Clarion Fund Responds to Jeffrey Goldberg's False Attacks on Obsession

Clarion Fund Responds to Jeffrey Goldberg's False Attacks on Obsession

NEW YORK, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Clarion Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the American people about national security issues, called on Mr. Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic to recant his mischaracterizations of the award-winning documentary, Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.

On October 27, Mr. Goldberg erroneously attacked Obsession in a blog posting on the Atlantic's Web site for being the work of "Jewish extremists" and for suggesting that Barack Obama "will provide aid and comfort to Islamism, or is an Islamist himself." Mr. Goldberg, who admitted in his blog posting that he had only watched 12 minutes of Obsession, has refused to post a response from Clarion Fund that sets the record straight about the documentary.

"Obsession paints an accurate and stirring depiction of the manner in which extremists have hijacked Islam to incite hatred, violence, human rights abuses, and the murder of innocent people," said Raphael Shore, the founder of Clarion Fund and the producer of Obsession. "Mr. Goldberg should watch the film in its entirety before drawing false conclusions about its intention or the motivations of the filmmakers."

Obsession was made in 2005 well before Barack Obama announced his presidential candidacy. The film doesn't mention Mr. Obama or reference his positions on terrorism.

"Mr. Goldberg's attacks on Obsession are insulting," Shore continued. "We presented him with information that refutes the falsehoods in his blog posting, but he has refused to publish our letter. The readers of the Atlantic and Mr. Goldberg's blog deserve better."

Obsession, which uses the actual words of radical Islamists to support its conclusions, is factual and has been favorably reported on by prominent news organizations such as CNN and FOX News. These news clips and other media coverage on film can be viewed at www.obsessionthemovie.com.

Below is the full text of the letter from Raphael Shore that was sent to Mr. Goldberg on October 28.

Dear Mr. Goldberg:

I am writing to respond to your blog posting about Obsession and The Clarion Fund. You criticize us for drawing a linkage between Barack Obama and radical Islam. Nothing could be further from the truth. Obsession was made in 2005 before Barack Obama announced his presidential candidacy. The movie and marketing materials make no mention of Mr. Obama or his positions on terrorism. We distributed 28 million DVDs of Obsession through 70 newspapers in presidential swing states for two reasons.

We wanted to elevate the importance of addressing the threat of radical Islam when Americans are most attuned to public policy issues and in the places where the media's attention is most fixated. The DVDs were released to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary. Our goal is to have as many Americans see the movie as possible. If we had the resources, we would send a copy of Obsession to every household in the country.

Your blog entry also criticizes Obsession for overstating the threat of radical Islam and drawing a connection to the horrors of Nazism. The movie paints an accurate and stirring depiction of radical Islam, while relying on the actual words of radical Islamists to support its central conclusions. The film shows how extremists have hijacked Islam to incite violence, human rights abuses, and the murder of innocent people. Their goal is to replace Western values with their radical system of oppression.

Your blog says that you have only seen 12 minutes of Obsession, an award-winning documentary. No one has credibly challenged the accuracy of Obsession. It is factual. We would be glad to send you an Obsession DVD. We hope you will watch the entire film before making further conclusions about it or the motivations of the filmmakers.

We kindly request you to correct your blog based on the above facts.

Sincerely,

Raphael Shore
Producer of Obsession
Founder, Clarion Fund

Source: Clarion Fund

CONTACT: Gregory Ross, +1-646-308-1202

Web Site: http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/

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