By Alex Mayer Staff Writer 11/15/2006 Amidst all the political debates over the best approach to fight terrorism, a controversial documentary has been released that attempts to cut to the core of the terrorism issue.
Titled Obession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, the movie was screened in Washington Hall on October 25 and was sponsored by the Jewish students' organization, Balfour-Hillel, and Students Defending Democracy (SDD), an anti-terror, pro-democracy advocacy organization founded by seniors Scott Brown and Mike Reed. The film opened by showing scenes of the aftermath of recent terrorist attacks in New York, London, Madrid, Turkey, Indonesia and Morocco. It emphasized that these attacks were not isolated incidents, but rather part of a larger worldwide struggle by radical Islamists to dominate those who do not accept their extremist views. In addition, the movie contained interviews with many terrorism experts, and former terrorists - as well as both Muslim and non-Muslim analysts. These experts explained that radical Islamists not only target Westerners and non-Muslims, but also kill fellow Muslims who do not agree with their views. The movie emphasized that moderate Muslims are also victims whose religion has been hijacked by extremists. The movie also sought to encourage and empower the more moderate voices in Islam to speak out against those preaching violence and hatred. The most powerful - and controversial - aspect of the film was the inclusion of dozens of translated video clips from Arab TV stations rarely seen in the United States. The clips portray radical imams preaching hatred against Jews and Christians and encouraging their followers to kill and destroy "non-believers" and Westerners. Even more disturbing, the film showed clips of radical Islamist supporters and clerics in Western countries, like the United Kingdom, espousing the same hate-filled rhetoric found in many Middle Eastern mosques. The movie drew several historical comparisons, primarily between the rise of radical Islam and Nazi Germany. Showing striking similarities in anti-Semitic propaganda and photos of radical Islamic militants snapping Nazi-like salutes, the film attempted to equate the unchallenged rise of the Third Reich to the growing ideology of radical Islam. It warned the free world to learn from its past failures and "wake up" to the danger of the current threat. Several students who attended the screening disagreed strongly with its message. A few students in the back of the room applauded during a clip of filmmaker Michael Moore saying, "There is no terrorist threat." During the Q&A session following the video, the film's PR representative Karyn Leffel fielded questions from the audience, many of whom were critical of the film's message, saying it was a form of "revisionist history" and used "scare tactics" that fostered hate against Muslims. The tension of the follow-up session was compounded by Leffel's approach to students' questions, which was described afterwards by SDD co-founder Scott Brown as "combative and rude." Brown told The Informer that "instead of fostering a positive dialogue amongst the audience, [Leffel] felt that by talking over many participants and dodging their questions that she could make her point. Both Mike [Reed] and I work hard to encourage people to learn about the true nature of terrorism and its ultimate goals, and we look forward to engaging in civil and polite discourse and conversation with any and all." Brown also emphasized the universality of the terrorist threat. Confronting and defeating radical Islamist ideology is something that should "unite those of us who seek to live in a pluralist society based on liberty of thought and expression," Brown said. http://www.vainformer.com/new_ipb/index.php?s=2a8113f92b27bfc4c50df20723bc73 c2 <http://www.vainformer.com/new_ipb/index.php?s=2a8113f92b27bfc4c50df20723bc7 3c2&showtopic=459> &showtopic=459 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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