Obsession: That creepy DVD in my morning paper

Clarion Fund
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Clarion Fund is a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 based in New York City whose mission, according to its website, is "to educate Americans about issues of national security," with its main focus on what it calls "the most urgent threat of radical Islam."[1] The organization was founded by Israeli-Canadian film producer Raphael Shore[2].

In September 2008, the group gained attention by distributing, with the aid of the Endowment for Middle East Truth[3], free copies of the film Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West, produced and co-written by Shore, by mail and in newspaper supplements.[4]. The Fund has reportedly sent 28 million DVDs to at least 70 newspapers in swing states to place at the doorstep of newspaper subscribers.[1][2]

According to Clarion Fund's incorporation papers, it is based as the same address as Aish Hatorah, an Israeli organization.[5] The three founders of The Clarion Fund are or were full-time employees of Aish HaTorah.[6] Raphael Shore, the leader of The Clarion Fund is also a full-time employee of Aish HaTorah.[7] The Clarion Fund has collaborated with pro-Israel media watch organization HonestReporting in the production of its films. HonestReporting originally was a project of the Aish Hatorah organization.[8]

Critics have accused the Clarion Fund, through its distribution of the Obsession film, for misleadingly portraying Islam as a threatening religion bent on the destruction of Western civilization, interspersing untruthful and incendiary commentary with images of Nazis and suicide bombing indoctrination.[9][10][11] Others have called the film 'award winning' and 'required viewing'[12]

The Associated Press reports that Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a civil liberties and advocacy group for Muslims in North America, 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."[13]

Here is a clip that I found that was part of the DVD which illustrates the ties between Nazism and radical Islam.[/b][/color]

One Newspaper Refuses to Distribute 'Islam Terror' DVD

By Greg Mitchell

Published: September 15, 2008 10:00 PM ET

NEW YORK 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.

"Many newspapers across the country distributed a controversial DVD today about Islam, titled 'Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.'....We did not distribute it. I was not involved in the decision; it was an advertising call, in keeping with advertising policies.

"I asked our publisher about it. He said it was divisive and plays on people's fears and served no educational purpose. The revenue it would have brought in was not a motivator.

"As I've said on other occasions about news decisions, just because you can publish doesn't mean you should."

"I asked our publisher about it. He said it was divisive and plays on people's fears and served no educational purpose."

But it is important for us to understand the history of radical Islamic terrorism.[/b][/color]