Posts with the tag George

‘Obsession’ Interviewee Calls Film ‘Vile Piece of Propaganda’

funkfresh01 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:05:13 EDT

Dr. Khaleel Mohammed: ‘Film demonizes an entire community. I have allowed myself to be used.'

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/27/08) â€" The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today said that a participant in an anti-Muslim film that is being distributed to 28 million homes in presidential election swing states CALLED the production a “vile piece of propaganda” in a statement sent to www.obsessionwithhate.com/

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 9/27/08) â€" The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today said that a participant in an anti-Muslim film that is being distributed to 28 million homes in presidential election swing states has issued a statement calling the production a “vile piece of propaganda.”

GOP DIRTY TRICKS IN THE SWING STATES

funkfresh01 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:20:05 EDT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/sep/22/uselections2008.republicans
Republican operatives are using an anti-Muslim film and push polling to raise fears of terrorism and smear Barack Obama
Richard Silverstein, Guardian, 9/22/08

We are now entering the closing weeks of what promises to be yet another close and contentious presidential election contest. As each side seeks to maximise its advantages and minimise its weaknesses, the Republican party has chosen the lowest of low roads, engaging in two sleazy political marketing campaigns over the past week.

First, DVDs of an anti-Muslim documentary film are being distributed to 28 million voters in swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado and Wisconsin. Second, Republican telemarketers have begun push polling aimed at scaring Jewish voters in swing states from voting for Barack Obama…

The mass distribution of Obsession is an obvious Republican scare-tactic, right out of the Rovian playbook. Party operatives believe that scaring Americans into believing there's a jihadist under every bed will play to Republican strengths and Democratic weaknesses on national security. They swiftboated John Kerry in 2004. Now they're jihadising Barack Obama.

ANTI-ISLAM FILM TARGETS "SWING STATE" VOTERS

funkfresh01 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:15:54 EDT

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43940
Ali Gharib, Inter Press Service, 9/19/08

WASHINGTON, Sep 19 (IPS) - Millions of voters in U.S. states crucial to this fall's presidential election received DVD copies of a controversial documentary film as advertising inserts in their morning newspapers over the past week, with more expected to be sent out over the upcoming weekend.

The 2006 film, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West", which has been accused by critics of encouraging Islamophobia, was reportedly delivered, or slated for delivery this weekend, into tens of millions of households in states such as Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Missouri and other "swing states" that don't vote consistently for either party and usually decide elections.

Republicans and their candidate, Sen. John McCain, have made the battling the threat posed by radical Islamists a central platform of their campaign, while presenting their Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, as being weak on the issue. Obama has also fought off persistent "smear" campaigns, particularly among Jewish voters, that he is a closet Muslim.

‘OBSESSION,’ THE RADICAL RIGHT’S WAR ON ISLAM

funkfresh01 — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 21:26:54 EDT

By Ahmed Rehab

Word count: 830

[Ahmed Rehab is strategic communications director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties group. He may be contacted at arehab@cair.com]

You have to wonder about a film that could muster no better an endorsement to adorn its poster than that of CNN’s resident right-wing extremist Glenn Beck. "Obsession is without exaggeration one of the most important films of our time," says Beck. (Who would accuse Glenn Beck of exaggerating?)

The film Beck is lauding, “Obsession: Islam’s Radical War against the West,” is a 2005 work of anti-Muslim propaganda that has recently been widely distributed via an unprecedented campaign.

HATE DVDS SPREAD ANTI-ISLAM MESSAGE IN FLORIDA

funkfresh01 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:34:35 EDT

Millions of propaganda DVDs distributed with Florida newspapers promote Islamophobia ahead of US elections.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=27925

The mass mailing of a controversial DVD "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" has sparked anger among many in South Florida.

The hour-long video began turning up in mailboxes last week as a direct mailing, and also as an advertising insert in dozens of newspapers, including The Miami Herald and the South-Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The DVD is promoted by Clarion Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to "educating the public about national security threats."

PROPAGANDA FILM PLAYS TO MUSLIM STEREOTYPES

funkfresh01 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:17:55 EDT

Jeff VanDenBerg, News-Leader, 9/17/08

Like other newspapers across the country, this Sunday's News-Leader contained a glossy insert and DVD of the film "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West."

Ordinarily, such a blatant piece of anti-Muslim propaganda wouldn't merit much attention, but this "advertisement" was sent to about 28 million newspaper subscribers in key electoral swing states. It was paid for by The Clarion Fund, an opaque nonprofit organization that doesn't list its directors or staff or sources of funding on its Web site.

MASS-MAILED DVD ON 'RADICAL ISLAM' UPSETS FLORIDA MUSLIMS

funkfresh01 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:12:30 EDT

Agence France Presse, 9/16/08

The mass mailing of a controversial DVD "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" has sparked anger among South Florida Muslims who say it maligns their faith and fuels hysteria ahead of the fast-approaching US presidential vote.

The hour-long video began turning up in mailboxes last week as a direct mailing, and also as an advertising insert in dozens of newspapers, including The Miami Herald and the South-Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Promoted by Clarion Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to "educating the public about national security threats," it features scenes of young children reciting jihadi slogans, interspersed with footage of Nazi youths.

"OBSESSION" DVD RAISES CONCERNS OVER PROPAGANDA

funkfresh01 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 19:59:01 EDT

One Newspaper In North Carolina Refused To Circulate The DVD
CBS4, 9/17/08
http://cbs4.com/local/obsession.muslim.religion.2.818889.html

The documentary, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," a controversial DVD distributed nationally inside certain newspapers, is being alluded to as inflammatory by Muslim groups in South Florida, showing scenes encouraging children to become suicide bombers.

Altaf Ali was shocked when he opened his Sunday paper and found a copy of the DVD. He is the director of the Florida Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations. "That's not what a newspaper is about," Ali said, "A newspaper should never be about promoting propaganda."

OBSESSION: A JIHAD-HAPPY DVD DELIVERED TO A NEWSPAPER NEAR YOU

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:51:04 EDT

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel blog, 9/16/08
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_movies_blog/2008/09/obsession-a-dvd.html

The movie Obsession: Radical Islam's War With the West, whose trailer is below, was delivered with your Orlando Sentinel newspaper this AM. And, it is my understanding, the DVD was delivered to households receiving other newspapers around the country today as well. True?
Apparently, Parade Magazine isn't conservative enough for some folks. But hey, they paid to package it with our paper, so glad to be of service! Did the check clear?

Anyhoo, didya watch it? Check out the trailer if you have any questions about what it's about, and those who endorse it. Lots of Fox and Limbaugh plugs for it in that trailer. They're in lock step over its virtues. It's two-to-three years old, and the reason it's being shipped out to newspaper readers across America? Scaring the scareable before an election, apparently. Michael Moore's giving away his latest film on the Internet to do the same thing, but Obsession at least helps a paper's bottom line. More power to'em.

HATE MAIL, COURTESY OF YOUR DAILY NEWSPAPER

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:40:29 EDT

Wayne Garcia, Creative Loafing, 9/15/08
http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/politicalwhore/2008/09/15/hate-mail-courtesy-of-your-daily-newspaper/

Readers of the St. Petersburg Times on Sunday found a little rancid bonus in their newspapers this weekend: a DVD called Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West, which is a hate film ostensibly about Islamic terror. It’s really a thinly veiled attempt to influence the presidential election by flooding anti-Muslim sentiment ahead of the Obama-McCain balloting in November.

Nothing like infusing the voters’ minds with fresh images of terror, especially little children as jihadists, only 50 days away from the day we decide whether to put a man named Barack Hussein Obama into office

ONE NEWSPAPER REFUSES TO DISTRIBUTE 'ISLAM TERROR' DVD

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:34:58 EDT

Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, 9/15/08
http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?mid1=676&&ArticleID=25477&&name=n&&currPage=1

As explored here this past weekend, the Clarion Fund has paid dozens of newspapers across the country -- almost solely in "swing" election states -- and The New York Times to distribute the "Islam terror" DVD "Obsession" with their home delivery packages. Among the larger cities where this has taken place: Miami, Philadelphia, Denver and Pittsburgh.

An estimated 28 million copies have been distributed so far, also through the mails and other magazines. An article at the group's site, www.radicalislam.org, all but endorsed John McCain this past week, then was pulled down.

But at least one newspaper turned away the money and refused to distribute it, calling it "divisive."

It's the Greensboro News & Record in North Carolina.. The longtime editor, John Robinson, explained his reasoning in a column yesterday.

'RADICAL ISLAM' VIDEO ANGERS SOUTH FLORIDA MUSLIMS

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:20:48 EDT

A DVD about “radical Islam's war against the west,” included with the Sunday Miami Herald and dozens of other newspapers, has caused a stir among the region's Muslims.
Jaweed Kaleem, Miami Herald, 9/16/08
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/687954.html

A controversial DVD distributed to millions of Americans during the past week through direct mail and newspapers, including The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, has angered many Muslims in South Florida.

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the Westwas packaged as an advertising insert in 70 newspapers, including The Sun Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post. The Clarion Fund, a nonprofit organization that promotes ''national security through education,'' sent the hourlong preview of the documentary to 28 million households, many in election swing states such as Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Readers of The St. Petersburg Times, The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville and The News-Press of Fort Myers also received the DVDs.

The DVD includes montages of terrorist training camps and suicide bombers paired with narration by commentators such as Daniel Pipes, founder of the conservative Middle East Forum think tank. Many of the film's pundits are known for controversial views on Islam. In one part of the DVD, clips of Muslim children being recruited as suicide bombers are interspersed with images of Nazis.

“My cellphone has been ringing off the hook . . . We feel that it's going to incite more hate and bigotry against our community,” said Altaf Ali, Florida chapter director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The DVD does not do enough to differentiate between terrorists and mainstream Muslims, he said.

CONTROVERSIAL DVD ABOUT RADICAL ISLAM INCLUDED IN ORLANDO SENTINEL

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:12:21 EDT

http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?mid1=674&&ArticleID=25475&&name=n&&currPage=1
WFTV, 9/15/08

Just weeks before the election, there are questions about a controversial insert published in The Orlando Sentinel. The insert on radical Islam included a 60-minute DVD.

Over 300,000 copies of "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against The West" went out to Orlando residents as an insert in Sunday's Sentinel. Twenty-eight million copies will go out in swing states nationwide by the end of the week.

The Clarion Fund paid millions of dollars to get the DVD out. It's a non-profit organization that claims to focus on national security. Eyewitness News asked the New York-based group and they would not say exactly how many millions they receive or who their donors are.

PRO-MCCAIN GROUP DUMPING 28 MILLION TERROR SCARE DVDS IN SWING STATES

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:35:23 EDT

Erik Ose, Huffington Post, 9/12/08

(UPDATE 9/13 - 70 newspapers in swing states have been paid to distribute Obsession this weekend and next, which means not all of the DVDs have been delivered yet. Check the list at the end of this post to see if your newspaper is one of them, and let them know how you feel about their participation in this shameless propaganda campaign.)

This week, 28 million copies of a right-wing, terror propaganda DVD are being mailed and bundled in newspaper deliveries to voters in swing states. The 60-minute DVDs, titled Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, are landing on doorsteps in a campaign coinciding with the 7th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Funding is coming from a New York-based group called the Clarion Fund, a shadowy outfit whose financial backers are unclear.

ANTI-MUSLIM FILM PRODUCED BY PRO-ISRAEL PARTISAN BOOSTS MCCAIN

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:30:59 EDT

Richard Silverstein, Israel eNews, 9/15/08

You do the hanky-panky and you smear the other guy
That’s what it’s all about.

Yes, the right-wing pro-Israel crowd is up to its usual shenanigans I’m afraid…and going about it in their typically sly, surreptitious way. Greg Mitchell reports that the Clarion Fund, founded by Israeli-Canadian Raphael Shore, is distributing 28-million copies of the anti-Muslim propaganda film, Obsession, to voters in election swing states.

MUSLIMS RAP DVD AD IN OBSERVER

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:25:53 EDT

Tim Funk and Peter St. Onge, Charlotte Observer, 9/13/08

A decision by The Charlotte Observer and other newspapers to distribute as paid advertising a DVD about Islamic fundamentalism brought objections Friday from Muslims, who condemned the documentary as “hate speech.”

The DVD called “Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West” was inserted in about 200,000 copies of today's Observer.

More than 70 other U.S. newspapers, including two other McClatchy newspapers, The (Raleigh) News & Observer and Miami Herald, also are including the DVD in their deliveries.

CONTROVERSIAL FILM ON ISLAM DELIVERED NATIONWIDE

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:20:11 EDT

Yonat Shimron, News & Observer, 9/13/08

Bundled in home-delivered editions of The News & Observer today is a paid insert featuring a controversial DVD on Islam that has stirred anger nationwide.

The documentary, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," features scenes of Muslim children being encouraged to become suicide bombers, interspersed with those of Nazi rallies. The two-year-old film was produced by Raphael Shore, a Canadian who lives in Israel, and was directed by Wayne Kopping of South Africa.

NEWSPAPERS DELIVER MILLIONS OF 'TERROR' DVDS TO SUBSCRIBERS -- IN 'SWING STATES'

funkfresh01 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:13:54 EDT

Greg Mitchell and Joe Strupp, Editor & Publisher, 9/13/08

The arrival of tens of millions of DVDs of a controversial film on doorsteps around the nation -- but almost exclusively in election "swing states" -- via newspaper home delivery continues this weekend, with explanatory articles and subscriber feedback appearing on some of the papers' Web sites.

The DVDs of the 60-minute film, made in 2005, and titled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," arrived Saturday with, among other papers, the Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer in Raleigh, with delivery with the Miami Herald and other papers set for Sunday.

Other Florida papers to distribute it on Sunday included the major dailies in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Fort Myers and Orlando.

Despite some protests from Muslim and liberal activists, the newspapers -- all hard hit by drops in ad revenue in recent months -- have explained that the DVD does not violate their usual standards; see our exchange with The New York Times below. A spokesperson there said the Times last Sunday inserted 145,000 DVDs in its papers delivered in the following markets: Denver, Miami/Palm Beach, Tampa, Orlando, Detroit, Kansas City, St Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee/Madison. Note: These are all in swing states.

A Swift Boat Attack Part II on Barack Obama

funkfresh01 — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:40:53 EDT

Saturday September 13th the News and Observer will be distributing a DVD to their 160,000 subscribers entitled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" If anyone hasn't heard about this movie you can view the trailer here.

I don't know about you but I do not remember any other time where a news paper has ever sent out a DVD let alone one that his very biased and portrays Islam as an extremist religion!!!!!!!

I find it quite appaling that this type of garbage would be sent out to further instill fear into the public. It again puts innocent Muslims on the defensive and makes them worry about backlash.

http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/trailer.php

United States. Muslim Religious Council Issues Fatwa Against Terrorism

funkfresh01 — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:12:16 EDT

The Fiqh Council of North America wishes to reaffirm Islam's absolute condemnation of terrorism and religious extremism.

Islam strictly condemns religious extremism and the use of violence against innocent lives. There is no justification in Islam for extremism or terrorism. Targeting civilians’ life and property through suicide bombings or any other method of attack is haram â€" or forbidden - and those who commit these barbaric acts are criminals, not “martyrs.”

The Qur’an, Islam’s revealed text, states: "Whoever kills a person [unjustly]…it is as though he has killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind." (Qur’an, 5:32)