So says columnist William E. Jackson, Jr., in Editor & Publisher. What's he on about? The endless description of CAIR as a "civil rights group" in mainstream media news stories, without a hint of the terror convictions of several of its officials, or its ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas? The endless refusal of the mainstream media to discuss the jihad ideology and Islamic supremacism in any terms other than as a threat imagined by racist "Islamophobes"?
No, of course not. What Jackson is upset about is, of course, the nationwide distribution of the Obsession DVD.
Reaction to Obsession DVD distribution shows many Americans clueless about jihad, Part 3: "Delivering Propaganda, As If It is Toothpaste," by William E. Jackson, Jr. for Editor & Publisher, September 13:
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- (September 13, 2008) -- Bundled into my Charlotte Observer on this Saturday morning, and this week into approximately 100 newspapers located overwhelmingly in battleground states across the country, there is a kind of 527-fund contribution to the presidential campaign of John McCain.Under the cloak of an advertising supplement, a one-hour edition of a DVD entitled “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” had been attractively packaged and inserted into some 200,000 copies of the McClatchy-owned newspaper. The same happened at the other major McClatchy paper in North Carolina, the Raleigh News & Observer.
Dozens of local newspapers -- from Altoona to Las Vegas and selected regional editions of the New York Times) -- have been paid to distribute a film designed to spread fear about our national security.
Anyone can see an electoral vote pattern to the targeted areas, with almost all of the battleground or “swing” states represented. (The daily newspapers in only one such state appear to have refused the ad, Minnesota.) These papers have allowed themselves to be caught up in a “neo-con” propaganda scam in the context of the presidential campaign, and during 9/11 week.
Those 10,000 jihad terror attacks since 9/11 -- disregard them all! They're just neo-con propaganda!
But of course, William E. Jackson, Jr., doesn't even know that there have been over 10,000 jihad terror attacks worldwide since 9/11. He probably has no idea of the jihad in Indonesia, or the Philippines, or Thailand, or Nigeria. Nothing has blown up in his backyard, so what's the big deal?
As of Saturday, September 13, the rationalizations of the publishers and ad personnel at the two N.C. newspapers were either beggarly excuses for new sources of revenue, or politically naïve in the extreme.In the Raleigh News & Observer, Jim McClure, vice president of display advertising for the N&O, was quoted as saying that the "ultimate decision" to distribute the DVDs had been made by the publisher. McClure compared the propaganda to harmless household samples: “Obviously, we have distributed other product samples, whether it's cereal or toothpaste.” He dismissed allegations that it is inflammatory: "In the beginning of the DVD it clearly states it's not about Islam. It's about radical Islam.”
N&O publisher Orage Quarles III said in a statement: "As a newspaper we tend to shy away from censorship. In cases of controversial topics, if we err, we tend to do so on the side of freedom of speech," a theme that must have been in talking points guidance from company headquarters.
Charlotte Observer publisher Ann Caulkins said paid ads represent the client's opinions, not the newspaper's. Moreover, she claimed that the DVD met Observer guidelines: “We're all for freedom of expression, freedom of speech. This is in no way reflecting our opinions, but it is something we allow.” What wouldn't be allowed? She identified material that's racist or contains profanity or offers graphic images of body parts. One has to wonder if she has watched the film her paper has foisted upon readers.
There is graphic material in Obsession, showing what jihadists have done. Apparently it is best that we don't know that.
All in all, the propaganda campaign is a shameful episode for the Fourth Estate.
What is shameful is that William E. Jackson, Jr., would have such casual and knee-jerk disregard for a real threat, and for the freedom of speech.
"neo-con propaganda scam...."
-- from the article by William E. Jackson, Jr., describing the mass distribtion of the DVD "Obession"
Why, a full seven years after the attack on on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with so little understanding, still, of the ideological promptings of that attack, and 10,000 others -- why just the other day in Delhi, India, five bombs went off, and they did not go off because of any "why-do-they-hate-us" stuff connected to American foreign policy, but went off because India is an Infidel state, and India, in Kashmir and elsewhere, does not yield sufficiently (it yields plenty, but not sufficiently) to Muslim demands.
How is learning a little more about Islam by sending out this DVD -- given the failure of the press or radio or television to instruct the public -- a "neo-con scam"? Would someone who learned about Islam necessarily, for example, conclude that the war in Iraq, the "victory" to be achieved by Americans in Iraq, make sense? In what way, exactly, would learning more about Iraq make one more, rather than less, inclined to support the policies of the current American government? More inclined to support the outreach-to-Muslim efforts of Karen Hughes (now departed)? The "two-state solution" of Rice and all those peace-processors who simply can't allow themselves to see why the Jihad against Israel has no "solution" and that any further Israeli concessions will only whet, not sate, Arab appetites? The dreamy belief in the trustworthiness of Pakistan? Of Saudi Arabia as an ally in the oil markets? In Egypt as an "American ally" because Egypt slyly pretends to be a "moderate" trying only to do good, whether with Israel, or with the Sudan (whose government Egypt helps protect from Western sanctions)?
No, the DVD in question does not take political sides. It informs about Islam. Apparently this upsets William E. Jackson, Jr. Tant pis.
Look at who is "upset" about this DVD - people who know nothing about Islam and have never experienced terrorism and likely never will.
Their hurt feelings don't concern me one whit.
"Delivering Propaganda, As If It is Toothpaste"
It's highly ironic that this know-nothing PC idiot used "toothpaste" as an example.
As toothpaste is an item plane travelers' cannot carry aboard anymore due to the Islamic bombing attacks planned in 2006 by the Londonistan cell.
The people most offended are the one who were ignorant about islam, it must be a tactic used when ignorance is bliss and truth hurts.
I am quite curious about this claim that the DVD was intentionally distributed ONLY in "swing states" and was therefore politically motivated in favor of republicans. Is there some national consensus as which states are "swing states"? Have any JW readers living in non-"swing states" received the DVD via newspaper insert? It has been inserted into papers located in Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Hanpshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virgia, Wisconsin (and whatever regions the DurantyTimes distributed). Are these all swing states? I tend to believe that the Clarion Fund had no such strategy in mind and was simply trying a wide distribution plan.
A very good and fair news story on the Clarion Fund and its' objectives can be found here http://www.jewsonfirst.org/08a/obsession.html
Note that the Clarion Fund principles deny targeting "swing states".
..."politically naïve in the extreme."
Translation: your political point of view does not mirror mine/ours, so you are politically naive.
"But of course, William E. Jackson, Jr., doesn't even know that there have been over 10,000 jihad terror attacks worldwide since 9/11. He probably has no idea of the jihad in Indonesia, or the Philippines, or Thailand, or Nigeria. Nothing has blown up in his backyard, so what's the big deal?"
And he probably hasn't read the Qur'an, the Hadith or the Sira. And, at the very least, has not studied the 1400 year history of Islamic Jihad against believers. Hundreds of millions killed.
It has been inserted into papers located in Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New Hanpshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virgia, Wisconsin (and whatever regions the DurantyTimes distributed). Are these all swing states?
USorThem,
It may be a coincidence but yes, almost all of these states have been listed as swing states. Another term is "battleground state", which means both parties think they can win statewide. They're concentrating a lot of their efforts in these markets. Why spend money in a state you already know (or think you know) you'll win in November?
Virgina has gone Republican for a long time but it elected a Democratic governor and Democrats have been making gains in northern VA, leading people to believe Obama can win in November.
Like Virginia and Florida, North Carolina owes a lot of its growth to retirees and others leaving the northern states. The newcomers tend to vote for Democrats.
Political parties, campaign organizations, polling groups and news organizations have identified states they believe will be pivotal in November, and almost every state on this list qualifies.
The more things change the more things stay the same.
Did we really win WWII ?
It could be the "swing" states have more people with open minds, willing to watch a video first and judge later.
It's striking how this Jackson fellow has virtually nothing to say about the SUBJECT of the film. Only its distribution seems to him worthy of attention.
If the subject of the film is a matter of indifference, or the point of view taken in the film is obviously partisan or twisted, then I suppose its distribution is the issue. Does THAT seem to him to be the case?
"All in all, the propaganda campaign is a shameful episode for the Fourth Estate."
If William E. Jackson, Jr. wants a genuinely shameful episode for the Fourth Estate, let him recall the Danish Muhammad cartoon affair of 2006, in which said estate made a near-unanimous pre-emptive capitulation to the demands of screeching zealots for self-censorship on their part. Only three major American papers -- the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Austin America-Statesman, and the Rocky Mountain News of Denver -- printed any of the cartoons with their coverage and commentary on what was then a page-one story for several days. The rest demurred, offering weasely justifications for their failure to stand up for the people's right to know (and see), to stand in solidarity with fellow journalists, and to push back against a flagrant attack on their liberties by a malign, retrograde cult. Shame on them!
Sorry to burst your collective bubble, but there is lie, deception, and misdirection through out this "documentary".
In the film obsession, Mr. Itamar Marcus makes the claim that students are subjected to materials in a Jordanian and Palestinian school book that suggests Islam will dominate all other faiths through Islamic Jihad fighters.
However, the Arabic text is clearly visible and is horribly mistranslated. This film has been used as an educational tool. However, it is filled with falsehood and errors. See below for the correct translation.
The creators of Obsession claim:
“This religion [Islam] will destroy all other religions through the Islamic Jihad Fighters”
The Arabic text actually says:
------Begin Arabic Translation------
Racial Discrimination
One of the components racism. It relies on the principle of race supremacy. It is a principle that divides humans on the basis of racial identity and classifies them into superior races and lower races, and it grants the superior races tangible and non-tangible privileges as well as deprives the lower races of the same privileges.
These privileges take several forms such as the right to live in areas restricted for the superior race, and the same goes for schools, hospitals, public transportation, and all public services. Also the appointment and election to the high public offices and positions.
The members of the lower races suffer of persecution and physical and emotional abuse. They work in jobs and professions that are considered demining.
Some of the best examples of racism the racial discrimination in the world are: Nazism and Zionism.
The concept of Racial Discrimination.
------End Arabic Translation------
The text makes no mention to Islam, Fighting, Religion, or Jihad. This is only one example of many that expose the lack of scholarly work put into the making of Obsession: Radical Islam’s war against the West.
It’s important to note that this film bundles over a hundred years of history, random places, events, scenarios, pictures, videos, and blurs the lines of socio-political situations and Religion. It fails to put into context the difference between culture and Islam. The translation of the text above is one of many distortions contained within the documentary film Obsession.
Truth