am right, would the theory be that Kim Jong Il/North Korea is so unpopular that we can be pretty sure the person in the costume doesn't endorse Kim Jong Il/North Korea?
11.7.2006 11:46am
Alan P (mail):
At a law school halloween party, a class mate came wearing a trench coat (and nothing underneath) and carrying a teddy bear.

He said he was an exhibitionist.
11.7.2006 11:48am
Andy Freeman (mail):
> In today's climate, we can't be altogether sure that someone who wears a suicide bomber costume doesn't endorse blowing up a cafe in Jerusalem.

It's also possible that folks offended by said costume are concerned about offending suicide bombers.

So, how about a "Mohammed" costume, complete with cartoon-style bomb head covering? Is that also objectionable? For the same reason?

How about vengeful Jesus?
11.7.2006 12:29pm
oneangryslav (mail):
Is there someplace libertarians can go to find out which costumes are, and which are not, appropriate attire for Halloween?

TIA
11.7.2006 12:33pm
Jeff Shultz (mail):
When it comes down to it... they're college kids. College kids do stupid things (that's almost a tautology).
11.7.2006 1:02pm
Ken Arromdee:
Is there someplace libertarians can go to find out which costumes are, and which are not, appropriate attire for Halloween?

No. Nobody is saying that wearing suicide bomber costumes should be against the law; libertarianism has nothing to say about whether something is rude, socially inappropriate, or offensive.
11.7.2006 1:50pm

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