Last week we posted a media alert on an anti-Islamic DVD that was distributed through the Grand Rapids Press. Upon further investigation, we were able to find out a bit more information on the group that paid for the production and distribution of the fear-based DVD, the Clarion Fund.
The Clarion Fund is a New York based non-profit organization that was founded in 2006. There is no information on their website about who they are, but they describe themselves as an educational organization with a focus on "the most urgent threat of radical Islam." There is no information on their website about who founded the group, their board of directors, or their funding sources. What is clear about the Clarion Fund is that they are committed to promoting fear about the Islamic religion.
The DVD that they funded, Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, was not only distributed by the Grand Rapids Press, but to 28 million newspaper subscribers nationwide. The film has also been shown on CNN and FOX News. The producer of the film is an Israeli-Canadian named Raphael Shore. Shore has a history of speaking out on what he believes is an anti-Israel news media in the US. He has collaborated with the pro-Israeli media watchdog group called Honest Reporting. The communications director of the Clarion Fund is Gregory Ross. Ross, in a recent interview, stated, "the film was financed by a concerned citizen who has a long standing relationship with our organization. The cost was under $500k and it took over a year to complete." Ross also said that, "the U.S. Department of the Navy uses the film and that it has also been shown on Capitol Hill on many occasions in order to education politicians."
In a few weeks, the Clarion Fund plans on releasing a second DVD entitled The Third Jihad. This film claims there is a FBI-discovered secret document that "describes the grand jihad goal of destroying Western civilization from within by infiltrating and dominating North America."
In response to the first DVD, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is urging the Federal Election Commission to investigate the timing on the DVDs, which they claim is being used to influence the election in swing states across the country.
It is hard to tell from the educational section of the Clarion Fund's website whether or not they have a partisan bias. They do have a section documenting the candidate' positions on homeland security, but there is no evidence to suggest that they are partisan.
Islamic and other groups in Grand Rapids have responded to the Grand Rapids Press' distribution of this fear-based DVD and there are other reports of Islamic groups being outraged by the DVD. In last Sunday's Grand Rapids Press, editor Mike Lloyd defended his decision to take the money and distribute the DVD since he felt that "Unrestrained debate over a highly controversial political ad demonstrates...the strength in this country that comes from diversity." We wonder whether or not the Press, in the spirit of unrestrained debate, would take money to distribute a DVD that denied the Nazi Holocaust?
I've watched this movie and I don't think it is racist toward Muslims or anti-Islamic. It is a bit sensationalist in my opinion, but not dramatically so. It is from one point of view and does not really present itself as a entirely balanced dispasionate examination of contemporary Islam. It is clearly very anti radical Islam, but it does at any number of junctures make the distinction between radical Islam, and less militantly political versions of the faith. It also includes interviews with a number of people of Islamic background who are opponents of radical Islam. If I were of the Islamic faith I think this movie would make me somewhat uncomfortable, but I would not be very inclined to be critical of it's portrayal of radical Islam. I'd just be interested in in making sure that a different face of Islam was put forward, and I'd be concerned that this movie only showed one face of Islam, and did not more fully show the other sides of Islam. The movie is open to some criticism but in my opinion it's not that bad, and it contains some facts and some opinion that is worthy of consideration.
I received this DVD in the mail today and I have just finished watching it in full. Upon review I can honestly say that it is not a trying to make anybody hate or fear Islam. It actually points out that most Muslims are sickened by these extremests and want nothing to do with their terrorist activities. If you watch th documentary you will find that it is an educational film focused on radical Islam not all of Islam. By watching I have learned that they oppress their own people. There are different kinds of Muslims out there just like there are different kinds of Christians. I am a Baptist but you will never seem me protest soldiers funerals and hold signs saying "God hates fags".
The film is actually focused on unifying all religions and beliefs against the radicals and encourages us to support the Muslim people who want nothing more than to stop this stereotype that these extremests have made for them.
I am a liberal democrat and I am in full support of the this film and its message it has to say.
Thanks for investigating. Some churches and other sources are proposing that Senator Obama is the "Chosen One" who has come to deliver Western Civilization to the devil. The DVD, in it's timing and content, is meant to be connective support for this nonsense. Your closing statement, ("We wonder whether or not the Press, in the spirit of unrestrained debate, would take money to distribute a DVD that denied the Nazi Holocaust?",) gives an appropriate and clarifying perspective on the motives of both the producers of the DVD and the editorial decision of the Press.
Here's an article in the Michigan Messenger with more information on the Clarion Fund:
http://tinyurl.com/4dlslz
The article also mentions The Grand Rapids Press and editor Mike Lloyd's response to criticism.
And here is a good article from IPS:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9853.shtml
This is in response to the two postings from people who didn't think that DVD "Obsession" was racist or anti-Islamic. While the documentary makes a disclaimer stating that not all Muslims are violent, the images used throughout the film make the clear correlation that Islam as a whole is to be feared. Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, the news media and even Hollywood has been representing Islam in a predominantly negative way. The hate crimes against Muslims in the US have gone up in recent years and the Muslim community continues to live in fear. This is the current climate in which the DVD "Obsession" should be judged.
It is true that some extremist Islamic groups around the world have engaged in acts of terror, but what should be asked and what the DVD does not address is the origins of these groups and the historic relationship that the US has had with such groups. Case in point, the Moujahedeen force that were fighting the Soviet Occupation in the 1980s, were financed and provided military hardware by the US. When the Soviet Union left Afghanistan in 1991 the Moujahedeen morphed into a variety of radical Islam groups such as Al Qaeda. An excellent book on the US relationship to radical Islam is Richard Dreyfuss's "Devil's Game: How the US Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam." Until we come to terms with these historic relationships we will not be able to deal with fundamentalist Islam in an honest way.
More importantly, we have been meeting with people from the Muslim community and they are outraged at the content of the film. They expressed at a recent meeting that their communities are very concerned about the negative and even violent consequences which could result from the distribution of this film. They also expressed frustration that their religion is the target of oversimplifications and negative media and that if people wanted to know more about Islam they should visit a Mosque or talk to Muslims instead of believing the hate-filled content of the DVD "Obsession." We support the rights of those in the Muslim community and think that it is important to be sensitive and respectful of their perspective, particularly since they are constantly being marginalized in the US.