A staff revolt at the Daily Star prevented publication of a spoof Islamic version of the paper called the “Daily Fatwa”.
The mock-up “Daily Fatwa”, which promised a “Page 3 Burkha Babes Special” and competitions to “Burn a Flag and Win a Corsa” and “Win hooks just like Hamza’s”, was prepared to run as page 6 in Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Star, one of the stable of newspapers owned by publisher Richard Desmond. The page also included a spoof leader column under the headline “Allah is Great” but left blank save for a stamp with the word “Censored”.
But shortly before the Star was due to go to press on Tuesday evening, concerned members of the National of Journalists (NUJ) called an emergency meeting in the 9th floor canteen of Desmond’s Northern & Shell building beside the River Thames. After 25 minutes, the NUJ chapel passed a motion saying that the article was “deliberately offensive” to Muslims.