Not much talk on this board about the recent mass distribution of that Obsession DVD. So, for the people who want to catch up, here’s NPR’s story:
[i]Just after the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a small charity group flooded campaign battleground states with an inflammatory DVD on radical Islam. Critics say the charity is trying to influence the presidential race.
Earlier this month, subscribers to 70 newspapers in 14 states got a little something extra: A DVD that argues the same hard, militaristic line on terrorism that John McCain takes in his presidential campaign.
It’s called Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West. The DVD was made in 2006, before this presidential contest began, and it doesn’t even allude to electoral politics.
But, filled with dire warnings about Islamic terrorists, it hit doorsteps seven weeks before Election Day. And critics say it fuels the false whisper campaign that Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim.
Madaline Muir of Montgomery County, Pa., got the DVD in her Philadelphia Inquirer. She called it propaganda.
“It’s to influence people. Sent out now. Whenever it was made, 2006, but it’s really to influence people in the election and scare people,” she said.
Obsession was produced by the Clarion Fund, a 501(c)(3) charity, which cannot get involved in campaign politics.
But its spokesman has said the newspaper distribution had one purpose: to make terrorism a presidential campaign issue where it counts �?? in the battleground states. He said Clarion did this with a half-million dollar grant from a secret donor.
And others have been promoting Obsession in other ways. Joe Wierzbicki, a political consultant, offered free copies of the DVD to listeners on a talk show in Detroit last month. He was promoting a free screening of Obsession on Sept. 11 in Dearborn, a city with a large Arab population.
Who paid for the screening? And who hired Wierzbicki to handle it? Wierzbicki wouldn’t tell local reporters. On Thursday, he didn’t respond to NPR’s interview requests, and neither did the Clarion Fund.
It’s illegal for a 501(c)(3) to advocate expressly for or against a candidate. None of Clarion’s three directors have any record of contributing to the candidates. But some political connections do emerge.
Wierzbicki, the movie promoter, also works for two political organizations. He’s an organizer for Move America Forward, a political action committee that just produced an ad accusing Obama of playing politics with soldiers’ lives.
He also is the PAC coordinator for the Our Country Deserves Better PAC. Its Web site says it has one objective: to defeat Obama.
A multifaith coalition called Hate Hurts America has launched a Web site to counter allegations made in the DVD. And an Arab rights group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate Clarion for possible violations of campaign finance law.
“Where is that money coming from? And what is the agenda of those behind this campaign? And who is behind this campaign ultimately?” Ibrahim Hooper, the council’s spokesman, asked, regarding the DVD.
Those kinds of questions are often asked at the height of campaign season. But even if the election commission decides to investigate the Clarion Fund, the answers would likely be months away.[/i]
Investigating further, some interesting details emerged:
[i]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.
One group, Move America Forward, recently produced an ad we already showcased. The other, Our Country Deserves Better PAC, just put up a Web video contending that Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin has more executive experience than Barack Obama. “All Barack Obama has ever run,” it says, “has been his mouth.” The video, which runs over 3 minutes, goes into a blooper reel of Obama’s gaffes, tongue-tied moments and controversial comments.
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]
And guess what? A few days after the propaganda sunk in, we have a story like this breaking out:
Chemical irritant empties Islamic Society of Greater Dayton’s mosque
[i]Baboucarr Njie was preparing for his prayer session Friday night, Sept. 26, when he heard children in the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton coughing. Soon, Njie himself was overcome with fits of coughing and, like the rest of those in the building, headed for the doors.
“I would stay outside for a minute, then go back in, there were a lot of kids,” Njie said. “My throat is still itchy, I need to get some milk.”
Njie was one of several affected when a suspected chemical irritant was sprayed into the mosque at 26 Josie St., bringing Dayton police, fire and hazardous material personnel to the building at 9:48 p.m.
Someone “sprayed an irritant into the mosque,” Dayton fire District Chief Vince Wiley said, noting that fire investigators believe it was a hand-held spray can.
According to fire dispatch communications, a child reported seeing two men with a white can spraying something into a window. That child was brought to the supervising firefighter at the scene.
Wiley would not discuss that report, but said the investigation has been turned over to police. Police were not commenting.
The 300 or so inside were celebrating the last 10 days of Ramadan with dinner and a prayer session, but the prayer session was interrupted so those suffering from tearing, coughing and shortness of breath could receive treatment.
Wiley said an adult and juvenile were taken to area hospitals and others had their eyes or faces washed on the scene. He did not know how many people were treated at the scene.
Ismail Gula, ISGD secretary, said people were praying during the weekly service when some in the audience began to cough and experience breathing troubles, then left the building. Once outside, several of them called 911, Gula said.
Tarek Sabagh, a member of the ISGD board, wasn’t present when the incident occurred.
He said his daughter called and told him to stay away because of the possibility of remaining fumes. Sabagh arrived shortly after and watched from the mosque’s steps as members were allowed back inside about 11 p.m. to collect belongings.
“It’s very disturbing,” Sabagh said. “Something like this has never happened before.”
Sabagh said members moved to a Beavercreek school to finish their prayer session as police continued to investigate.
“I don’t know if people will have the feeling of trust to come back tomorrow or next week or next month,” Sabagh said. “I don’t know how people will feel.” [/i]
http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/09/27/ddn092608evacweb.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=16
Coincidence? I think not.
What’s certain is that it’s going to go downhill from here. I’m just glad we have PRCalDude, Sifu and the others instilling messages of peace, love and understanding.
God bless you all.