STATEMENT OF CONCERNED SCHOLARS ABOUT ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE 2008 U. S. ELECTION CAMPAIGN - TOPThe American Muslim, 10/7/08
Not since the election of John Kennedy in 1960 has the religious faith of a U.S. presidential candidate generated so much distortion as the false claims generated by extremist critics that Senator Barack Obama, the candidate of the Democratic Party, is a stealth Muslim. This is part of an Islamophobic hate campaign that fuels prejudice against Americans who practice their Islamic faith and Muslims worldwide. As scholars of Islam and Muslim societies and concerned citizens for a fair and honest electoral process, we unite here to set the record straight. (MORE)
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U.S.-MUSLIM RELATIONS AT STAKE IN U.S. ELECTION? - TOPGHASSAN MICHEL RUBEIZ, Middle East Times, 10/9/08
Following a week of devastating economic news, the latest presidential and vice-presidential televised debates have put concerns of foreign affairs back on the campaign agenda particularly issues of importance to Muslim-U.S. relations. Coupled with earlier campaign spin about Barack Obama's alleged Muslim roots, Sarah Palin's reference to "God's work" in Iraq, John McCain's repetitive reference to "radical Islam" and other examples of media mania about Islam, one may have the impression that the future of American relations with the Muslim world depends on the outcome of the 2008 elections.
This is not the case.
America will be tied to the Muslim world for centuries to come. There are 6 million Muslims in America, and many Americans work and live in the 56 Muslim-majority countries. Tens of thousands of Muslim students study in America, and American universities in Muslim societies will continue to play a positive intercultural role. (MORE)
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CAIR-OH: COMMUNITY LEADERS CRITICIZE 'OBSESSION' DVD - TOPNeil Relyea, WCPO, 10/8/08
A Tri-state Muslim community group is gaining support in its efforts to fight a newly released DVD it says could spread misunderstanding about Muslims.
The group held a unity news conference on Wednesday to warn potential viewers about the new DVD documentary entitled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against The West."
It says the video uses highly inflammatory images and language to blame all Muslims for terrorism.
"The problem is the total imbalance of the presentation," said James Buchanan, of the Intercommunity Justice Council.
"Pulling all of these statements out, plus the interpretation of these statements [creates] an imbalance which becomes characterization by false association," said Buchanan.
Tri-state groups opposing the Obsession DVD include the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Center, the Episcopal Diocese and the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission.
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VIDEO: CRITICS CALL DVD UNFAIR TO MUSLIMS - TOPWKRC-TV, 10/8/08
It's something you may have gotten in the mail or with your morning paper...a controversial d-v-d...which several community groups say will stir up hate and prejudice.
The documentary is called "Obsession ... Radical Islam's War Against the West."
Millions of copies have been distributed by a group which claims to be independent, and concerned about national security. But as Local 12 Reporter Jeff Hirsh shows us...critics say the video is unfair and anti-Muslim...
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SOME ANSWERS ON CLARION, AND STILL SOME QUESTIONS - TOPPeter Overby, NPR, 10/7/08
Some questions were left hanging when we broadcast and blogged last month on the Clarion Fund, the 501(c)(3) charity that distributed its DVD, "Obsession: Radical Islam's Attack on the West," across 14 battleground states last month. We don't have all the answers now, but we have some new details.
A summary of what we knew then: The obscure Manhattan-based charity had sent out the DVD as inserts in Sunday papers three days after the 9/11 anniversary. NPR got complaints from some listeners about the inflammatory nature of the video. They said it seemed like a partisan message in favor of Republican John McCain, even though "Obsession" was produced long before the presidential campaign began. Clarion acknowledged that it intended to make Islamic radicalism a campaign issue, and said it chose the battleground states to attract media attention. It also did mass mailings of "Obsession."
On Sept. 11 itself, the video was shown at a free screening in Dearborn, MI, a city with a large Arab-American population. The organizer, Joe Wierzbicki, is a Republican campaign consultant whose clients include two anti-Obama groups.
Since then, we've spoken with Weirzbicki, who hadn't responded to our initial requests. We've talked with a PR firm that was hired by Clarion the day our broadcast story aired. And we've obtained Clarion's initial filing for a 501(c)(3) tax exemption.
Wierzbicki said he was recruited to handle the Dearborn event because he's from the Detroit area. He said they hoped to spark a discussion with local Muslims about the threat from radical groups, but turnout was low and there were no protesters.
He said he was hired by Right Reel, a distributor of conservative films, but he expressed doubt that Right Reel was the ultimate funder of the screening. Did the money to pay him come from Clarion? "I don't know if they were involved," he said. "They never contacted me." (MORE)
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MUSLIM AMERICANS SAY DVD INSERT IS FALSE, INFLAMMATORY - TOPAhmed Soliman, The Record, 10/9/08IN AMERICA, we, the people, enjoy freedom of speech, the right to engage in a frank discourse about the world. But it's also a responsibility to be taken seriously, for we must all take responsibility for the reactions to our public statements.
Recently, many Muslim-Americans were dismayed upon seeing a troubling documentary film titled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West." The Clarion Fund, a New York- based nonprofit organization, paid to distribute 28 million DVD copies of the film as a mailer and newspaper ad insert in about 70 newspapers across the country. It does not appear to have run in any North Jersey publications.
As a result, Muslim-Americans, including those living in North Jersey were outraged, and are now taking steps to discredit the propaganda piece. Although the film concedes at the outset that it is about "the global threat of radical Islam," and not about the majority of Muslims who do not support terror, the film says one thing and then does another.
Among the misleading images included in the film are scenes labeled "church desecrated by Muslims," clips of Fox News' Sean Hannity in the promotional trailers saying the film is about "Islam's war against the West" (not "al-Qaida's war against the West) and the logo of the film includes a rifle along with the crescent moon (the internationally recognized symbol of mainstream Islam, not specific terrorist groups). (MORE)
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ACLU CHALLENGES THREAT BY GOVERNMENT TO DESIGNATE CHARITY AS “TERRORIST” - TOP
Statute Gives Government Unlimited Power To Blacklist Any Organization It Wants
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOctober 9, 2008
CONTACT: Rachel Myers, (212) 549-2689 or 2666; media@aclu.org
TOLEDO, OH The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio and several civil rights lawyers today asked a federal court to block the government from blacklisting an Ohio-based charity, KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc., without due process. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) froze the group’s assets more than 31 months ago, without notice or a hearing, based simply on the assertion that KindHearts was “under investigation.” OFAC has since threatened to designate KindHearts as a “specially designated global terrorist” based on classified evidence, again without providing KindHearts with a reason or meaningful opportunity to defend itself.
“OFAC’s authority to shut down a charity based on secret evidence, without any notice of wrongdoing, any probable cause, any opportunity to defend itself or any judicial review violates fundamental due process guarantees,” said Hina Shamsi, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. “KindHearts is asking for nothing more than its day in court before the government takes the draconian action of unilaterally designating it a terrorist and inflicting irreparable harm on the charity’s most valuable asset, its reputation.”
Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and an executive order, the president assumed the power to impose economic sanctions on any organization or individual he or the Treasury secretary designates a “specially designated global terrorist” (SDGT). A provision of the Patriot Act goes further and authorizes OFAC to freeze an organization’s assets without designating it an SDGT or even finding any wrongdoing. According to the ACLU’s complaint, both the authority to designate SDGTs and to freeze assets “pending investigation” violate the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments because they give the government the virtually unfettered ability to shut down an organization even if it has no intent to engage in or support criminal activity.
KindHearts’ founders established the charity in 2002 after the government shut down a number of Muslim charities with the express purpose of providing humanitarian aid abroad and at home in the United States in full compliance with the law. Despite the efforts KindHearts took to implement OFAC guidance and policies and otherwise exercise diligence, OFAC froze its assets in February 2006.
“Since its assets were frozen more than two and a half years ago, KindHearts has repeatedly asked the government for the legal and factual basis for OFAC’s actions and for a meaningful chance to defend itself,” said Fritz Byers, an Ohio attorney on the case. “The government’s failure to respond has left KindHearts in limbo, unable to fulfill its humanitarian mission. It is in the interest not only of KindHearts, but also the public, for there to be independent judicial scrutiny of the government’s actions in this case.”
The ACLU’s filing asks the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Western Division to temporarily block the designation of KindHearts as an SDGT while the court hears KindHearts’ challenges to OFAC’s actions. In the past, the government has taken the position that the official designation of a charity as a global terrorist wipes out any constitutional violations the government may have committed against the organization.
The attorneys filing the case on behalf of KindHearts are Shamsi and National Security Fellow Alexander Abdo of the ACLU; Byers of Toledo, Ohio; David Cole of the Georgetown University Law Center; Lynne Bernabei and Alan Kabat of Bernabei & Wachtel, PLLC in Washington; and Jeffrey Gamso and Carrie Davis of the ACLU of Ohio.
The ACLU’s complaint is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/discrim/37095lgl20081009.html
The ACLU’s motion in support of a temporary restraining order is available at: www.aclu.org/safefree/discrim/37096lgl20081009.html