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Thursday, September 02, 2010 | 23 Ramadan 1431  

  Movie "Obsession"  
Exploring the roots of “Obsession”
If you received a DVD titled "Obsession" in your newspaper last week, you may want to know more about who's behind it and why it has been sent to you at great expense.

The venom created by the films "Relentless" and "Obsession: Radical Islam's War With the West" has been slowly working its way into the hearts and minds of people across the country for a couple of years.  Now the same group that brought us these atrocities is coming out with another film "The Third Jihad".  These films are only part of what Bob Crane has called a "tsunami of Islamophobia" that seems to be rushing in ever higher waves towards the Muslim community in America.  These films are verbal and visual terrorism.

Twenty-eight million copies of a DVD of the film "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" have been distributed free of cost in 70 newspapers and magazines across the country.  The film was first released a few years ago and has been shown around the country.  I wrote about my impressions and concerns when I viewed the film in 2007 and again in early 2008 when "Fitna" another such film was released.  Except for David Horowitz' use of the film as the centerpiece of his "Islamo-fascism Awareness weeks for the last couple of years, it has mostly been shown by local community venues and on campuses and sponsored primarily by Republican and Jewish groups.  It is also sold on the Internet. 

Surprisingly, even the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the World Jewish Digest accepted this as an "advertising" insert.  "There is no greater threat than radical Islam," said Gregory Ross, spokesman for the Clarion Fund, a New-York based nonprofit organization that is paying newspapers to distribute the DVD. "It needs to be pushed to the forefront of the political discussion." The newspapers accepted this insert as paid advertizing but it was not labeled as such. Many people receiving the DVD may think that this is the view of the paper delivering it to their doorstep.

Copies of the DVD were also distributed free at the DNC, and at the RNC by the recently formed group watchobsession.org headed by Tom Trento.  Earlier this year, the Florida Attorney General required employees to watch this video.  The Republican Jewish Coalition has also distributed free copies of the film in promotional mailings to US rabbis and other Jewish mailing lists.  The stars of the film have lectured at US military colleges, and the US Navy uses the film. 

I know from personal experience over many years of being involved with interfaith dialogue that the views that this film promotes are not the views of all Jewish people, but I also know that those who have been responsible for making this film and for promoting it widely have been primarily Jewish.  It truly saddens me that members of a community who should know better and who have experienced a holocaust that resulted at least partially from widespread stereotyping and demonization of Jewish people.  I believe that this marginal group within the Jewish community is so blinded by their need to defend the state of Israel at any cost that they do not see the cost of their propaganda to another community.  They are a marginal group, but they are making a lot of noise.  In fact, they are making so much noise that they are drowning out the voices of those in the mainstream Jewish community who have worked so hard with mainstream Muslims and Christians to build bridges of dialogue and work towards peace and justice in this world. 

As Robert Salaam has pointed out:
"Tragically today, it appears that the very groups who had taken up the shout of "Never Again!", seem to have edited the shout to, "Well...maybe just this one more time..."
Most of the local showings of Obsession have been sponsored by Jewish groups, although recently Christian groups such as CUFI have also become involved in the promotion of this film.  This appears to be part of a concerted effort to marginalize the Muslim community.  An ad published by the American Jewish Committee in the New York Times last year called "Israel's Neighbors Speak" used many of the same questionable quotes and techniques.  Obsession has become so much a part of the American Jewish community that it was shown at the Berkshire Jewish film festival in 2007. 

And, at a 2006 showing of Obsession in Philadelphia, a Jewish Exponent article said:
"In a show of unity in the face of mounting international Arab extremism, as well as anti-Israel sentiment on America's college campuses, some 800 people turned out for last weekend's sold-out screening of "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.  Welcoming those to the March 26 event - organized by Aish Philadelphia, the Jewish Community Centers, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Hillel of Greater Philadelphia and Akiba Hebrew Academy - Michael Wachs, one of the evening's sponsors, said that "the true blessing of this event is Jews standing united as one. 'Obsession' is a wake-up call."
How does a film supposedly about Radical Islam and terrorism and Jews standing united as one relate?  As part of his introduction of the guest speaker, Gary Erlbaum - co-chair of Federation's Center for Israel and Overseas - noted that "Judaism allows us to make choices." "Where do we go from here?" he then asked. "The humanitarian gesture is to stand up for ourselves and the people of Israel," offered Erlbaum. "Tell everyone you can that the world is a dangerous place." This explains everything: the film has something to do with standing up for Israel.

An early review of Obsession posted on the Jewish Virtual Library site includes the statement:
"A film like this would have been difficult to make a few years ago when it was rare to hear Muslims speaking in their own language."
Exactly what language is the Muslim language?  I only speak English and am an American Muslim.  The same article also said:
"Jimmy Carter and the Iraq Study Group members should be required to watch the film so they will be disabused of their delusion that Israeli policy is the obstacle to peace. Obsession makes clear the real obstacles are the Islamists' refusal to recognize Israel, the outright hatred of the Jews by many Muslims and the unwillingness to accept a Jewish state on "Islamic land" or Jewish rule over Muslims."
Once again making clear the connection in the minds of these individuals that demonizing Muslims has something to do with supporting Israel.

This film is most likely seen by these individuals as a way to marginalize Islam and Muslims and put all of the focus strictly on Muslims as the source of all of the problems in the world, particularly as the source of opposition to some Christian and Jewish fundamentalists ideas about the State of Israel and its relation to end times prophecy.  An extremist religious belief that should not be the source of policy, and that is at least as dangerous as the confused religious beliefs of extremist Muslims.  The fact that the film Obsession and these folks in general do not see any possibility that actual historical events and political policies could have anything at all to do with the motivation of any worldwide disputes involving Muslims in any way is odd.  The fact that many in other countries do see such possibilities doesn't influence their close minded views.  For example, a 2006 ICH poll of British citizens shows that 72% believe that foreign policy is feeding terrorism. 

What happens when such propaganda is spread through society with no alternative voice?  We have seen what happens in the not so distant past in places like Rwanda and Bosnia, and in the last generation in the German attempt at genocide of the Jews, Gypsies, and other peoples deemed to be inferior and/or dangerous.

If the people who are promoting this believe that it is only the Muslims who will be affected, and that is a price they are willing to pay in order to achieve their goals, I believe that they are mistaken, and they are playing with fire, and adding fuel to that fire by bringing religion into the political mix.  There are a whole lot more folks out there who believe that America is a Christian nation (including John McCain, who said "the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation.") than there are Muslims and Jews combined.  They are a fringe group of Christianity worldwide, but may represent as many as 40% of American Christians.  That these fringe Christians who believe that they can help bring Armageddon along earlier by helping their interpretation of Biblical prophecy happen would support films like this is not surprising.  They don't care about any possible results to all of those who in their view will be "left behind" to suffer the consequences of a terrible war because they believe that they will be "raptured" to heaven before all hell breaks loose here on earth.  For them anyone who doesn't believe in their particular view of Christianity is uninportant and doomed to eternal damnation.  That includes not only Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons, and Catholics, but also Muslims and Jews.  Why any of us who are in this fring Christian world view going to be "left behind" would join hands with these folks to promote their agenda is truly a mystery.

That there is a line to be crossed between legitimate discussion of political issues and anti-Semitism is clear even to Robert Wistrich (one of the talking heads in the Obsession film), or at least it is clear when it comes to anti-Semitism.  In an article on Qantara.de he said: 
"Does he or she rely on classic anti-Semitic stereotypes in so doing: for example, by dredging up the alleged Jewish/Zionist "conspiracy" to dominate the world, or by evoking Jewish/Israeli "warmongers" who supposedly run American foreign policy; or through referring to an all-powerful "Jewish Lobby" that prevents justice in the Middle East. If the "anti-Zionist" critic holds Jews to be responsible for the chaos and troubles that currently afflict the world, he is surely an antisemite. If he criminalizes Israeli behaviour, by gratuitously branding it as "Nazi" or intrinsically "racist", then we are talking anti-Semitism."
What if he or she relies on classic anti-Muslim or anti-Arab stereotypes, or dredging up an alleged Muslim conspiracy to rule the world, or by evoking Muslim "warmongers" (no matter how marginal), or through referring to some all powerful terrorist organization that has the ability to destroy western civilization, or gratuitously branding political groups as Nazi, or attaching the name of the religion with terms like Nazi, fascist, and terrorist - would that make the person an Islamophobe, and equally desicable?

Once the demons of religious, racial, or ethnic stereotyping are released, they are impossible to control.  What has been the result of the barrage of anti-Muslim propaganda over the last few years?  The real fascists are rearing their ugly heads again in Germany where their last incarnation was so devastating to the Jews.  Negative feelings towards Muslims, and to a lesser extent Jews, are on the rise in Canada.  Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are surging in Europe.  The latest Pew Research Center survey of global attitudes on religion is out and the news is not good for either Jews or Muslims.  Once you have convinced people that one form of prejudice is "acceptable" then it is difficult to stop that prejudice from being switched to other "out groups".

Those behind the production of Obsession and those behind the recent distribution of the DVD in newspapers and by mail are attempting to be very secretive about exactly who they are, and who is financing this endeavor. 

The Obsession website lists only the filmmakers, Wayne Kopping and Raphael Shore. However, the dvd packaging included with the Times lists the producers as Peter Mier and Raphael Shore, and states that the project was "conceived by" Peter Mier. and the production manager is listed as Brett Halperin.  However, an article by Richard Silverstein of Tikkun Olam attempting to get to the bottom of this notes that Raphael Shore says that Mier and Halperin are just aliases and that also according to Shore, about 80 percent of the film's $400,000 budget was provided by Mier (whoever Mier might be). 

In an interview on Fox News, Raphael Shore said:
"At the recommendation of a number of experts we worked with in making the film, many of the individuals and organizations who helped make this film possible requested anonymity. Tragically, we've seen numerous times the response of the radicals to those who openly expose or disagree with them."
But of course, they are afraid they will be killed by fanatical Muslims.  If that is so, why aren't Raphael Shore or any of the other folks involved in this afraid?

The Kassandra Project blog asks a very good question about this:
"Why all the aliases and secrecy I wonder. Maybe it has something to do with that pesky federal US 501(c)(3) law prohibiting foreign political institutions or foreign organizations from contributing to the Clarion Fund's operations. Given that both the producer and the director are foreigners (with an anti-Muslim agenda), and the financial backers are anonymous, it all looks very suspicious."
This is a much more likely motivation for all the secrecy.

Jews on First adds even more credence to this interpretation:
"Because it was established only recently, the Clarion Fund has not yet filed its first required disclosure (Form 990) with the IRS. It is not disclosing its officers.  The address Clarion used to satisfy the New York Times' requirement that political or opinion advertisements include the advertiser's contact information—255 West 36th St., Suite 800, in Manhattan—turns out to be Grace Corporate Park Executive Suites, an office-space rental operation which also rents "virtual office identity packages" for as little as $75 a month."
This is just about as shady as it is possible to be.

In an article on The Huffington Post, Erik Ose raises an even more pertinent issue:
"However, one detail in this report seems mistaken, that "because it was established only recently, the Clarion Fund has not yet filed its first required disclosure (Form 990) with the IRS." According to the New York Secretary of State's website, the Clarion Fund was incorporated nearly two years ago, on December 28, 2006. So where are their Form 990's? Hello, IRS?)"
I find it very interesting that these groups and individuals are so intertwined.  The dubious credentials of most of the "experts" are also interesting.  What is most interesting is that an organization that has not filed proper paperwork with the IRS, doesn't have a legitimate address, and lists aliases on the cover of its "advertising" insert was still accepted as legitimate by so many newspapers (and of course, that doesn't even touch on the matter of the content of the Obsession insert). 

(Click here for additional resources on how to address the "Obsession" controversy)

Sheila Musaji is the founder and editor of The American Muslim.


19 COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE



I saw this on youtube the other day, thanks to a link by one of the posters here. While slickly made I suppose for the impressionable "average North American movie goer", it felt totally lacking in substance from a "world news savvy" point of view. For one thing who are these interviewees!! "Ex PLO Terrorist", "Wife of Martyr", some unknown Professor from some small town university in California, the experts were quite amusing, atleast I ve never heard or seen them before.

Then there is the reference to Nazism. While comical to the average Muslim in its stretch of imagination, all the same, do Americans much particularly care, if outright, remember Nazism as some demonic evil out to eradicate their lifestyle? The average movie goer of today has never seen a movie with Nazis as the "bad guys", so the intended fear effect fell quite flat on its face as far as I could see.

There was also the distinct implied threat to jews that permeated the back end of this film and one has to wonder if the average American really cares what happens to jews or hindus or chinese or blacks or for that matter dolphins or turtles or even pandas at the hands of some evil jihadi force. I think not.

What I got most out of this film was actually at the very front end where they show jihadis as some kind of unified enemy force operating on numerous fronts across the globe. Like communism if I may. That may very well happen over time as jihadi culture permeates across most of the Muslim lands. No doubt strategically helped along by a number of convenient CIA, Israeli sponsored explosions to iron out a nice progressive smoothly upward pointing graph. That seems inevitable now I suppose.


Now I can understand DrM's disgust at the use of words like Islamofascism and Jihadist. Considering the extent to which Muslims are being demonised so aggressively using so much resource and so little integrity, makes me actually compare this to similar campaigns by the Nazis against the Jews!

If anyone uses the Internet Movie Database, this is the only movie I've ever seen had reviews jump by 150%. And 6.9 is good rating too.


Salaams,
I'm blogging the response to 'Obsession' and trying to compile all the expressions of revulsion this movie is generating among regular Americans who see it. http://www.progressiveislam.info
_________
From the Lansing State Journal:
DVD Drives Away Reader

I found a CD, "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," tucked into my Sept. 14 LSJ.
Its packaging boldly claimed, "As seen on CNN and FOX News by more than 20 million viewers worldwide."

I am distressed that the LSJ would distribute such inflammatory, fear-coddling material. I am disappointed that Lansing's newspaper has become an extension of CNN and FOX News. I am saddened that the LSJ is unable to distinguish journalism from jingoism.

As a nation and as a people, we are greater than this hate-mongering. We are capable of finding other more constructive ways to address extremism and inequity, nationally and globally. Showcasing war, demonizing "the enemy," and presenting the world in "us vs. them" terms, feeds continual hate, misery, and arms sales - not security.

The LSJ has been shrinking in size. It has now shrunk beyond any recognition as a responsible newspaper. Cancel my subscription.
______________

LSJ Wrong On DVD

The inclusion of the anti-Muslim DVD, "Obsession" in the Sept. 14 LSJ does a gross disservice to our community. While radicals may claim affiliation with any religious group, their true culture is one of intolerance and violence. By contrast, Islam is known as a religion that values peace and equilibrium above all else.

Look at Eric Robert Rudolph, identified with the group Christian Identity, who was responsible for the bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics that killed two and injured 111.

How about Timothy McVeigh? Raised as a Catholic, he killed 168 and injured an additional 800 persons in a domestic terrorism attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Would the LSJ have distributed a DVD that offers these two as proof that Christian extremists are mounting a threat to America?

At the very least, it should have been incumbent upon the LSJ to seek to identify The Clarion Fund or its financial backers before accepting its 30 pieces of silver to sell out Lansing's Islamic Community.
_________

From the Des Moines Register:

Who's really behind this propaganda?

The DVD enclosed in Sunday's Register contains 60 minutes of propaganda aimed at convincing the viewer that "radical Islam" threatens everyone in our country and that very nearly everyone in Muslim countries grows up learning the beliefs of "radical Islam."

Though several people are named as responsible for making, manufacturing and mailing the DVD, in spite of a strenuous search on the Internet, I learned almost nothing about the executive producer (Peter Mier), the director (Wayne Kopping) and the Clarion Fund Inc., the nonprofit that apparently sponsored the DVD and seems to exist only as a street address in New York and as a 501c(3) with no disclosed source of funding.

What did the Register ask to know about the Clarion Fund Inc. before agreeing to insert the DVD?
___________________________

Newspaper insert was vicious propaganda

When I opened the Register this past Sunday to find a hateful insult to Islam, a decent and humane religion, inserted in the paper under the guise of advertising, I felt angry, hurt, violated and disgusted. I am ashamed of the Register, which claims to be "The Newspaper Iowa Depends Upon." Upon which groups will you next release such viciousness?

I had a long chat with your advertising manager and have been advised that the decision to allow this material into the paper was collective, that it took place at many levels of your corporation and that it was a difficult decision. Respectfully, I have to say that I disagree that the decision was so difficult. The ethical line you crossed was as bright as the sun and as wide as day.

I have read the Register for 17 years and have never seen in any publication, short of the neo-Nazi papers that used to get shoved in our mailbox in Pennsylvania during the '60s, such disregard for the difference between propaganda and information. Your paper is responsible for the latter: Let the slimy characters who vend this other stuff pay for their own paper. Don't sully your reputation, my home and the idea of responsible free speech in a democracy.
___________

From the Denver Post:

"It was a shock to receive that in my newspaper," said Priscilla Linsley of Denver. "It is wrong to distribute hateful information on Islam."

And check out this great article from the North Carolina News and Observer by the paper's public editor criticizing the paper's editors for accepting the DVD. Dozens cancelled their subscription, and hundreds complained: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/vaden/story/1226445.html


But this should at least be considered hate speech or an incitement to violence?


Watching the debat today, funny, that Obama pronounces Pakistan as "Pawkistan" which is the correct way to pronounce it, almost sounds like a Paki the way he says it so correct. And in the same sentence he pronounces Afghanistan as "Afgaynistan" which is the American style of pronouncing what is "Afghawnistan" just like "Pawkistan". Odd. Could this give us a clue as to with which country he plans to bomb?


>Now I can understand DrM's disgust at the use of words like Islamofascism and Jihadist. <

Jazakallah Khair. I didn't invent "Judeofascism" from nothing and will continue using the term liberally. Some who will not participate in the larger task of the "war against terror," are given the menial jobs of propaganda that helps the "cause."

>Considering the extent to which Muslims are being demonised so aggressively using so much resource and so little integrity, makes me actually compare this to similar campaigns by the Nazis against the Jews!<

Yep. They want us dead, and out of the picture with our land and resources for Eretz Yisroel. "Tell people what they want to hear; give them simple solutions to complex problems, enemies on whom they can blame their discontents." - Nazi propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels.
However, Zionist propaganda and attempts to rewrite history to suit Zion will never succeed.
Allah(swt) is just and the best of planners.

There's already a great new website up to counter this Hitlerian Judeofascist propaganda :

http://www.obsessionwithhate.com/

I will also be doing a second "Judeofascist Awareness Week" before the end of the year on my blog inshallah.


One blogger has suggested this response to theDVD:

hit 'em where it hurts
If you received your DVD by US mail, here's what you can do to take money out of the pockets of The Clarion Fund and redistribute their wealth to the US Postal Service.
Step 1: Take the DVD out of the mailer.
Step 2: Render it inoperable. Use your imagination. You can scratch it, melt holes in it, snap it, whatever.
Step 3: Put the DVD back in the mailer.
Step 4: Drop it in a mailbox.
Step 5: When it turns up in your mailbox again, drop it in the mail again. Repeat this step.

Why would we do this? The Clarion Fund has to pay postage over and over again on the same DVD.

Does it work? Yes! I received my DVD on Tuesday, trashed it, and dropped it in a mailbox on Wednesday. Lo and behold, it was in my mailbox again today. Yes, I know it's the same one because I taped the mailer shut with packing tape. I'll be dropping it in the mailbox again tomorrow morning. Enjoy!


>> They want us dead, and out of the picture with our land and resources for Eretz Yisroel..

"They" is a very influential minority in a much broader society. "They" don't spend time engaging with the minority they're misrepresenting, or alienating others in their own community. "They" engage with the broader society and they do it in an effective way.


>>Twenty-eight million copies of a DVD

Wow, that's a lot of money to spend on freebies. Wow...as they say "follow the money" and as I say, then freeze thier friggin accounts.

The Navy uses it? I'd very much love for someone to point me to a source I can refer to; I'm no longer active duty, but I still have some umph to push back so its not screened on duty time nor in an official capacity.


Muslim Children Gassed at Dayton Masjid After “Obsession” DVD Hits Ohio

http://www.hahmed.com/blog/2008/09/29/muslim-children-gassed-at-dayton-masjid-after-obsession-dvd-hits-ohio/

Judeofascism strikes again. Typical of the breed.


But this is a clear case of hate speech. And mounting evidence suggests it. Take it the courts, use that brilliant legal system. You have no right that you don't claim. Its up to ISNA and these bodies to enngage with these provocateurs.


The best example I can give of this is the Japanese. 9/11 and Pearld Harbour comparisons are actually quite good, because the Japanese were forced to attack Pearl harbour as the Americans were stifling their fuel supply and were actually bombing the Japanese before the famous incident. They were on the wrong side of the Americans, were engaged in full on war with the Americans (Allies included), and American-Japanese were actually rounded up and had more of their civil rights revoked than Muslims have had. In addition, they were handed an ugly defeat and a humiliating surrender.

Yet today, Americans have absorbed so much of Japanese culture, industry and ideas, that demonising the Japanese in the public space would be denounced from almost all quarters.


I agree with Ghulam that our institutions have a duty and responsibility to speak out against this type of hate as well. Where are our scholars? Where is Hamza Yusuf and Dr Mattson? I'd like to hear them speak out on these things as well.


OK, I take it back. I did see ISNA's statement about this and they provide a good in depth anlysis of the film, which is a great tool. I will be using this at my interfaith dialog group.
Would it be a terrible idea to show this film and then do an analysis with Americans to show why it is wrong?


>> Where is Hamza Yusuf and Dr Mattson? <<

Hiding. Where else would you be at this time. Hiding or in Guantanamo, those are the only two alternatives here on offer in America I think. Hamza used to be quite critical of the American Foreign Policy in his early days. That is what made him partially so popular, I think, a sort of Islamic Noam Chomsky. But that was a bit of a mirage as it turns out.

But post Iraq 2003, he wisened up I think. Especially if you see what happened to Yusuf Islam for instance. With terrorists on both sides of the coin, best not to speak up against either terrorist. You will either end up as a stooge of one or the other either way. He was quite vociferous against the Islamists after 9/11 actually, but after the Iraq War he ended up looking quite stupid kissing up to the Bushites. Booooo.

I found his comment on national TV that "Muslim Governments should declare jihad on the terrorists in their midst" quite disappointing for a person of his stature. Governments he used to vociferously criticize before. But ultimately I realized that he is more of a spiritual sage and politically very naive. Best for him to stay out of the political arena and stick to his specialty areas.


>> Would it be a terrible idea to show this film and then do an analysis with Americans to show why it is wrong? <<

And how would you show them that it is wrong? What evidence will you present to show that there is not a band of jihadists across the Muslim World full of hate and bent on destroying America? All it takes is a series of random terrorist attacks in the news a few times a year to build up such a case. The Mossad or the CIA can easily do that even if there were no real jihadists to begin with. Blowing up things in far away overcrowded places with corruptible authorities easy as 1-2-3.


>> Would it be a terrible idea to show this film and then do an analysis with Americans to show why it is wrong? <<

Maybe. But I don't think that's an effective method for counterring biggoted/fascist notions in our communities or for confronting the venom of this movie. This is ultimately a media campaign. Very few confrontational media campaigns seem to succeed. I think it's one of Richard Nixons staff who said, never answer the question you're asked, answer the question you want asked. This is basically a media-campaign and a civil-rights/anti-defamation campaign. It should be obvious by now that the public care more about conclusions than technical arguments.


GENOCIDE: The New Order of Imperialism

In Meditation, there is a metamorphosis: the ugly caterpillar turning into a beautiful butterfly.

In GENOCIDE: The New Order of Imperialism, the reader goes through the same experience as the poet-artist, Dom Martin, presents a powerful, metamorphical view of humanity through his 64 politically-challenging poems. Examining the tyranny of man against man, the verses and striking illustrations evoke a wide gamut of emotions and experiences as the poet awakens the reader to the present day realities and challenges us to "re-examine our oft-neglected attitudes and biases that we may more honestly reshape our expectations.”

The book can be fully previewed at the link below:

http://www.dommartin.cc/GENOCIDE/Main.htm
http://genocidetheneworderofimperialism.blogspot.com/

Permission has been granted by the author, Dom Martin to reproduce -- in printed form, blog or web media -- excerpts or artwork from the book.

The Editors,
TransGalactic Publications


"What evidence will you present to show that there is not a band of jihadists across the Muslim World full of hate and bent on destroying America? All it takes is a series of random terrorist attacks in the news a few times a year to build up such a case. The Mossad or the CIA can easily do that even if there were no real jihadists to begin with. Blowing up things in far away overcrowded places with corruptible authorities easy as 1-2-3."

That is just pathetic....so now AQ is a fiction created by the CIA and Israel...and you want the world to take you seriously?

"Yep. They want us dead, and out of the picture with our land and resources for Eretz Yisroel."

If you want to make a case against hate, it would be advisable to avoid engaging in hate campaigns of your own.


No question that there are those who are demonizing Muslims but denying the reality of terrorism and blaming Jews for everything just ain't going to get you anywhere. Some of you need to grow up.


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'Jihad Jane': not the usual suspect, Wajahat Ali, The Guardian, Comment is Free, March 18, 2010.

Al-Awlaki, a new public enemy, Zahed Amanullah, The Guardian, Comment is Free, December 30, 2009.

Islamophonic: Review of the year, Riazat Butt, Zahed Amanullah and David Shariatmadari, Cif Belief (The Guardian), December 18, 2009.

Fort Hood has enough victims already, Wajahat Ali, Comment is Free (The Guardian), November 6, 2009

The pitfalls of filming Muhammad, Shahed Amanullah, The Guardian, Comment is Free, November 4, 2009.

Children of Dust (published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins), the first book by longtime altmuslim.com contributor Ali Eteraz, is released in the US, Canada, and the UK on October 13, 2009.

Shahed will be attending the m100 Sansoucci Colloquium in Potsdam, Germany, September 14-16, 2009. He will be moderating a panel discussion on the Danish cartoon crisis with Denis MacShane MP, Jasim Al-Azzawi (Al Jazeera English), and Flemming Rose (Jyllands Posten).

Associate Editor Wajahat Ali's play "The Domestic Crusaders" is having its premiere at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City, NY, September 11, 2009. The play will continue through Sunday, October 11, 2009.

Shahed will be moderating or participating in three panel discussions at the Islamic Society of North America's annual convention, including Muslim Journalists: The View from the Inside, Supporting Social Entrepreneurs and Civic Leaders, and Blogistan: Muslim Americans on the Web in Washington, DC, July 3-6, 2009.

State-sponsored Sufism, Ali Eteraz, Foreign Policy, June 10, 2009.

IN THE NEWS
Helping U.S. reach out to young Muslims worldwide - Soon after Farah Pandith was named last year as the State Department's first special representative to Muslim communities, she sat down with the editor of an independent Muslim website for her first official interview. Altmuslim.com, a forum for opinion and analysis about current issues facing Muslims, was a fitting choice. Pandith has said a strong focus of her work is to reach out to younger Muslims around the world, often those most likely to use the Internet for news and networking. (June 5, 2010)

Censorship is in the ascendant - Zahed Amanullah, associate editor of altmuslim.com, has argued in a national newspaper blog that, since the warning came from an unrepresentative group, the media interest was not justified. As for events of the past – the fatwa on Salman Rushdie, the Danish cartoons, the murder of van Gogh – they were "three incidents over a 20-year period from amongst 1.6 billion people. These things do happen. But we all need a bit of perspective." (April 30, 2010)

Muslims say new security rules unfair, ineffective - ''Muslims are doing their duty. Muslim parents are being attentive. It's the TSA that's not being attentive. It's the TSA that's not doing its duty," said Shahed Amanullah, an editor at the Web site altmuslim.com. "There's nothing more that Muslims can do than turn in their own families." (January 7, 2010)

US Muslims & media… Lost love - "We have a big problem; it’s that other people are shaping the story about us," Shahed Amanullah, editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com, told IslamOnline.net. (December 16, 2009)

Moves to Seize Mosques Spark Outrage - "I'm extremely skeptical that the link between these mosques and this organization is so strong as to merit the seizing of a considerable amount of assets that do a lot of good for the Muslim community," says Shahed Amanullah, a prominent Muslim blogger based in Austin. "The government better be prepared to make a very good case, because this is unprecedented." (November 17, 2009)

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