Former Jerusalem Post writer on the latest smear: 'Yes, Obama went to party with Rashid Khalidi. So did I. Does that make me a member of Hezbollah?'
I've got a bunch of previous posts here on Open Left about Aish Hatorah. Just use the Open Left site search for a lot more info. Also, here's an excerpt of a cool review and debunking of the 'Obsession/Third Jihad' campaign by Sephardic scholar David Shasha, who is the director of the Center for Sephardic Heritage in Brooklyn, N.Y. As always, a big hat tip to Richard Silverstein at Tikun Olam.
Jeffrey Goldberg writes: I've only watched the 12-minute version of "Obsession," the film sent to more than 28 million people in various swing states, apparently by associates and partisans of the Jewish movement known as Aish HaTorah, or "Fire of the Torah," but it was enough to understand that it is the work of hysterics. One of my favorite hysterics, the Jerusalem Post's Caroline Glick, is featured prominently, pieces of the sky falling about her head as she rants about the End of Days.
Aish HaTorah denies any direct connection to the film, which is designed to make naive Americans believe that B-52s filled with radical jihadists are about to carpet-bomb their churches, and are only awaiting Barack Obama's ascension to launch the attack. But the manifold connections, as laid out in this article, among others, make it clear that high-level officials of Aish are up to their chins in this project. The most disreputable flack in New York, Ronn Torossian, who represents Aish, makes an appearance in this story, which was to be expected: Torossian last made the news when he employed sock-puppetry in defense of one of his many indefensible clients, Agriprocessors, Inc., the Luvavitch-owned kosher slaughterhouse that treats its employees nearly as badly as it treats its animals, which is saying something, because Agriprocessor slaughterers have been filmed ripping out the tracheas of living cattle.
But I digress. It's said of Ronn Torossian that he represents "right-wing" Israeli politicians, but this description does not do his clients justice. "Right-wing" is Bibi Netanyahu. Torossian represents the lunatic fringe. Several years ago, in one of my only encounters with him, he introduced me to Benny Elon, a rabbi and settler leader who was then Israel's tourism minister, and who, at various points in his career, has more or less advocated the ethnic cleansing of Israel of its Arab citizens. At one point, when Elon had gone to take a telephone call, Torossian and I started talking about Israel's right to reprisal for terrorist attacks. I was arguing in favor of some sort of proportionality (this was after Jenin, in which the Israeli army chose to root out terrorism block by block rather than bomb the city from the air) but Torossian interrupted: "I think we should kill a hundred Arabs or a thousand Arabs for every one Jew they kill." I was somewhat taken aback, of course, because this is a Nazi idea, rather than a Jewish idea. I asked him to explicate: "If someone from a town blows himself up and kills Jews, we should wipe out the town he's from, kill them all. The Israelis are suckers. They should have destroyed Jenin." He went on like this for some time. I would only note that Torossian, to the best of my knowledge, never volunteered for the Israeli army, so he seemed to me by definition a chickenhawk.
Torossian's attitude toward Arabs and toward the peace process are echoed in the approach of Aish HaTorah, which is just about the most fundamentalist movement in Judaism today. Its operatives flourish in the radical belt of Jewish settlements just south of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, and their outposts across the world propagandize on behalf of a particularly sterile, sexist and revanchist brand of Judaism. Which is amusing, of course, because "Obsession" is meant to expose a particularly sterile, sexist and racist brand of Islam.
The tragedy of "Obsession" is not that it is wrong; the tragedy is that it takes a serious issue, and a serious threat -- that of Islamism -- and makes it into a cartoon. Its central argument is that the "Islamofascism" of today is not only the equivalent of Nazism, but worse than Nazism. This is quite a thing for a Jewish organization to argue. One of the featured speakers in "Obsession" is a self-described "former PLO terrorist" named Walid Shoebat, who argues on film that a "secular dogma like Nazism is less dangerous than Islamofascism is today."
This is lunacy, of course. Islamism isn't Nazism. It's bad enough without being labeled Nazism. Martin Gilbert, the biographer of Churchill, shows up in the film as well, and doesn't cover himself in glory: "History has an unfortunate habit of always repeating itself," he says. Always? Does this mean that the Arabs are right now constructing death camps for the Jewish citizens of Israel?
Just unbelievable, but the most unbelievable part of the "Obsession" campaign is its timing: What does this film have to do with Barack Obama? The film is meant to suggest that Obama will provide aid and comfort to Islamism, or is an Islamist himself. There is not one shred of proof on this planet that Barack Obama is anything other than an Israel-supporting Christian. Yes, he went to party with Rashid Khalidi. So did I. Does that make me a member of Hezbollah?
I actually have another idea for a film: I would call it "Obsession" as well, but it would be about the poor souls who believe that Obama is a radical Muslim, that Israel has a right to expel Arabs from its lands, and that America should declare war on all of Islam.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca makes an appearance at a press conference held at the Muslim Public Affairs Council to support a united interfaith opposition to anti-Muslim hate DVD.
Rabbi Steven Jacobs of the Progressive Faith Foundation confronted Greg Ross of the Clarion Fund and Aish Hatorah on the sidewalk over Ross's allegations that MPAC somehow supports or associates with Hamas and Hezbollah.
From the Muslim Public Affairs Council: Sheriff Lee Baca, actor Mike Farrell and nearly 20 members of the newly formed Coalition for Renewing American Democracy held a press conference earlier today to voice their unified opposition to an anti-Muslim DVD called "Obsession."
Since mid-September, roughly 28 million copies of a DVD called "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" have been distributed as advertising inserts in 70 newspapers in 12 key election swing states. While the DVD begins with a statement that most Muslims do not support terrorism, it immediately sets to work undermining this idea. "Obsession" is anti-Muslim propaganda which aims to produce anxiety, mistrust, and deep unease in the average American viewer about the presence, activities and attitudes of millions of their fellow Muslim American citizens.
"This is no longer a discussion about Muslims," said Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak, co-founder of JewsOnFirst.org. "This whole enterprise becomes the responsibilites of Christians and Jews and other religious people to stand in their pulpits to educate and refute these claims. I think that this distribution will have echoes in this society for a very, very long time. We will for a very long time be involved in rebutting, correcting the record, and defending those people who are being defamed."
Rabbi Allen Freehling, Executive Director of the Los Angeles City Commission on Human Relations, added: "We are here as a group of diverse individuals representing all kinds of communities to indicate to those people who, for their own self-serving purposes, created this DVD to let them know that they will not succeed. They may have started something that they may resent in the long run. After all, they were hoping for destruction and violence, they were hoping to divide us. The fact of the matter, this has brought us closer together to communicate to the community at large to indicate that those who spew hate will not succeed."
At the press conference, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca also stressed the role of law enforcement in protecting people of all backgrounds.
"Hate crime is something that concerns all Americans, since civil rights and human rights are constitutional guarantees," Baca said. "The proposition put forth by some who are extremists, who want not only to defame a religion but incite other people to discredit them and therefore act out in a violent way toward people of that relgion, is a totally unacceptable practice that cannot in any way be condoned. Law enforcement is vigilent to protect people and their right to practice their religion."
Dr. Maher Hathout, Senior Advisor to the Muslim Public Affairs Council, added: "Democracy becomes healthy when citizens are aware and when they ask questions. I believe the current hurricane of hate we are fighting will ultimately dissipate because the very fabric and the very core of the American people is good and they will eventually resent this vulgarity in dealing with serious issues. The makers of 'Obsession' have the right to speak and we have the obligation to respond. They speak hate and we will speak love. They will speak division and we will speak unity."
Other speakers at the press conference included actor Mike Farrell, Rabbi Steven Jacobs (Progressive Faith Foundation), and Dr. Xandra Kayden (UCLA professor).
The coalition also released a statement, signed by more than two dozen religious, civic and law enforcement officials, voicing their "deep concern over the recent distribution of a deeply divisive and anger-provoking DVD" which undermines "our common and cherished beliefs by inciting fear and furthering ignorant stereotypes."
The 'Obsession' movie was about the Muslim menace 'over there.' 'The Third Jihad' will be about the invisible Muslim juggernaut here in the US, right now, crawling up your back porch and slipping in through the downstairs window you left open, bwahahahaha...
Richard Silverstein writes at Tikun Olam: Radical Islam wants you...and America
Yes, you read me right. Those crazy imams and ayatollahs want to destroy our American way of life and institute Sharia here in the U.S. of A. They plan on dismantling the Constitution and creating an Islamic state in place of our beloved republic. How do I know? Third Jihad tells me so. What's Third Jihad? Brought to you by the Clarion Fund, the same folks who brought you Obsession. Their new film debuts October 5th. And not a moment too soon I might add, since those radical jihadis are burrowing into the American heartland as I write these words.
As reader Robin wrote, Third Jihad is "Obsession on steroids." Right from the opening scene displaying the World Trade Center in ruins as ominous Arabic sounding music plays on the soundtrack, this film hammers you with one message and one message alone: radical Islam wants what you love and will do anything to get it.
For those of us who lived through the 1950s and remember the horrible TV shows and movies (i.e. I Married a Communist, I Was a Communist for the FBI, etc.) depicting American Communists insinuating themselves into the very fabric of American life in order to subvert and destroy it-Third Jihad will give you a sense of deja vu all over again (to quote Yogi Berra allegedly). Something there is in a human being which loves a bogeyman, someone to fear, someone who represents almost pure evil. I don't quite understand this primeval urge that lurks within us. But it is there.
One of the MOs of the producers of Obsession and Third Jihad is to feature a "good," moderate Muslim informant to "educate" their audience about the evils of radical Islam. In Obsession, those roles are played by faux PLO-terrorist Walid Shoebat, Nonie Darwish and Kahleel Mohammed (who has angrily disavowed the film and his participation in it).
In the new film, the "good" Muslim is played to the hilt by its "star," one M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. He is a "devout practicing Muslim" (and he won't let you forget that to distinguish himself from Christian-Arab Muslim haters, Shoebat and Darwish), former Navy Lieutenant Colonel, physician, and wannabe political thinker. He seems to have no special qualifications for taking on the role of analyst of political Islam, but assume it he does and with a vengeance.
To put it plain and simple, Jasser is a Muslim neocon. It's a strange animal considering how hostile the Republican right is to Islam and Muslims. But if Jasser didn't exist then the neocons would have to invent him (which is pretty much what they did in the case of Shoebat-or I should say that the latter re-invented himself to ingratiate himself with his neocon sponsors).
If you read Jasser carefully, he reminds me of the Log Cabin Republicans, American gays who believe that a Republican Party with no gay members is a Party that will treat gay interests even more shabbily than it does already. In other words, Jasser seems to have chosen to become a staunch Republican in order to, in his eyes, advance the Muslim agenda through the ranks of the Republican Party.
'The violence is threatening Israeli democracy and the ability of those in charge in Israel to make decisions, and the ability of people to freely express opinions without fearing that they will be hurt by wild and violent people, people who break the law and break the framework of normal democratic life.'
See my earlier posts here and here on the backers of the warmongering, hate-mongering DVD 'Obsession' that has been distributed to millions of US homes in the last few weeks in 'swing states.'
JERUSALEM (AP) - An "evil wind of extremism" is threatening Israel's democracy, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Sunday, after a pipe bomb attack wounded a professor critical of Israel's settler movement.
Olmert's forceful comments came amid growing concerns in Israel about violence by hard-line radicals, including extremist West Bank settlers.
Israeli defense officials and human rights groups have noted a rise in settler violence against Palestinian soldiers and Israeli soldiers in recent months.
On Sunday, police were investigating the shooting death of a 19-year-old Palestinian shepherd whose body was discovered in ravine in a remote area of the West Bank. The shepherd's relatives blamed Jewish settlers, but police said they were still investigating.
Also, dozens of Israeli civilians entered the Palestinian village of Kufr Diek in the West Bank late Saturday, smashing the windows of several cars and homes, said the mayor, Jamal al-Diek. Israeli troops fired stun grenades, and two villagers were hurt, the mayor said. The military denied firing grenades.
The rampage appeared to be in response to a shooting attack on an Israeli car in the area earlier Saturday. An Israeli was lightly hurt in the attack, the military said.
In Jerusalem, Olmert told his Cabinet at the start of its weekly meeting that police were asked to move as quickly as possible to arrest those involved in the bomb attack Thursday on Professor Zeev Sternhell, winner of Israel's prestigious Israel Prize.
Sternhell, a vocal critic of West Bank settlements, was lightly wounded in the bombing, which took place outside his home.
Olmert said the attackers appeared to be part of "another underground" - a reference to extremists who bombed the cars of several Arab mayors, killed three students in a shooting spree at a West Bank university and masterminded a botched attempt to blow up a key Muslim shrine in Jerusalem in the 1980s.
"An evil wind of extremism, of hate, of maliciousness, of violence, of losing control, of lawbreaking, of contempt for the institutions of state, is passing though certain sections of the Israeli public," Olmert told the Cabinet.
The violence "is threatening Israeli democracy and the ability of those in charge in Israel to make decisions, and the ability of people to freely express opinions without fearing that they will be hurt by wild and violent people, people who break the law and break the framework of normal democratic life," Olmert said.
From the NPR blog: We had a story on the air this morning about the mass distribution of an inflamatory DVD on radical Islam, which critics say is intended to help John McCain's presidential bid. The video documentary was blasted out by the Clarion Fund, an obscure New York-based charity.
Clarion wouldn't return our phone calls before the story aired. But today it hired a PR firm, which quickly issued this statement in response to our story:
The Clarion Fund has one goal: educate the public about the threat of Islamic terrorism. Obsession is the film opponents of free speech don't want you to see. Terrorist attacks don't distinguish between political parties- they kill everyone. America needs to know the truth about the threat without censorship.
Clarion's new voice is Hank Sheinkopf, a long-time Democratic consultant in New York, who worked on President Clinton's re-election campaign. The choice of a Democratic flak is a smart move, since critics have said Clarion is covertly trying to help elect Republican McCain. That kind of active political work would violate its 501(c)(3) charity exemption.
As we reported, one of the promoters of the DVD is Joe Wierzbicki, who is active in two anti-Obama political action committees.
....
Earlier this week, we pointed out the Clarion Fund's ties to Aish HaTorah, a staunchly pro-Israel organization that promotes Jewish pride and helps send young Jewish Americans to Israel. The St. Petersburg Times found even more connections, including the name of an Aish employee on Clarion's bulk mailing permit. (Aish's PR consultant, however, told us today that he represents Aish only and didn't even have the phone number for Clarion.)
Meanwhile, the Inter Press Service reported that another organization, the Endowment for Middle East Truth, was also responsible for the DVD distribution. In March, the Endowment hosted a showing of "Obsession" on Capitol Hill.
Leading the Endowment is Sarah Stern, a former lobbyist for the Zionist Organization of America. She takes a hard line in defense of Israel, arguing against Israeli concessions such as land withdrawals and prisoner releases. In a recent open letter to the "next president," she warned that if tough diplomatic measures against Iran fail by the time he is inaugurated, "Mr. President, you may inherit the difficult task of easing the way for a preemptive strike."
I've previously posted about the movie 'Obsession' and the Aish Hatorah cult here and here.
An excerpt:
"Sadly, it would seem that I have allowed myself to be used. I gave an interview to the makers of "obsession" wherein I explained the meaning of Jihad, and its misuse by extremists. I understood that the film would be used objectively, focusing on fanatics who seek to spread violence. I am aware that there is a disclaimer at the beginning of the film that says it is not about Islam in general, but only about extremist interpretations.
"But the material from some of the speakers gives the lie to the disclaimer: many of them are not experts, or have used the mantle of academic qualifications to purvey hate. That their alarmist drivel should be mixed with my whittled down interview proves that the intent of the film is not to educate, but to mislead. The free distribution of the film to voters in particular districts shows the political chicanery that is the motive, and the secrecy about the financing of the distribution only underlines the evil intent in circulating this vile piece of propaganda.
"Evidence seems to indicate the involvement of Aish ha-Torah in this dishonest enterprise. I find that particularly distressing, because any Jewish organization ought to realize what the film seeks to do: they demonize an entire community to the point where a government takes action to further beleaguer its citizens and resident aliens simply because of their religious identity. This bigotry over religion and identity is precisely what caused the Shoah - and it is sad that those who ought to have learned what hate can engender should seek to imitate Nazi propagandism.
The Hate Hurts America Multifaith Community Coalition (HHA), a group of religious and civic organizations seeking to challenge hate speech in our society, today announced that it has launched a website as a positive response to the anti-Muslim bigotry used in an ongoing multi-million-dollar campaign to influence the presidential election.
The Clarion Fund, a U.S. group reportedly used as a front by an Israel-based organization, is distributing 28 million copies of the controversial film "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" to voters in presidential election swing states.
HHA's new website, www.obsessionwithhate.com, offers a point-by-point rebuttal to propagandistic claims made in the film, as well as a list of newspapers that delivered the film's DVD as an insert, a sampling of bigoted statements made by controversial anti-Muslim figures interviewed for "Obsession," and examples of the overwhelmingly negative media coverage of the Clarion Fund's controversial campaign to influence voters.
The HHA site also offers positive actions visitors may take to help challenge the "Obsession" campaign's promotion of intolerance and misinformation.
Following is a list of newspapers that are including the 'Obsession' DVD insert. If you live in the distribution area of one of these newspapers, please visit www.obsessionwithhate.com and check out their 'Take action' page:
Colorado - Boulder Daily Camera, Centennial Citizen, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post, Fort Collins Coloradoan, Greeley Tribune
Iowa - Daily Nonpareil, Des Moines Register, Iowa City Press Citizen, Quad City Times, Sioux City Journal
Indiana - South Bend Tribune
Florida - Daily Commercial, Florida Times-Union, Ft. Lauderdale El Sentinel, Ft. Myers News Press, Miami Herald, Ocala Star Banner, Orlando Sun Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Tampa Tribune, Tallahassee Democrat, St. Petersburg Times, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Michigan - Flint Journal, Grand Rapids Press, Lansing State Journal
Midwest - The New York Times
Missouri - Springfield News-Leader
Nevada - Las Vegas Review-Journal/Sun, Nevada Appeal, Reno Gazette-Journal
New Hampshire - Portsmouth Herald News, Union Leader
New Mexico - Clovis News Journal, Hobbs News-Sun, Rio Rancho Observer
Hundreds of complaints, over fifty cancelled subscriptions to the North Carolina News and Observer, public editor excoriates own newspaper for accepting hatemongering video that was produced by Aish Hatorah cult group
For more information about Aish Hatorah, see my previous posts here,here, and here.
Ted Vaden, the public editor at the North Carolina News and Observer writes:
Should The News & Observer allow itself to be used as a vehicle for disseminating offensive speech against a religious faith?
No, was the resounding response from readers who objected to a DVD that was distributed in The N&O last weekend. The video, titled "Obsession," portrays radical Islam as an organized global terrorism campaign aimed at Jews, Christians and America.
It depicts armies of jihadist warriors, suicide bombers in training and armed children chanting anti-Western slogans. Images of Islamist militants are juxtaposed with scenes of goose-stepping Nazi troopers. Graphic footage displays carnage from attacks in New York, London and Madrid.
"This is a film about a radical world view and the threat it poses to us all, Muslim and non-Muslim alike," a title says at the beginning of the video.
After the DVD was distributed Sept. 13, protests poured into News & Observer offices. We received at least 300 e-mail and phone messages, and about 50 people canceled subscriptions
"By taking responsibility for the delivery of this movie, an esteemed newspaper lent credence and stature to a movie which is, at best, hyperbolic, frightening propaganda. Surely, money cannot replace ethics," wrote reader MARY HARRISON.
"Gee, if I was still teaching, this video could be a classroom aid to show how some use hate and religious intolerance to scare people," wrote retired fourth-grade teacher MARY GILBERT of Raleigh. "However, I would not want to poison young minds by having them watch it."
The DVD was distributed by The N&O as an advertising product, inserted along with the advertising circulars into the paper. Jim McClure, vice president for display advertising, said he recognized that the DVD would be controversial and consulted with other executives before accepting it.
But he concluded that the paper should not deny advertisers the opportunity to reach the N&O audience because their message is unpopular or offensive to some. "The ultimate question is, at what point do you draw the line and start censoring things based on comfort level?" he said.
Many readers, citing The N&O's well-publicized revenue problems, accused the paper of selling out scruples for advertising dollars. McClure said the paper doesn't disclose what customers pay for ads, because they expect confidentiality for competitive reasons, but money was not a factor: "There was no consideration that this was so lucrative that we have to lower our standards and accept this. It was accepted on its merits."
I have a problem with this particular entry into the free-speech marketplace, because we don't know where the speech is coming from. The DVD package contained a name and address for the sponsor, The Clarion Fund of New York City. A Clarion Web site gives no information about its directors or its funding. It says the film was made possible by a large donor, but doesn't identify who.
Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic studies at UNC-CH, has researched the video and the Clarion Fund. He says the producer of the video is a Canadian native who now is a rabbi and Zionist leader in Israel. Distribution was aided by a Christian Zionist organization headed by Texas evangelist John Hagee, he said, and a Clarion Fund Web site recently published, then removed, an article that endorsed John McCain over Barack Obama for president.
Safi noted that the DVD was placed in newspapers only in key election swing states, suggesting it's intended to scare voters into the McCain camp. "The whole premise of this film is that the West doesn't know what radical Islam represents," Safi said. "Fair enough. Tell us what you represent." My calls to the Clarion Fund were not returned.
I think newspapers have an obligation to be as transparent as possible with readers about the information they provide. In this case, I think the DVD fell short in two respects.
First, it should have been labeled as paid advertising content, as the newspaper would require of a political advertisement. Despite the story on the front page, it's clear from their comments that some readers perceived the video as somehow endorsed by The N&O. McClure said it's the first time he could recall that The N&O has distributed a DVD.
More important is the lack of information about the source of this controversial content. Without that, the readers were not in a position to make an informed judgment about the message they received.
'Obsession' packaging included statements of political advocacy
Richard Silverstein writes: After covering the campaign to distribute 28 million DVDs of the anti-Muslim documentary, Obsession, to sway voters to vote Republican in crucial swing states, I've decided to file an IRS complaint (form 13909) against the Clarion Fund, which produced the film and distributed it. There are too many subterfuges involved in the production of this film and the way that Clarion does business.
It is a 501c3 non-profit organization. That's why the film's packaging makes this bogus claim:
Clarion Fund is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization devoted to educating the public about national security issues.
501c3's are prohibited from engaging in direct partisan political activity. Yet Radical Islam, another Clarion website, featured an endorsement of John McCain's candidacy. It is Republican bedrock principle to frighten American voters with the bogeyman of Islamic terror. If they do, they figure they win as they have a lock on the national security vote. George Bush, Dick Cheney and now, John McCain have done this since 9/11. Similarly, Raphael Shore, the film's producer and director of Clarion Fund, bets that any voter he can scare with this film is likely to vote Republican.
The Republican Jewish Coalition has sent out mass mailings of Obsession to various Jewish mailing lists. Right-wing evangelical groups distributed it at both national political conventions. The film's packaging features this message:
The threat of Radical Islam is the most important issue facing us today. But it's a topic that neither the presidential candidates nor the media are discussing openly (!). It's our responsibility to ensure we can all make an informed decision come November.
In short, everything about this film and Clarion Fund is partisan and political. As such, the latter has clearly violated IRS regulations governing the behavior of non-profit organizations.
Further, every non-profit is required to file an IRS form 990 and make it accessible to the public. Clarion Fund acknowledges it has not done so. Gregory Ross, it's PR flack claims it's level of activity was not substantial enough to meet the threshold for filing a 990. I'm no expert on 501c3 regulations (though I AM a former non-profit fundraiser), but this sounds entirely bogus to me. This is another issue that the IRS should investigate as part of my complaint.
For active links to the newspaper editorials, you will have to read this article on the CAIR site.
WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/23/08) - A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today announced that it has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) over the distribution of an anti-Muslim film to 28 million homes in presidential election swing states.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is urging the FEC to investigate whether the Clarion Fund, a shadowy non-profit organization that distributed DVDs containing "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," is really a front for an Israel-based group seeking to help Sen. John McCain win the U.S. presidential election. (No information about a board of directors, staff or even a physical address is offered on the fund's website.
In its complaint to the FEC, CAIR wrote in part:
"The Clarion Fund recently financed the distribution of some 28 million DVDs containing the film 'Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West' in what many political analysts describe as 'swing' states in the upcoming presidential elections. Those same analysts say the distribution of the 'Obsession' DVD was designed to benefit a particular presidential candidate, namely Sen. John McCain...
"According to the website for the Secretary of State for New York, Clarion Fund Inc. is incorporated in New York as a Delaware based foreign not-for-profit corporation. According to the Delaware Department of Corporations, Robert (Rabbi Raphael) Shore, Rabbi Henry Harris and Rebecca Kabat incorporated Clarion Fund. All three of whom are reported to serve as employees of Aish HaTorah International, an organization apparently based in Israel. Also according to the Delaware Department of Corporations, the incorporators of the Clarion Fund used Aish HaTorah's New York City address (150 West 46th Street, New York) to incorporate Clarion Fund in Delaware...
"It appears that the funding for the production, marketing and distribution of 'Obsession' may have originated from Israel-based Aish HaTorah International."
To read the entire FEC complaint, click here.
There is at least one report of a person who received the DVD also getting an automated phone call asking that person to watch the film and then "keep it in mind when you go to the voting booth."
"American voters deserve to know whether they are the targets of a multi-million-dollar campaign funded and directed by a foreign group seeking to whip up anti-Muslim hysteria as a way to influence the outcome of our presidential election," said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
Awad said CAIR has received numerous complaints from those who were sent the DVD in newspapers delivered to their homes and has recorded at least one report of an anti-Muslim bias incident directly resulting from the DVD distribution.
SEE: Ohio Muslims Fearful After DVD Released in Newspapers
Some newspapers, including the News & Record in North Carolina and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, have refused to distribute the DVDs.
SEE: Post-Dispatch Refuses to Distribute DVD Offensive to American Muslims
Interfaith leaders such as Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance, have spoken out against the distribution of "Obsession" in swing states. In a statement, Gaddy also called for an FEC investigation: "...when a cynical attempt is made to influence our nation's presidential election by stoking fear of one religious group we believe the media along with public officials, such as the Federal Election Commission, must establish who is trying to influence our politics through religious bigotry."
SEE: Statement of Rev. Welton Gaddy On the Distribution of the Anti-Muslim Film "Obsession" in Newspapers
An editorial in the Palm Beach Post outlined the apparent political motivation behind the Clarion Fund campaign:
"Distribution of the DVD...was timed with the post-Labor Day start of presidential election season. About 95 percent of the papers that contained the DVD are in Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and New Hampshire.
"Notice a pattern? Right, those are the swing states that most analysts believe will determine the election. The issue on which polls consistently show John McCain ahead of Barack Obama is national security. One way to make voters worry less about the economy and more about national security would be to send out a DVD that opens with clips of 9/11 and includes scenes of Muslims chanting 'Death to America!'"
SEE: The Secret Cell Helping McCain (Palm Beach Post)
SEE ALSO: Anti-Islam Film Targets 'Swing State' (IPS)
Editorial and letter writers nationwide have called the film "propaganda" and even compared it to Leni Riefenstahl's 1935 pro-Nazi film "Triumph of the Will." One writer called it "misleading and dangerous." (Broward-Palm Beach New Times, 9/20/08)
SEE: Putting Lipstick on Propaganda Doesn't Change It (NWF Daily News)
Jeff VanDenBerg, director of Middle East Studies at Drury University, called the film "a blatant piece of anti-Muslim propaganda." (News-Leader, 9/17/08)
Those interviewed in "Obsession" constitute a veritable who's who of Muslim-bashers. Speakers include Walid Shoebat, who once told a Missouri newspaper that he sees "many parallels between the Antichrist and Islam" and "Islam is not the religion of God -- Islam is the devil." (Springfield News-Leader, 9/24/07)
Others interviewed in the film include Nonie Darwish, a self-styled "former Moslem" who wrote that "Islam is cruel, anti-women, anti-religious freedom and anti-personal freedom in general," and Daniel Pipes, who warned a Jewish convention of the "true dangers" posed by "the presence, and increased stature, and affluence, and enfranchisement of American Muslims." (American Jewish Congress, 10/21/2001)
Another "Obsession" interviewee, Brigitte Gabriel, told the Australian Jewish News: "Every practising Muslim is a radical Muslim." She also claimed that "Islamo-fascism is a politically-correct word...it's the vehicle for Islam...Islam is the problem."
SEE: The World According to Brigitte Gabriel (Australian Jewish News)
When asked whether Americans should "resist Muslims who want to seek political office in this nation," Gabriel said:
"Absolutely. If a Muslim who has -- who is -- a practicing Muslim who believes the word of the Koran to be the word of Allah, who abides by Islam, who goes to mosque and prays every Friday, who prays five times a day -- this practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America."
SEE: 'Obsession' Stars Have Lectured at U.S. Military Colleges
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 35 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
"American voters deserve to know whether they are the targets of a multimillion-dollar campaign funded and directed by a foreign group seeking to whip up anti-Muslim hysteria as a way to influence the outcome of our presidential election."
For complete background on Aish Hatorah and the 'Obsession' movie, check out my earlier diaries here and here. Also, a testimonial from a distraught Jewish mother on how she lost her son to the Aish Hatorah cult posted at Rick Ross' Cult-watch website. The first article I posted here at Open Left also shows how the group targets secular Jews and misrepresents themselves in doing so to gain trust and access.
A U.S. Muslim advocacy group Tuesday asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether a nonprofit group that distributed a controversial DVD about Islam in newspapers nationwide is a "front" for an Israel-based group with a stealth goal of helping Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
The DVDs - which critics call anti-Muslim propaganda - were inserted this month into more than 70 newspapers and paid for by the Clarion Fund, a nonprofit founded in 2006. The group's focus is "the most urgent threat of radical Islam." It has declined to identify board members or its funding.
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In its complaint, CAIR cites New York Secretary of State records showing that three people who incorporated Clarion Fund also are employees or have been employees of Aish HaTorah International, a Jerusalem-based Jewish educational organization that has offices around the world.
"American voters deserve to know whether they are the targets of a multimillion-dollar campaign funded and directed by a foreign group seeking to whip up anti-Muslim hysteria as a way to influence the outcome of our presidential election," Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, said in a statement.
As evidence of a McCain bias, CAIR cites a story in the Patriot News of Harrisburg, Pa., which reported that a Clarion Fund Web site ran a pro-McCain article before it attracted notice and was taken down.
"If you heighten the hysteria over national security or terrorism or do anything to make people more fearful, it's clear they would trend toward McCain because that's been his mantra throughout the campaign," said Ibrahim Hooper, a CAIR spokesman.
Under federal election law and the tax code, nonprofit groups are restricted from getting involved in candidate races and foreign nationals may not contribute to American campaigns. The DVD's distributors say their efforts are issue-based and don't break election laws.
The Canadian producer of the film, Raphael Shore, is a full-time employee of Aish HaTorah International, an educational group that avoids politics, said Ronn Torossian, a New York-based spokesman for the group. Shore's work on the DVD project was not done under the banner of Aish HaTorah, Torossian said.
"These are independent activities of individuals," he said.
Gregory Ross, spokesman for the New York-based Clarion Fund [and who is also a register fundraiser for Aish HaTorah], declined to discuss the complaint's specifics. He pointed out that it's normal for nonprofits to keep donors' identities private. He said the group has "thousands of donors that span the political spectrum."
"We are not telling people who to vote for," said Ross, a former employee of Aish HaTorah International. "We're just saying no matter who gets in office, the American people should know radical Islam is a real threat to America. We don't feel radical Islam is getting its fair share of press."
The group is preparing to release another film, "Third Jihad," but has no plans for mass distribution, Ross said.
In my earlier post on this, I could only find evidence that Raphael Shore, the founder of The Clarion Fund which produced and distributed "Obsession," was connected (by relation) to his brother who heads the Aish Hatorah cult, Rabbi Ephraim Shore. Israeli newspapers are now reporting that Raphael Shore himself is a leader in the group.
An article published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz under the title 'Obsession' stokes passions, fears and controversy-the following information was included in that article:
"'Obsession' gives the picture that unfortunately no one else does," says Raphael Shore, the Canadian-Israeli living in Jerusalem who produced the film.
For one, it has a largely Jewish and pro-Israel distribution network, though Shore is trying to expand the film's appeal. According to news reports, at a screening earlier this year at New York University, distributors of the film required viewers to register at IsraelActivism.com, the Web site of Aish HaTorah's Hasbara Fellowships.
Shore, incidentally, was the director of both Aish HaTorah International and the Hasbara Fellowships, a pro-Israel advocacy group. He also tries to play down the film's Israel connection, simply because "It isn't helpful," he says."I don't want it to be only Jewish and Israel-related. Story here.
I also linked to this in the earlier post, but here is an excerpt of a good article with some helpful ideas on how to respond to people to have watched Obsession.
If you have received a hair-raising "documentary" called Obsession in the mail this weekend, you are not a chosen surprise winner, or the recipient of a kind anonymous gift. You belong to a sought after group of people: the residents of a swing state estimated to be an undecided voter. The film is supposed to convince you that your country is at war with the majority of Muslims who are willing to conquer America, kill or convert you, and establish a fascist empire. If you watch the film by yourself, and have no way of evaluating its content, chances are you will be convinced. Rather, you will be terrified.
That 28 million free copies of Obsession is landing on doorsteps in swing states at this point in time, speaks for itself. Nonetheless, people are digging deep in search of the sources of financial support for this largest campaign of fear conducted to date. I'd say more power to them for their efforts to expose this campaign of emotional manipulation reminiscent of fascist like ideologies that have resulted in massive human tragedies. For now, however, there are easier and more practical ways of countering this scare attack. As a Muslim who has never been at war with anyone, I list five of them here.
First, the movie tells you that in a Muslim country, a non-Muslim is supposed to be killed or sold like an animal. Look, in your neighborhood or among colleague, relatives, and friends, for an ordinary fellow American who has travelled to a Muslim country in recent years. Ask if he or she felt the threat of being abducted, converted, sold, or killed at anytime during his or her stay in that country.
Second, the Movie claims that the Egyptian textbooks tell school children that Muslims should kill non-Muslims and take over the world. Egypt has millions of Coptic Christian inhabitants. In fact, they form 20% of the Egyptian population. Ask yourself how have they survived living in Egypt for thousands of years? Then, locate an Egyptian Copt through your local library, university, the internet, and/or friends. Ask that person if he or she ever saw such a statement in his or his children's school books.
Third, invite a Persian speaking friend (of whom hundreds of thousands live in the U.S.) to watch the movie with you. When supposed scenes from the Iranian TV are shown, they will tell you that the actual language they hear is not Persian but Arabic. The documentary makers did not know what they were piecing together. They banked on the fact that the audience will not know that either.
Fourth, the film interviews supposed Muslim fundamentalists who have turned nice, loving, and truthful after conversion to Christianity. Ask yourself why you should trust them anymore now than when they were ruthless terrorists - if indeed they were terrorists. If not, why are they lying? (More on one of these character here.)
Fifth, when images of large and loud crowds in the film frighten you, imagine someone taking a few shots from the GOP convention's loud chants, put a scary voice over, add a few shots of American soldiers breaking into Iraqi homes in the middle of the night, and throw a few statements from right wing shows into the mix. It could be sold to Muslim audiences as "The American War on Islam."
Finally, please send this simple guide to a friend who has been terrified after watching Obsession and tell them to vote for Mr. McCain only if they like four more years of what they have experienced for the past eight years...not because Muslims are at war with America. They are not.
In my earlier diary, "Tales of the City Is Fiction--And Mythos", I responded to a post by Emptywheel, "The Count of Monte Cristo Was Not Fiction" primarily by shifting focus from the fiction/fact distinction, which I agree is culturally conditioned, to the mythos/logos distinction as laid out by Karen Armstrong in her book, The Battle For God. In this diary, I want to advance another distinction, that between cults, which are deeply associated with mythos and culture, which properly functions to integrate mythos and logos.
My argument is that culture is necessary to prevent cults from becoming dangerous, and that the current failure of the Democratic-controlled Congress to hold the Bush Administration responsible can be seen as part of a broader failure of culture to prevent such danger.
My specific focus involves three aspects of culture: consciousness, critical engagement, and the capacity to mediate. By "consciousness," I mean an awareness of what narratives are doing, both as logos and mythos. This requires cognitive functioning at least at Kegan's Level 4, which takes the construction of social roles and relationships as object, on which it can reflect and act. (See "The Political Duality Of Rep and Dem", section "Cognitive Complexity II: Kegan's Subject/Object Model.") "Critical engagement" means that one not only has this capacity to reflect and act, but that one actually does so. And the capacity to mediate means that the culture itself provides tools, up to the level of institutions, such as courts, schools, legislatures, research institutes, etc. which can be used individually and collectively to ensure, among other things that mythos does not swallow up everything else, and that logos does not crush the life out of mythos.
