Obsession falsely claims a direct connection between Hitler's Nazis and "Radical Islam"

• Obsession falsely claims that, because of the Jerusalem Mufti's alliance with Hitler during World War II, today's violent Muslim fundamentalists are direct heirs of the Nazis.
• The truth: many independence movements made alliances of convenience with Hitler. Those alliances ended with Hitler's defeat.

Obsession bases its false claims about a Nazi legacy on Hitler's dealings with the Mufti of Jerusalem

Fact: the Palestinian relationship with Hitler ended with the Nazis' defeat

• Through much of the Cold War period that followed World War II, the dominant ideology in the Palestinian movement, and in the Arab world, was secular nationalism, not religious fundamentalism.
• The Palestinian Islamist movement did not emerge as a leading force until the 1980s.

Obsession unfairly uses the most extreme meaning of Jihad, a word with multiple meanings

• The film uses inaccurate translations.
• The film shows Dr. Khaleel Mohammed giving the traditional – and most common – meaning of jihad: an internal struggle against one's own faults.
• Then Walid Shoebat says, "Jihad may mean self-struggle...but so does Mein Kampf," as if to imply that jihad means struggle against the Jews.

Obsession's extremism on Jihad and its intolerance &mdash the back story

• Walid Shoebat (left), was exposed by the Jerusalem Post as falsely claiming to be an ex-PLO terrorist.
• Dr. Khaleel Mohammed, who offered the traditional meaning of jihad, has denounced the video as "a vile piece of propaganda."
• Howard Gordon, Executive Producer of the TV series, 24, withdrew his endorsement of Obsession, saying: "The goal of co-existence and tolerance is not being served by films like Obsession."

Obsession shows separate attacks by fundamentalist Muslims as connected fronts in a single "war"

• Obsession suggests that school hostage takers in Beslan, Russia were connected to Al Qaeda. But the school was taken over by Chechen rebels, a nationalist independence movement fighting Chechnya's annexation into Russia.
• Obsession often conflates "Arab" and "Muslim," even when it shows footage from Iran, a non-Arab country.

Obsession ignores obvious contradictions to its fear-mongering premise of a radical Muslim monolith

• The extent to which conflicts between Muslim sects and national groups influence politics among Muslims.
• The Darfur genocide, which has been committed by a Muslim-dominated government against fellow Muslims over politics, oil, money and race – not religion.

Obsession claims Muslim support for "Radical Islam" is enormous and growing

• Self-styled "expert" Daniel Pipes, known to be hostile to Muslims, asserts 10-15% of that billion "support terrorism."
• Obsession never defines "support" and, as it progresses, increasingly seems to be referring to all Muslims.

Fact: Most Muslims Reject Radical Islam, terrorism

The Pew Global Attitudes Project Poll found:

• Majorities in 7 out of 10 Muslim countries disapprove of terrorism. This is true even among people who disagree politically with policies of the United States.
• The vast majority of Western Muslims reject terrorism altogether.

Obsession does not distinguish between religious fundamentalism and disapproval of U.S. policy

A WorldPublicOpinion.org poll found that:

• Many Iranians have a favorable opinion of Europe, but disapprove of U.S. policies.
• Disapproval of the West is not necessarily sympathy for violent religious fundamentalism.

Obsession shows Muslims as our internal enemy here in the U.S.

Through a range of images, Obsession portrays Muslims as subversive

• Obsession foments fear of our neighbors by warning of a growing underground of "minorities" and "immigrants" who may dress and act "like Americans" but are plotting our destruction.
• The film misleads by interspersing images of ordinary American Muslims with those of fringe extremists and foreign political leaders.

An Alternate Vision

What might a Muslim audience make of the following footage?

• Fundamentalist Christian preachers predicting a world given to Jesus Christ along with calls to "bring the world" to their faith.
• Evangelical military chaplains who aver they are going to Iraq to fulfill a Christian mission.
• The Oklahoma City bombing, which resulted in over 100 deaths, by white extremist Tim McVeigh.
• The firebombed Holocaust Museum in Indiana, on the wall of which was written, "Remember Tim McVeigh."

The Appropriate Response

We need not become the anti-Muslim bigots that Obsession wants us to be!

• Some violent Muslim fundamentalists believe they are engaged in a holy war against the West. Our government must not allow them to carry out their murderous agenda.
• But most U.S. Muslims oppose terrorism and aspire to be part of our pluralist society, why should we give in to Obsession-inspired hysteria and be terrified of them?