Media Advisory: Hearing Thurs. on Gulet Mohamed Case
A follow-up hearing on CAIR's lawsuit in the case of Gulet Mohamed is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday in Room 701 of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, Va. CAIR attorneys will be available for interviews following the hearing. CONTACT: CAIR Staff Attorney Gadeir Abbas, 720-251-0425, E-Mail:gabbas@cair.com; CAIR National Legal Counsel Nadhira Al-Khalili, 202-646-6034, E-Mail:nalkhalili@cair.com
Media coverage of the case: Mother Jones, NY Times, AP, CNN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAIR Asks NYPD to Probe Use of Anti-Muslim Training Film

(NEW YORK, NY, 1/19/11) -- The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY) today called on the New York Police Department (NYPD) to investigate how a notorious anti-Muslim propaganda film came to be used in mandatory counterterrorism training. CAIR-NY also called for new NYPD guidelines to ensure thatofficer training materials offer only unbiased information about any religious or minority community.

An article in today's Village Voice newspaper said the film, titled The Third Jihad, is "a spectacularly offensive smear of American Muslims." The article also states: "It is 72 minutes of gruesome footage of bombing carnage, frenzied crowds, burning American flags, flaming churches, and seething mullahs. All of this is sandwiched between a collection of somber talking heads informing us that, while we were sleeping, the international Islamist Jihad that wrought these horrors has set up shop here and is quietly going about its deadly business."

Police officials now say the "wacky movie" should never have been shown to officers. "It was reviewed and found to be inappropriate," said an NYPD official. One officer who viewed the film called it "straight propaganda."

SEE: NYPD Cops' Training Included an Anti-Muslim Horror Flick

"Our nation's battle against terrorism is only made more difficult whenever security officers are taught to view all Muslims, and the faith of Islam itself, with suspicion," saidCAIR-NY Board President Zead Ramadan. "We call on Commissioner Kelly to order an internal probe of how this propaganda film came to be used and to put policies in place to ensure that NYPD training is not biased by agenda-driven materials -- or trainers -- targeting any religious or minority community." CAIR-NY is requesting a meeting with NYPD officials to discuss these concerns and move toward a solution.

Ramadan compared The Third Jihad to past propaganda such as the Nazi-era film Triumph of the Will or Birth of a Nation, which vilified African-Americans.

CAIR-NY Civil Rights Manager Cyrus McGoldrick added that an earlier production by the Clarion Fund, the producers of The Third Jihad, was apparently backed by a $17 million donation from a "longtime contributor" to neo-conservatives and militant Israeli groups. The Clarion Fund also has links to the right-wing Israeli group Aish HaTorah.

SEE: Moneyman for Anti-Muslim DVD Campaign Revealed?

Earlier this week, CAIR asked the Defense Department not to use anti-Muslim extremists to train military personnel.

That request came after Robert Spencer, one of the nation's most notorious Islamophobes, published a post on his blog claiming he trained members of the "military intelligence community." The insignia in the photographs Spencer posted on his hate site appear to correspond to those of the 149th Brigade of the 35th Infantry Division based in Louisville, Ky.

The independent national media watch group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) identified Spencer as one of "Islamophobia's Dirty Dozen" who systematically "spread fear, bigotry, and misinformation." In its report, FAIR said, "By selectively ignoring inconvenient Islamic texts and commentaries, Spencer concludes that Islam is innately extremist and violent."

A coalition of Muslim, Sikh, Asian-American, and other civil liberties groups recently called on FBI Director Robert Mueller to explain why Spencer was invited to train state andfederal law enforcement officers. The letter noted that Spencer has referred to Islam's Prophet Muhammad as a "con man."

SEE: Coalition Letter to Director Mueller

CAIR made a similar request of counterterrorism and military leaders not to employ Muslim-bashers as trainers following a Washington Post investigative report on post-9/11 government surveillance, which stated: "Seeking to learn more about Islam and terrorism, some law enforcement agencies have hired as trainers self-described experts whose extremist views on Islam and terrorism are considered inaccurate and counterproductive by the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies."

SEE: Monitoring America (Wash. Post)
Video: CAIR Decries Anti-Muslim Police Trainers
Islam-Bashing Bigots Train Counterterrorism Agents

Last year, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) acknowledged that an anti-Islam film should not have been used in training offered to security personnel by thatmilitary law enforcement agency.

CAIR contacted NCIS after receiving a report that a three-day NCIS surveillance detection course at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., included the viewing of a propagandistic anti-Islam film.

SEE: CAIR Seeks Probe of Anti-Islam Bias in Military Training

CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.