A guest post by fellow Inter Press Service columnist Eli Clifton<\/em>:<\/p>\n We have followed the campaign behind Obsession: Radical Islam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s War Against the West<\/em> since it first emerged in 2005. IPS has published two articles on its producers and distribution here<\/a> and here<\/a>. This new rebuttal by JewsOnFirst is one of the most comprehensive attempts to dismantle the arguments presented in the film. <\/p>\n JewsOnFirst, an organization, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dedicated to the protection of the separation of church and state under the First Amendment,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has published Rebutting Obsession: Historical Facts Topple Film\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Premise that Violent Muslim Fundamentalists are Nazis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Heirs, Expose its Fear-mongering<\/em>, a devastating critique of Obsession: Radical Islam\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s War Against the West<\/em>. Obsession<\/em>, a 2005 film that, in the name of exposing violent fundamentalism, casts suspicion on all Muslims, experienced increased exposure this fall, when the mysterious Clarion Fund initiated the unsolicited distribution of millions of DVD inserts inside swing state newspapers.<\/p>\n In support of the rebuttal, JewsOnFirst also offers a web-based slide presentation summarizing the key arguments, as well as profiles of the supposed experts interviewed in the film. (The slide presentation will soon be available for download as a PowerPoint presentation next week.)<\/p>\n Key arguments made in JewsOnFirst\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Rebutting Obsession<\/em> are:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Obsession<\/em> and the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153expert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d viewpoints presented in it represent the ideology of the far right wing within the Republican Party, which seeks to intervene in the Presidential election with a distraction from the current economic turmoil.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Obsession<\/em> ignores the geopolitical environment in which radical Islam was cultured, and makes a baseless argument that such fundamentalism is the ideological descendent of Nazism.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Obsession<\/em> seeks, at a time of economic pain and cultural division to permit the viewer to project all real or imaginary fears and anxieties onto Muslims, as an alien and externalized enemy. This propaganda mirrors the situation faced by Japanese Americans during World War II and non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants in the 20th century. Such divisiveness actually weakens America by threatening our principles of cultural coexistence and religious freedom.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153experts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d presented in Obsession<\/em> have limited experience in the Middle East, few speak Arabic or Farsi and most have limited or no academic background in Islam or the Koran. They represent a fringe group of Middle East \u00e2\u20ac\u0153specialists\u00e2\u20ac\u009d who align themselves with the Likud party in Israel and Christian evangelical and pro-settler lobbies in the United States.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Finally, Obsession<\/em>, despite its half-hearted disclaimer that radical Muslims are a small minority, seeks to promote the concept of a violent clash of civilizations instead of cultural coexistence and religious pluralism.<\/p>\n