'Obsession' campaign imploding: pro-Israel think tank pulls out, claims it was taken advantage of

by: johnalive

Wed Oct 01, 2008 at 02:21

A pro-Israel think tank has pulled out of involvement with "The Obsession Project," just a few days after a Muslim advocacy group filed a complaint about the effort.

The Washington, D.C.-based Endowment for Middle East Truth had agreed to write a policy paper and lead an educational outreach effort subsequent to the distribution of 28 million DVDs of the film "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West." The DVD distribution was funded and arranged by the Clarion Fund, and EMET was not involved with that portion of the project.

EMET founder and president Sarah Stern initially told JTA on Friday that she had been taken advantage of by the group and had never spoken with Ari Morgenstern, who was quoted in press reports as speaking for EMET and the Obsession Project.

But the communications strategists for the project, Baron Communications LLC and 30 Point Strategies, shared e-mails and phone records that showed Stern had at least four telephone conversations earlier in the week with Morgenstern. In addition, they produced an e-mail from Sept. 22 which showed Stern approving of a press release and other materials announcing EMET's participation. Another e-mail a day later from Stern included a lengthy note backing the project's mission and the sign-off "Soldier On!"

Stern now does acknowledge having spoken to Morgenstern and approving involvement with the project, but now says she "made a mistake" in not getting approval from EMET's board before agreeing to became a partner. She said she still supports efforts to encourage Americans to watch "Obsession."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations asked the Federal Election Commission on Sept. 23 to investigate the distribution of the DVDs and whether it was intended to influence the election - even though the film includes no partisan political content. The DVD were inserted into dozens of newspapers in swing states. The Muslim group claims that Aish HaTorah International is behind the project. A spokesman for Aish HaTorah denied the organization was involved, but said employees of the group may be involved in their free time.

Story here.

johnalive :: 'Obsession' campaign imploding: pro-Israel think tank pulls out, claims it was taken advantage of

Tags: Aish Hatorah, Sarah Stern, EMET, Endowment for Middle East Truth, politics of Islamophobia, Obsession, (All Tags)

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'Obsession' campaign imploding: pro-Israel think tank pulls out, claims it was taken advantage of | 2 comments

'Defacto' googlebomb in Ohio (0.00 / 0)

Everybody around Open Left is familiar with Googlebombs. It appears that there has been so much speculation that the DVD inspired the people who gassed an Ohio mosque with pepper spray that if you google "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" and "Ohio" alot of what you will get from about page two on is going to be stories linking the attack to the video. (I say 'defacto' because it isn't an organized phenomenon like an Open Left googlebomb. People are just making the obvious connection.) Naturally, alot of people who are usually tuned out are really, really pissed off at the DVD and its backers, judging from what you read in the letters to the editors columns of the newspapers that distributed it.

Most any attack on a Muslim or mosque between now and election day is likely going to be attributed to the DVD, with a resulting shrinkage in the Overton window for trash-talking and race-baiting Muslims and Arabs. Given the heavy association of the makers/funders/producers of this flick with the US Likudniks and their belligerent 'war-forever' attitudes, the Overton window will likely increase for criticizing them and their policies.

The makers of this video set out to inspire fearmongering and hate on Muslims, but instead it appears that they might get a "we won't stand for race-baiting and hate crimes" narrative instead.

Rumor has it that Sheldon Adelson is the lone donor who gave The Clarion Fund tens of millions of dollars to do this. I wonder how it feels to have all that money you spent on this project thrown back in your face, working to accomplish the opposite of what you set out to do? This is turning into a real political clusterfuck.

by: johnalive @ Wed Oct 01, 2008 at 06:30:43 AM UTC

Truth is.... (0.00 / 0)

it was viewed as a piece of anti-Obama rubbish, an attempt to conjure up the still prevalent notion that Obama is a Muslim and folks in those swing states, if they aren't already against having a Black president, would fall for this propaganda.

Too late to pull out. Conceivably the damage has been done.

by: shergald @ Wed Oct 01, 2008 at 20:31:08 PM UTC

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