Ami Horowitz

Ami Horowitz is an American documentary filmmaker.[1] He is the writer, producer, and director of Ami on the Streets, a satirical short film series made for Fox News. Horowitz co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the 2009 documentary U.N. Me, a critical examination of the United Nations.

Horowitz came to some prominence after the release of his 10-minute documentary Stockholm Syndrome, on the relationship between immigration and crime in Sweden. Horowitz's commentary on the subject appears to have influenced President Donald Trump's rhetoric on the same subject. Many of Horowitz's statements about Sweden in the film and in subsequent interviews were described as false by fact-checkers, news organizations and criminologists as well as Swedish authorities.[2]

Early life

A native of Los Angeles, Horowitz graduated from the University of Southern California with majors in political science and philosophy.[3] Horowitz's mother is from Israel.[4] He is a Modern Orthodox Jew, and spent a year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.[5]

Career

After graduating from USC, Horowitz managed a Democratic candidate's unsuccessful campaign for state comptroller of Maryland. Then, taking the candidate's advice to "make money and go into politics later," he went into investment banking, and spent sixteen years in that field. During that period, he worked at Lehman Brothers.[3][4][6] Asked by Brian Lamb on C-SPAN about his political views, Horowitz described himself as "right-of-center" but "not reflexively" so.[6]

U.N. Me

Horowitz's film U.N. Me, released in theaters in 2012, was produced, directed, and written by Horowitz and Matthew Groff.[7]

Showdown Wisconsin

In 2012, Horowitz began screening a new documentary entitled Showdown Wisconsin, about the effort to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.[8]

Short films

Under the titles of Ami on the Street, Ami on the Loose, and An Ami Horowitz Digital Short, Horowitz created satirical short films that have appeared on FOX News and YouTube. The films include "Do cops' lives matter?", "Do liberals even know what's in the Iran deal?", "Ferguson Protestors Call for Darren Wilson's Death", "What do you know about the IRS and ObamaCare?", and exposing "anti-Israel companies in Ireland".[9][10][11][12][13]

ISIS flag at UC Berkeley

Horowitz acted as "an ISIS supporter" while shouting terrorist rants and waving an ISIS flag inside UC Berkeley.[14] Most of the students ignored his "terrorist rants", but a "few gave him a thumbs-up, wished him luck and smiled".[15] Horowitz later switched to a "Zionist tirade" and began waving an Israeli flag, leading some students expressed their outrage toward Israel, cursing and giving Horowitz obscene gestures.[14] It is unclear how long the videos took to create or how they were edited, but the video shows that Horowitz wears different clothes between the two parts of the video.[14] Horowitz wrote for Fox News that his film "unfortunately proves once and for all that there is in fact no connection between intellect and wisdom... If these are our best and brightest then we should all be afraid, very afraid."[16]

Portland State University students raise money for Hamas

In May 2016, Horowitz released a video on FoxNews.com to "see just how far America's liberal students in the Pacific Northwest were willing to take the BDS Movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement) against our ally, Israel".[9][17] Posing as a volunteer for the faux-organization American Friends of Hamas, Horowitz said he raised several hundred dollars from students to "wipe Israel off the map". He told Fox News afterward, "Let's be clear. Its not that these kids are stupid or misinformed or ignorant —I could not have spelled it out more specifically, that we want to use this money to kill Jews".[18]

Stockholm Syndrome

In December 2016, Horowitz's 10-minute film Stockholm Syndrome, which explores the "cultural and religious clashes between liberal Swedes and the recent influx of refugee immigrants", was released on FoxNews.com and YouTube.[19][20] Filmed in September 2016 in Sweden[21] it features what Horowitz described as "no-go zones". Horowitz said police told him that "when we're pursuing a suspect, and they cross that threshold, and there's about 30 or 40 of them in Sweden, they will not pursue".[21] The film includes audio footage that he says is of himself being "punched, kicked and choked" by Arabic-speaking men that he was trying to film in Husby, Stockholm.[22][23][24] Horowitz's commentary on the relationship between immigration and crime in Sweden appears to have influenced President Donald Trump's false claims on the same subject.[2]

Many of Horowitz's statements about Sweden in the film and in subsequent interviews were described as false by fact-checkers, news organizations and criminologists as well as Swedish authorities.[2] Two policemen who were featured in Horowitz's film said that Horowitz edited answers and questions to misrepresent them.[25] Two cameramen involved in the project later concurred, after reviewing the raw film, that the footage had been unethically edited to misrepresent the subjects.[26][27] Horowitz denies it, but refused to show the raw material.[28]

References

  1. ↑ Baker, Peter; Chan, Sewell (February 20, 2017). "From an Anchor’s Lips to Trump’s Ears to Sweden’s Disbelief". The New York Times.
  2. 1 2 3
    • Chan, Sewell (2017-02-19). "'Last Night in Sweden'? Trump's Remark Baffles a Nation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
    • "After Trump's 'Last night in Sweden': Here are the errors in Fox News' report on Swedish immigration". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2017-02-20.
    • Baker, Peter; Chan, Sewell (2017-02-20). "From an Anchor's Lips to Trump's Ears to Sweden's Disbelief". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
    • Beauchamp, Zack. "What President Trump gets wrong about immigrants and crime in Sweden". Vox. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
    • "Six claims and facts about Sweden: a closer look at Ami Horowitz' report". The Local.
    • "Trump Exaggerates Swedish Crime". Factcheck.org. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
    • "Facts on Sweden, immigration and crime". PolitiFact. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
    • "No, Sweden isn't hiding an immigrant crime problem. This is the real story". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  3. 1 2 Neumaier, Joe (June 4, 2012). "Ami Horowitz returns to political roots in new documentary 'U.N. Me'". New York Daily News.
  4. 1 2 Jenkins, Mark (May 31, 2012). "Filmmaker Ami Horowitz's U.N. mission: Making mirth of a mess". Washington Post.
  5. ↑ "Guerrilla mockumentarian helps Americans fundraise for Hamas". timesofisrael.com. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Ami Horowitz". Q&A.org: C-SPAN. September 2, 2012.
  7. ↑ Harvey, Dennis. "Review: "U.N. Me"". Variety.
  8. ↑ Santarelli, Christopher (May 7, 2012). "SNEAK PEEK: FILMMAKER AMI HOROWITZ GOES SHIRTLESS, DANCES IN NEW GBTV DOCUMENTARY 'SHOWDOWN WISCONSIN'". The Blaze.
  9. 1 2 Horowitz, Ami (May 23, 2016). "Horowitz: Portland State University students aid Hamas?".
  10. ↑ Fox News (March 17, 2016). "Ami Horowitz: Do cops' lives matter?" – via YouTube.
  11. ↑ Fox News (September 11, 2015). "Ami Horowitz: Do liberals even know what's in the Iran deal?" – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ Truth Revolt (December 3, 2014). "Ami Horowitz: Ferguson Protestors Call for Darren Wilson's Death" – via YouTube.
  13. ↑ Fox News (June 11, 2015). "Ami Horowitz exposes anti-Israeli companies in Ireland" – via YouTube.
  14. 1 2 3 "Stunt On Berkeley Campus Shows Students Ignore ISIS Sympathizer, But Vehemently Oppose Israeli Flag Waver". cbslocal.com. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  15. ↑ Ellis, Lindsay (November 20, 2014). "What happens if you wave an ISIS flag on Berkeley's campus?". Retrieved April 2, 2017 – via Christian Science Monitor.
  16. ↑ Horowitz, Ami (November 19, 2014). "Berkeley students' surprising reaction to ISIS and Israel flags on campus". foxnews.com. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Guerrilla mockumentarian helps Americans fundraise for Hamas".
  18. ↑ "WATCH: From paying tuition to 'funding Hamas'?".
  19. ↑ Ami Horowitz (December 12, 2016). "Stockholm Syndrome". Retrieved March 28, 2017 – via YouTube.
  20. ↑ "Horowitz: Sweden now rape capital amidst Muslim immigration". foxnews.com. December 14, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  21. 1 2 "Filmmaker discovers 'no go zones' in Sweden". foxbusiness.com. September 30, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  22. ↑ "American Jewish filmmaker says he was attacked by Arabic speakers in Stockholm". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. December 16, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  23. ↑ Fox News: "Horowitz: Sweden now rape capital amidst Muslim immigration" by Ami Horowitz December 14, 2016
  24. ↑ Radio, Sveriges. "US film on Swedish crime unethically edited, say cameramen - Radio Sweden". sverigesradio.se. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Swedish police featured in Fox News segment: Filmmaker is a madman - DN.SE". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2017-02-21.
  26. ↑ Radio, Sveriges. "US film on Swedish crime unethically edited, say cameramen - Radio Sweden". Retrieved 2017-02-23.
  27. ↑ "He filmed the police interview that Trump saw: The material was not edited ethically". Dagens Nyheter.
  28. ↑ "Ami Horowitz about the criticism: Everyone involved is in the middle of a shit storm". Dagens Nyheter.
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