'He had to ask!' Eamonn sparks FURIOUS debate as he probes mum of radicalised ISIS jihadi
EAMONN HOLMES sparked a furious debate among This Morning viewers yesterday over the manner in which he probed a mother whose son was radicalised by ISIS.
Mother of radicalised ISIS fighter speaks out on This Morning
The 54-year-old was joined by wife Ruth Langsford as they spoke to Nicola Benyahia, whose 19-year-old son Rasheed joined ISIS before he was killed by a drone.
Nicola stressed that she wanted to make sure that no other mother had to experience the harrowing ordeal that she’s faced, after insisting that she had no idea her child had run off to the terrorist organisation.
She revealed how Rasheed’s behaviour took a drastic U-turn, but stressed there were no “consecutive changes”, just moments “here and there”.
“At the time I did confront it but radicalisation wasn’t something in the limelight,” she said. “People were beginning to talk about it more, but not like how it is today.
Mother of radicalised ISIS fighter on This Morning
Nicola Benyahia's son was radicalised by ISIS
The questions Eamonn is asking are so disrespectful
“I was just being his mother, I wasn’t being a detective or his therapist, I was just trying to guide him.”
“What is it about this religion which makes terrorism more appealing?” asked Eamonn. “And made it more appealing to your son.”
Later, he added: “Nicola, let me say something. I grew up in Northern Ireland during the troubles and let me tell you, if someone was involved people mostly knew about their association with paramilitaries.
“Some people will find it very had to believe that you didn’t know or your local mosque didn’t know what he was up to.”
Rasheed turned to ISIS unbeknown to his friends and family
Eamonn Holmes probed Nicola on This Morning
Nicola replied: “You have to understand that the ideology and these recruiters in ISIS are very skilled in directing the young person in not bringing attention to themselves, so in actual fact when the blame goes onto the parents, ‘You must have seen something’, we are the last people to know anything.”
“You are determined this will not happen to another family,” assured Eamonn, before asking: “Are you angry?”
“A lot of people ask me if I’m angry,” sighed Nicola. “I don’t know if I do recognise myself as angry, what I do know is that the anger I do have I put into energy to make sure this does not happen to any family ever again, because I know how isolating and lonely and how difficult it is, and nothing compares to it throughout my life.
“That’s where I put my energy and why I’m determined to talk about this, because I don’t think it’s just muslims who needs to talk about this, but everybody.”
Eamonn eventually thanked Nicola for “speaking so openly” and apologised for “the pain you had to go through”, but many This Morning viewers took issue with his manner.
Nicola hopes to make sure no other mother goes through a similar ordeal
This Morning viewer tweets
“Absolutely disgusting how they're probing the mother #ThisMorning,’ wrote one viewer, while another agreed: “Really dislike Eamonn's condescending manner towards this mother #ThisMorning
A third snapped: “@thismorning should be ashamed of Eammon's attitude towards this Muslim woman, Islam and terrorism are NOT the same thing. #thismorning.”
“Unsurprising to see @EamonnHolmes blaming the culture of Islam rather than the culture of austerity and lack of hope in the UK #ThisMorning,” fumed one more, which was followed by: “I'm absolutely disgusted with @thismorning and @EamonOfficial incredibly insensitive attitude towards that poor woman.”
Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford on This Morning
Other viewers praised Eamonn Holmes for his line of questioning
Another critic barked: “The questions Eamonn is asking are so disrespectful,” before one more posted: “She lost her son, no need to belittle her and give her a hard time for HIS actions @thismorning @EamonOfficial #ThisMorning.”
However, some viewers praised Eamonn for his line of questioning with one person tweeting: "Kudos Eamonn Holmes for asking questions the PC infected BBC wouldn't even dream of asking #ThisMorning."
Another viewer added: "Some difficult questions @EamonnHolmes had to ask them but i take my hat off to him! These questions should be asked!"
But some people were not happy with the segment even being included on the ITV show and vented their frustration.
"So this is the start of Isis sympathy on mainstream British tv? #ThisMorning," one person said, while another wrote: "#ThisMorning Family's and friends of anyone that went to join Isis should never even be on TV whatsoever!!!"
This Morning airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV.