Clarion Project

The Clarion Project (formerly Clarion Fund Inc.) is an American nonprofit organization based Washington, D.C. that was founded in 2006.[1][2] The organization has been involved in the production and distribution of the films Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision For America, Iranium, and Honor Diaries. These films have been criticized for falsifying information and described as anti-Muslim propaganda.[3][4]

This article is about the Clarion Project. For the Clarion Foundation writing workshops, see Clarion Workshop.
Clarion Project
MottoChallenging extremism, Promoting dialogue
Founded2006
FounderRaphael Shore
20-5845679
Location
Websiteclarionproject.org

Mission, organization and funding

The Clarion Project states its mission as "exposing the dangers of Islamic extremism while providing a platform for the voices of moderation and promoting grassroots activism".[1]

Ryan Mauro is the Clarion Project's national security analyst.[5]

Funders include the Donors Capital Fund, a nonprofit donor-advised fund, which gave the organization a donation of $17.7 million in 2008,[6][7] and casino owner Sheldon Adelson.[7][8]

The nonprofit Charity Navigator has rated the Clarion Project 1 out of 4 stars, primarily because of its accountability and transparency issues but also because less than two-thirds of its expenses go to its programming.[9] According to the Clarion Project's Form 990, 64.7 percent of its expenses are program expenses, 17.5 percent are administrative, and 17.6 percent are for fundraising.[9]

The project's advisory board included Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy, Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum, and Walid Phares of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) provided translations of media from Muslim-majority countries for its films.[10]

The project was founded by Rabbi Raphael Shore, who previously worked for the organization Aish HaTorah.[11][12][13][14]

Films produced by Clarion Project

Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West

Obsession is a documentary film produced and co-written by Raphael Shore, Clarion Project founder, about the perceived threat of Islamic extremism to Western culture. Using footage from Arab television, it reveals an "insider's view" of what it claims is hatred being taught in schools, incitement to global jihad and radical Islam's goal of world domination. The film also traces the parallels between the Nazi movement of World War II, current radicals and the Western world's response to both threats. Obsession features interviews with Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, professor Alan Dershowitz.

The movie starts with a disclaimer: "This is a film about radical Islamic terror. A dangerous ideology, fueled by religious hatred. It's important to remember most Muslims are peaceful and do not support terror. This is not a film about them. This is a film about a radical worldview and the threat it poses to us all, Muslim and non-Muslim alike."

The Clarion Project sent 28 million DVD copies of the film to voters and religious organizations across swing states in October 2008, a few weeks before the 2008 United States presidential election.[15] The DVDs were distributed by mass mailings and insets in major national newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times).[16] Approximately 60 newspapers refused to distribute the film, including the Detroit Free Press, The Plain Dealer, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Greensboro News & Record.[16] According to CounterPunch, producing and distributing the DVDs cost $16,395,617[17] and was paid for by the Koch-brothers linked Donors Capital Fund, whose $17,778,600 donation in 2008 represented 96 percent of the Clarion Project's revenue as well as a nine-fold increase in the Clarion Project's revenue compared to 2007.[16]

The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision For America

The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision For America is a 72-minute documentary released in May 2009. It was produced by former NBC News journalist and Clinton administration adviser Erik Werth and narrated by Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.

The Third Jihad focuses specifically on Islamic extremism in Western Europe and the United States. It also introduces the concept of cultural jihad – defined by the narrator as a non-violent means of infiltrating and undermining American society with the goal of working against it and overthrowing it.[18]

According to the film makers, the growth of Islamic terrorism in the second half of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century should be seen as the beginning of "The Third Jihad" being waged by radical Islamist elements. The film presents "the first jihad" as the early Muslim conquests of the Middle East and North Africa in the seventh century and the second as the Fall of Constantinople to the Kayı branch of the Oghuz under Mehmed the Conqueror in 1205 and the later conquest of central Europe in the 15th century by the Ottoman Empire.[19]

Iranium

Iranium, which premiered in 2011, presents the views of certain experts on the Middle East who see the government of Iran as having an extremist Islamist ideology bent on developing nuclear weapons. Among the experts featured are Bernard Lewis, professor emeritus at Princeton University; R. James Woolsey Jr., former head of the Central Intelligence Agency; and Eliot Engel, member of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs.[20]

Honor Diaries

Honor Diaries, released in 2013, documents gender inequality and abuse of women in Muslim-majority societies. The film features nine women’s rights advocates who share firsthand testimonies of the hardships women suffer.[21][22]

Honor Diaries was shown at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva at a screening organized by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU).[23] Honor Diaries was also screened at the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Amnesty International and the United Nations in New York.[24][25]

Criticism

The Southern Poverty Law Center described the organization as an anti-Muslim group that engages in peddling Islamophobic conspiracy theories, which are also prevalent in the organization's films. Clarion's advisory board included, at one time or another, anti-Muslim activist Frank Gaffney and employed security-analyst Ryan Mauro, who promoted falsehoods. For example, he asserted that there were multiple "no-go zones" for non-Muslims across the U.K. and Europe. He also told Fox News about the supposed rising number of Muslim enclaves across the U.S., governed by "gangs of Islamic extremists" enforcing the Shariah law.[26]

The U.S. based Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American–Islamic Relations, stated that the Clarion Project is among 37 American organizations who promote Islamophobia in America society.[27]

The Clarion Project's 2008 distribution of 28 million copies of its Obsession DVD right before the Presidential election has helped increase Islamophobia in the United States according to both Muslim and anti-Muslim organizations.[6][17]

References
  1. "About Clarion Project". Clarion Project. Archived from the original on 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
  2. Alami, Mona (November 1, 2014). "Jihadist Jane: Islamic State seeking out women". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2017-08-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  4. "NYPD Cops' Training Included an Anti-Muslim Horror Flick". Village Voice. New York. 21 January 2011. p. 1. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  5. Stakelbeck, Erick (December 26, 2013). "Brotherhood Supporters Advising Obama Admin?". CBN. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  6. Elliott, Justin (November 16, 2010). "Mystery of who funded right-wing "radical Islam" campaign deepens". Salon. Archived from the original on 2015-11-25. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  7. Serwer, Adam (January 24, 2012). "Gingrich's Anti-Muslim Sugar Daddy Funded Film Shown To NYPD". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on 2015-11-29. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  8. Ali, Wajahat; Clifton, Eli; Duss, Matthew; Fang, Lee; Keyes, Scott; Shakir, Faiz (August 26, 2011). "Fear, Inc". Center for American Progress. Archived from the original on 2015-11-06. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  9. "Charity Navigator - Rating for Clarion Project". Charity Navigator. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  10. Christopher A. Bail (2015). Terrified: How Anti-Muslim Fringe Organizations Became Mainstream. Princeton University Press. pp. 82–83.
  11. Bryan Saario (2011). Holy Land Conversations: A Journey Through Palestine's Back Door. Wheatmark, Inc. p. 154.
  12. Lawrence Swaim (2012). The Death of Judeo-Christianity: Religious Aggression and Systemic Evil in the Modern World. John Hunt Publishing. p. 144.
  13. Nathan Lean (2012). The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 127.
  14. Hani A. Faris (2013). The Failure of the Two-State Solution: The Prospects of One State in the Israel-Palestine Conflict. I.B.Tauris. p. 108.
  15. Kindy, Kimberly (26 October 2008). "Group Swamps Swing States With Movie on Radical Islam". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  16. Martens, Pam (26 October 2010). "The Far Right's Secret Slush Fund to Keep Fear Alive". CounterPunch. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  17. Slajda, Rachel (25 August 2010). "How 30 Million DVDs Sent In 2008 Election Fuel The Anti-Mosque Debate Today". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  18. The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision for America. 24:07 minutes in. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  19. The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision for America. 6:28 minutes in. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
  20. "'Iranium' or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the 'Military Option'". PBS. Archived from the original on 2017-05-31. Retrieved 2017-08-25.
  21. "'Honor Diaries' Film Shows Islamic Honor Code Forces 'Systemic, Institutionalized Misogyny' On Women". The World Post. Archived from the original on 2015-12-14. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  22. "Muslim backlash against film will hurt women, says 'Honor Diaries' team". FoxNews. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  23. "IHEU premieres "Honor Diaries" film at United Nations". International Humanist and Ethical Union. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  24. "Female Genital Mutilation". UK Parliament Website. UK House of Commons. Archived from the original on 2015-11-12. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  25. "HONOR DIARIES – More than a film: a call to dialogue and action". New Delhi Times. Archived from the original on 2015-11-12. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  26. "EXTREMISTS TO ADDRESS ANTI-MUSLIM ACT! FOR AMERICA CONFERENCE NEXT WEEK". 3 September 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  27. Katherine Burgess (19 September 2013). "Muslims name 37 groups that fuel Islamophobia". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
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