28 million copies of the anti-Muslim propaganda film Obsession

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/10/11-1

by Isabel Macdonald, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting

In the midst of remarkably cynical election-time mud-slinging, the Obsession campaign is truly in a class of its own.

Over the past weeks, 28 million copies of the anti-Muslim propaganda film Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West have been delivered to the doors of newspaper subscribers in swing states. The 2006 documentary, which has been a mainstay of David Horowitz's "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week," describes "radical Islam" as a menace comparable to Adolf Hitler that, according to the film's website, "is threatening, with all the means at its disposal, to bow Western civilization under the yoke of its values."

For the groups behind the film's distribution, the goal seems pretty clear: Scare the holy hell out of millions of voters in swing states about a possible Muslim takeover of the U.S. It's hard to see the targeting of electoral battlegrounds as anything other than an attempt to help John McCain get elected--perhaps by capitalizing on the widespread whispering campaign that Obama is a "secret Muslim."

And one has to admit that the Obsession campaign's marketing plan has been quite slick. After all, what better way to disseminate hate propaganda than under the unassuming guise of a documentary film delivered in Americans' daily newspapers? A plan that, sadly, many newspapers were all too happy to go along with for the sake of corporate profits. While a handful of newspapers--the Greensboro, N.C., News & Record, the Detroit Free Press, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch--have taken the ethical stance of refusing to carry the DVD (the News & Record called it "fear-mongering and divisive"), some 70 papers, including the New York Times, have delivered it to their subscribers as a paid advertising supplement.

There has really just been one small glitch in the plan: The public doesn't seem to be buying it. Newspapers that carried the DVD have faced floods of complaints from readers, and the past week has seen protests and press conferences denouncing the film.

[eleny]

1. we received one in the mail over the weekend

it ticked me off that i had to even handle it on it's way to the trash can.

[louis-t]

2. Who financed this?

[seemslikeadream]

6. The Clarion Fund, a tax-exempt non-profit organization, is responsible for the distribution of the f

http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2008/10/13/Opinion/AntiMuslim.Documentary.StirsUp.Anxieties.And.Fears-3482970.shtml

[louis-t]

9. Oh, right, I read that on the jacket of the one I got.

Who are their supporters? Where does the money come from?

[Ichingcarpenter]

19. This must have cost millions and millions

I wonder what the total cost was from start to finish?

[Dogmudgeon]

3. I got mine a few weeks ago

It's kinda hard to wipe your ass with it, though.

--p!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. I just threw fish guts on it. nt

[seemslikeadream]

4. Swing states targeted with "anti-Muslim propaganda"

http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20081013-swing-states-anti-muslim-propaganda-28-m-obsession-raphael-shore


Just a month before the US election, a Canadian rabbi has distributed 28 million copies of a documentary that compares radical Islam with Nazism to residents of swing states. Educational, or anti-Muslim propaganda?

"Obsession", which caused massive controversy when it was released three years ago, is again in the spotlight after 28 million swing-state residents found the DVD in their letterboxes as a "free gift" with their newspaper. The company behind the promotion is Clarion Fund, a non-profit organisation under the direction of Israeli-Canadian rabbi Raphael Shore, who considers it his mission "to educate Americans about issues of national security". The giveaway has been criticised by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for "scaring people into an intense fear of 'radical Islam' (...) as they vote in November". But Shore insists that the distribution had nothing to do with the elections and merely served to raise the debate about the Islamic threat. He has just released another DVD with a similar message, called "The Third Jihad".

[EnviroBat]

5. I watched the film.

It scared me so fucking bad that I ran to my computer and donated to Barack's campaign. I think I gave $50.00 that night.

:scared:

[navarth]

7. The Free Press finally makes a good decision

But it will take more than that to remove the stench of their strike breaking.

I wish McClatchy would buy the Free Press. I would subscribe again.

[seemslikeadream]

8. CAIR: Fox '24' Producer Pulls Endorsement of Anti-Muslim Film

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/cair-fox-24-producer-pulls/story.aspx?guid=%7B20FF0A77-887C-463E-8C3B-AE1E0E07F68E%7D&dist=hppr

[GardeningGal]

10. I received two copies in the mail....

both landed in the trash.

[specialed]

11. I gave the copy I got in the Mail to my muslim, republican buddy at work....

He's and his wife and his grandparents and their family in Texas are now all voting for Obama. I kid you not.

[Mnemosyne]

15. Beautiful, just beautiful!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[seemslikeadream]

12. Senders of Islam movie 'Obsession' tied to Jewish charity

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article827910.ece

Senders of Islam movie 'Obsession' tied to Jewish charity
By Meg Laughlin, Times Staff Writer


A nonprofit group that has shipped out 28-million copies of a controversial film on radical Islam refuses to reveal the source of its funding, but numerous ties connect it to a well-known Jewish education group that vehemently denies any involvement with the film.

The backing for Obsession: Radical Islam's War with the West and the intent of its distributor, the Clarion Fund, has been the subject of speculation since the DVDs were distributed beginning Sept. 14.

Clarion Fund, which was incorporated in 2006, distributed Obsession in 14 states, including the key presidential battlegrounds of Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The DVDs were distributed by mail and as an advertising supplement in 58 Sunday newspapers, including the St. Petersburg Times.

"We don't have to say who its directors are or give financial information until Nov. 6, 2008," said Clarion spokesperson Gregory Ross.

Not good enough, says the Council on American Islamic Relations, which filed a complaint Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.

"American voters deserve to know whether they are 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.

There are a number of connections between the Clarion Fund and a well-known organization called Aish HaTorah, an international charity founded in Israel in the 1970s.

[marmar]

13. I got that POS in the mail.....

.... I smashed it with a hammer and tossed it in the trash.

[mnhtnbb]

14. We not only got it in our newspaper, we also got one in the mail Both now reside in the landfill.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

16. "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week"

How exactly do you celebrate "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week"?

"Hurry up, kids! It's time to decorate the bigotry tree! We'll all sing profiling carols and share our favorite stereotypes with each other!"

[Starry Messenger]

18. Clarion Fund

I signed up with Guidestar ( http://www.guidestar.org/ ) to see who was behind the non-profit Clarion Fund:

CLARION FUND INC
270 MADISON AVE FL 9
% ELI D GREENBERG ESQUIRE
NEW YORK , NY 10016 Donate Now

View Beta Report
learn more about Charity Check

GENERAL INFORMATION

* This organization is a 501(c)(3) Public Charity.
* This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
* Contributions are deductible, as provided by law.


He's using his work address. Here is his professional link: http://www.whafh.com/modules/attorney/?action=view&id=34


Complaints have been filed due to their shady 990 filing status: http://www.israelenews.com/view.asp?ID=3214

Personally I keep hoping people who receive this POS DVD will mail it back to the address listed above.

[ddeclue]

20. Because hey - you just can't trust Osama bin Laden to release his election video like you used to...

:rofl:

[seemslikeadream]

21. Why do you always have to laugh at the mysery of others?

If this thread was about anti-Semitism would you take the opportunity to laugh at that also?