Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Directed by	Wayne Kopping
Written by	Wayne Kopping Raphael Shore
Produced by	Peter Mier Raphael Shore
Release date	September 2007
Languages	English Arabic French Persian
Budget	$250,000

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2006 documentary movie about Islamist teachings and goals which uses extensive Arab and Iranian television footage. Obsession compares the threat of radical Islamism with that of Nazism before World War II, and draws parallels between radical Islamists and the Nazi Party during the War, specifically Adolf Hitler's relationship with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem as an inspiration for radical Islamic movements in the Middle East today.

The film was produced by Raphael Shore in collaboration with the pro-Israel media watch group HonestReporting.

The film features analysis by figures such as Nonie Darwish (the daughter of a Fedayeen soldier), Alan M. Dershowitz, Steven Emerson, Brigitte Gabriel, Martin Gilbert, Caroline Glick, Alfons Heck, Glen Jenvey, John Loftus, Salim Mansur, Itamar Marcus, Khaleel Mohammed, Daniel Pipes, Tashbih Sayyed, Walid Shoebat, Khaled Abu Toameh, Robert Wistrich and interviews with Israeli officials and a former PLO operative.

The movie has been called Islamophobic and accused of pushing a political agenda by critics.

Use of Pseudonyms

According to the London Review of Books neither the film's executive producer nor producer have been disclosed. Raphael Shore recounted that the names listed in the movie's credits, "Peter Mier" and "Brett Halperin", are pseudonyms, and that the individual behind the pseudonym "Peter Mier" provided 80% of the $400,000 required to fund the film's production.

Screenings

Public

Segments of the documentary have aired on CNN Headline News, and Fox News. The documentary has been screened on 30 major US campuses including Hofstra, Pace, USC, UCLA and NYU.

Congressional

In December, 2006, U.S. Representatives Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Chief Deputy Majority Whip, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) co-sponsored a screening of the film on Capitol Hill. Cantor's cousin and Wasserman's constituent Daniel Cantor Wultz was murdered by an Islamic Jihad suicide bomber.

Campus

After a showing on November 13 at the University of Florida, a forum sponsored by Law School Republicans read: "Radical Islam Wants You Dead" prompted Patricia Telles-Irvin, vice president of student affairs, to call for an apology for "promoting a negative stereotype". Law professor Steven Willis, faculty adviser for the Law School Republicans, who sponsored the film, responded, "Your arguments about 'diversity' and 'responsibility' and 'divisiveness' are irrelevant to that fundamental issue: The actions are protected speech and you have no right - in your "official" capacity - to censure them, either before or after the fact. Indeed, you have the obligation not to do so," he said. The call for an apology was quickly responded to by Florida's Attorney General and House Majority Leader. Both claimed the university was completely out of line and stifled free speech on campus. Afterwords the University rescinded its call for apology. In a Dec. 13 editorial, the Tampa Tribune called for Patricia Telles-Irvin, "the overly sensitive vice president of student affairs," to resign.

Mail and newspaper distribution

In September 2008, the Clarion Fund and Endowment for Middle East Truth distributed DVDs of the film by mail, and in newspaper advertising supplements, predominantly in swing states. Newspapers carrying the DVD included The New York Times, The Charlotte Observer, The Miami Herald, the Raleigh News & Observer, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Oregonian. Newspapers that refused to carry the DVD included the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Detroit Free Press, the Greensboro News & Record, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

According to a News & Observer blog post, whether the advertisement should be accepted was discussed, but publisher Orage Quarles made the "ultimate decision". The newspaper's vice president of display advertising noted, "Obviously, we have distributed other product samples, whether it's cereal or toothpaste."

Many of the newspapers carrying the DVD also published articles about the film, including the Allentown, Pa. Morning Call, the Charlotte Observer, the Fort Myers, Florida News-Press, and the Raleigh, N.C. News & Observer.

The Associated Press reports that CAIR has asked for the Federal Election Commission to investigate the Clarion Fund's DVD distribution claiming that it was an attempt to influence the 2008 US President Election. As evidence of inappropriate political bias on the part of The Clarion Fund, AP cited Patriot News of Harrisburg, Pa. reporting "that a Clarion Fund Web site ran a pro-McCain article before it attracted notice and was taken down."

Controversy

The film has been criticized for portraying Islam as a threatening religion bent on the destruction of Western civilization, interspersing incendiary commentary with images of Nazis and suicide bombing indoctrination.

In a public statement, Mohammad Khaleel, the only interviewee for the film who is an Islamic Studies Professor, criticizes the film and accuses the film makers of misusing his interview. He said:

"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."

Jaccii Farris, a reporter for WFMZ-TV, said:

"'Obsession, Radical Islam's War against the West' uses footage from Arab TV to illustrate the hatred brewing among Muslim extremists. The images are disturbing... bloody and violent. The video basically will trigger hate crimes against Muslims. While the documentary makes a very distinction between Islamic extremists and the overwhelming majority of peace loving Muslims... Local Muslim leaders say placing more than 28 million copies in battleground newspapers and mailboxes is irresponsible... And they question why it was done."

Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that:

"Producers of the documentary insist that it only targets a radical minority among Muslims; however, a number of the interviewees in the documentary are on the record as describing Islam as inherently prone to hegemony."

Hate Hurts America, a nonpartisan coalition that ran a boycott campaign against Michael Savage , launched a campaign against the film titled "Obsession with Hate," calling it a "classic work of hate propaganda, thinly disguised as a critique of radicalism, that attempts to subliminally demonize Muslims and their faith wholesale."

The office of Portland mayor Tom Potter said he wrote to the publisher of the paper asking it not to distribute the DVD.

"The Mayor reviewed the video and personally asked Fred Stickel, Oregonian publisher, not to distribute it in next Sunday's issue. The Mayor felt that the tenor of the video contributes towards a climate of distrust towards Muslims that holds the entire Muslim community accountable for the actions of a dangerously misguided few. Distributing with the Oregonian lends the video an impression of objectivity and legitimacy it does not deserve."

See also

• Islamaphobia
• Jihad
• Islamic terrorism

Similar documentaries

• Islam: What the West Needs to Know
• Radical Islam: Terror in Its Own Words
• The Power of Nightmares

External links

• Official web site
• Q&A with Director Wayne Kopping and Producer Raphael Shore
• Obsession Watch - critical analysis web site
• "Neocons, Ex-Israeli Diplomats Push Islamophobic Video" - critical examination of the film's financial backers
• Obsession With Hate - Research on the film's funders and pundits