'Oregonian' Distributes 'Muslim Terror' DVD--After Mayor Asks It to Refrain

NEW YORK The Oregonian today distributed to its Portland area subscribers, as paid advertising, the controversial DVD titled "Obsession" that raises alarms about the threat of radical Islam. It joined at least 75 other newspapers across the country in doing so -- despite a plea by Portland Mayor Tom Potter and a coalition of community members.

The mayor's office said he wrote to the publisher of the paper: "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."

Some of the individuals or groups that have protested are calling for a 10 a.m. street protest outside the newspaper's offices on Monday.

Read more: 'Oregonian' Distributes 'Muslim Terror' DVD--After Mayor Asks It to Refrain

CALL TO ACTION! Monday 10AM! Communities of Faith and Human Rights Groups Protest the Oregonian

CALL TO ACTION!

Communities of Faith and Human Rights Groups Protest the Oregonian's Distribution of an Anti-Muslim Propaganda DVD

Press Conference and Demonstration
When: Monday September 29th, 2008 at 10:00AM
Where: In Front of the Oregonian's Office
1320 SW Broadway (SW Jefferson and Broadway)
Download a sign to print for the demonstration: http://www.interculturalorganizing.org/media/solidarity_sign.pdf

What ELSE You Can Do:

If you received a DVD, MAIL IT BACK to the Oregonian with a message of disapproval to:

Attn: Publisher Fred A. Stickel
The Oregonian
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201

CANCEL your subscription to the Oregonian!

Portland, OR, September 28, 2008 -The Good Faith Coalition, Center for Intercultural Organizing and others plan a press conference and demonstration in response to the Oregonian's decision to circulate a hate-mongering and Muslim bashing DVD on Sunday. The video, titled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," resembles an educational DVD, but is actually hate filled, racist and an anti-Muslim propaganda tool wielding fear and hatred, and its national release appears strategically timed to influence America's vote. The Oregonian, Oregon's only major newspaper, refused to officially respond to a broad based community request to postpone distribution of the subject DVD.

This highly inaccurate DVD depicts Muslims as terrorists and as a rising threat. The Oregonian circulated the DVD this Sunday as a paid advertisement from a group called The Clarion Fund. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Greensboro News & Record, the Detroit Free Press and the Cincinnati Enquirer have already taken a moral stand by refusing to distribute this unbalanced, politically motivated DVD. Regrettably, the Oregonain did not make this decision.

"Obsession" will hit over 28 million homes this month in battleground states in the midst of an election already loaded with slurs, innuendos and backpedaling on human rights and civil liberties issues. In addition to inflaming passions in order to influence votes, the film's release also crassly exploits the strong emotions associated with the seventh anniversary of September 11, 2001.

This film will not contribute anything to lives of Oregonians, in fact, it is contrary to Oregon values and to Portland's ideals of "equity and accessibility" and "diversity and inclusion" as articulated by the 17,000 people who participated in the city's visioning project, and which were later codified by the creation of an Office of Human Relations and a Human Rights Commission. Oregon's Muslim community, religious leaders of many faiths, civic leaders and many peace-loving Oregonians are deeply offended the timing of the DVD's release only a few days prior to Eid-ul-Fitr, the end of holy month of Ramadan, where Muslim Oregonians will gather in a public arena-and also within a few days of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

The rally will take place Monday, September 29th, outside of the Oregonian's Office at 1320 SW Broadway (SW Broadway and Jefferson) at 10:00 AM.

700 N. Killingsworth ~ Portland, OR 97217 ~ (503) 287-4117 ~ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

US 'deploys' radar system in Israel wirh US army staffing

[The U.S. has already given Israel bunker buster munitions moving us closer to a military strike on Iran . . .]

The US has deployed an anti-missile radar in Israel that is mainly to warn of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles, Israeli state radio reports.

The radar with a range of more than 2,000km is sited in the south of the country, the radio station said on Sunday.

It is operated by a permanent 120-strong US army staff.

The Associated Press news agency quoted officials as saying that the new radar was flown into Israel last week along with some 120 American crew members and has been set up at the Nevatim air base in the Negev desert.

The system can pick up a ballistic missile shortly after launch. That will cut the response time of Israel's Arrow system, designed to intercept incoming missiles.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the radar's arrival has not been officially made public. It was first reported in Defence News.


Read more: US 'deploys' radar system in Israel wirh US army staffing

NPR's Secret Money Project: New Details Emerge About "Radical Islam" DVD

We had a story on the air this morning about the mass distribution of an inflamatory DVD on radical Islam, which critics say is intended to help John McCain's presidential bid. The video documentary was blasted out by the Clarion Fund, an obscure New York-based charity.

Clarion wouldn't return our phone calls before the story aired. But today it hired a PR firm, which quickly issued this statement in response to our story:

The Clarion Fund has one goal: educate the public about the threat of Islamic terrorism. Obsession is the film opponents of free speech don't want you to see. Terrorist attacks don't distinguish between political parties- they kill everyone. America needs to know the truth about the threat without censorship.

Clarion's new voice is Hank Sheinkopf, a long-time Democratic consultant in New York, who worked on President Clinton's re-election campaign. The choice of a Democratic flak is a smart move, since critics have said Clarion is covertly trying to help elect Republican McCain. That kind of active political work would violate its 501(c)(3) charity exemption.

As we reported, one of the promoters of the DVD is Joe Wierzbicki, who is active in two anti-Obama political action committees.

Action Alert: The Oregonian's circulation of hate-mongering and Muslim bashing DVD this Sun

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Portland, Oregon, Friday 9/26/2008 - The Good Faith Coalition* is calling on all Oregonians who value interfaith understanding and religious freedom to contact The Oregonian to express their concerns about the proposed distribution in the Sunday Oregonian of the DVD entitled: "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West"


[Note: the DVD was in fact circulated with the home delivered issues of the Oregonian on Sunday, September 28, 2008]


Billed as an advertising insert, this inaccurate and biased DVD depicts Muslims as terrorists and as a rising threat. You can view the DVD on YouTube. An in-depth summary and analysis of the DVD can be found on "The American Muslim (TAM)" website.

The Oregonian is planning to circulate the DVD in the Sunday Oregonian as a paid advertisement from a group called The Clarion Fund. The Clarion Fund is circulating millions of copies of this DVD to newspapers across the country, especially in swing states.
 
After careful research, we have determined that the DVD's content is unbalanced and misinforms and that it will incite more fear, hatred and bigotry within our community. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Greensboro, NC News & Record have taken the ethical position and refused to distribute the DVD.
 
If the Oregonian were asked to distribute Mein Kampf or the Protocols of the Elders of Zion or other propaganda strongly biased against a particular group, we trust their paper would do the right thing andj not distribute such hatred and lies. This is not a 1st Amendment issue. Hate speech is not protected by the 1st Amendment. 
 
ACTION REQUIRED: Join with Oregonians of good will from many faiths and human rights groups to urge The Oregonian to take a moral stand and refuse to circulate this hateful and inflammatory DVD.
 
Contact The Oregonian:
 
Publisher:
Fred Stickel
Phone: 503-221-8140,
Fax: 503-294-4175,
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Editor in Chief: Sandy Rowe
Phone: 503-221-8400,
Fax: 503-294-4175,
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Managing Editor/News:
Therese Bottomly,
Phone:  503-221-8434,
Fax: 503-294-5012,
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Managing Editor/Enterprise:
Stephen Engelberg
Phone: 503-221-8510,
Fax: 503-294-5012,
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Executive Editor:
Peter Bhatia
Phone: 503-221-8393,
Fax: 503-294-5012,
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 
Editorial Page Editor:
Robert Caldwell
Phone: 503-221-8197,
Fax: 503-294-4193,
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 

Read more: Action Alert: The Oregonian's circulation of hate-mongering and Muslim bashing DVD this Sun

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