Muslims should participate in Jewish events and vice-versa. Staying away from each other will not contribute towards peace-making that both communities so deserve. We have to come together without conditions and learn each others concerns and clarify mis-information and together find solutions. If we don’t, then who? - http://www.foundationforpluralism.com/Articles/Jewish-Muslim-dialogue-a-necessity.asp
Mike Ghouse
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‘Obession inspires Jewish Peace Group to 'Stand with Muslims'
In late October, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) launched a campaign called “We Stand with You” to show support and stand in solidarity against anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry. JVP asked its members to “stand up as allies to our Arab and Muslim friends, family members, and neighbors” by sending a photo or a message of solidarity to be posted on its website.
Click here to see the pictures and messages from that are being sent every day.
On its website, JVP says:
“In recent weeks, over 28 million copies of the virulently anti-Islam movie Obsession have been distributed to people across the countryincluding every pastor and rabbi in America; the words ‘Muslim’ and ‘Arab’ have become synonymous with ‘Terrorist’; and now many openly state that being a Muslim-American or Arab-American disqualifies one from holding elected office in this country.
“A strong democracy requires a majority that stands up for the minority, refusing to remain silent when others fuel the fires of division and hatred. We are appalled by the recent escalation of demonizing attacks against Arabs and Muslims. These are attacks on people we are proud to call our neighbors, colleagues, loved ones and fellow citizens. As Jews and other people of faith, we know too well the price when others remain silent. To our Arab and Muslim friends, we say we stand with you.”
CAIR extends its appreciation to JVP and its supporters and urges American Muslims and other people of conscience to visit the “We Stand With You” site.
Jewish Voice for Peace is “a diverse and democratic community of activists inspired by Jewish tradition to work together for peace, social justice, and human rights.” Click here to learn more about JVP.
SEE ALSO:
JEWISH COMMUNITY BACKS MUSLIMS, REJECTS ‘OBSESSION’
Rebutting ObsessionHistorical Facts Topple Film's Premise That Violent Muslim Fundamentalists are Nazis' Heirs, Expose its Fear-mongeringRabbi Haim Dov Beliak, Eli Clifton, Jane Hunter and Robin Podolsky, Jews On First,
11/2/08
"If you want to get people to fight, you have to make them think there's a threat and they're in danger." Itamar Marcus, Obsession
1. Whose Obsession And With What?The film, Obsession, purports to be about national security issues; but it does not offer the kind of careful analysis that such crucially important topics deserve. Instead, it offers an agenda-driven combination of emotionally laden images, distortions, omissions and, deliberately or not, outright misstatements.
It is our assertion that this film's title, Obsession, works as a command as much as a description. We believe that the attitudes and ideologies appearing to drive the film are mirror images of those that the makers of Obsession impute to what they dub "radical Islam:" a unifying, objectifying fear and hatred of a collection of disparate countries, religious orientations, ethnicities and political cliques that combines them into one powerful, inexplicable, alien enemy — one that, the film hints ominously, includes our Muslim fellow citizens and recent immigrants to our country. At a time of transition and economic pain for the United States, Obsession builds an epic narrative that allows the viewer to project all of his or her real and various fears and anxieties onto one externalized, hated foe.
Most dangerously, the film is structured to belie its ostensible disclaimer of any intention to portray the entirety of Islam as a violent and hateful religion. Stock footage of Muslims bowing in prayer or circling the Ka'aba at Mecca are interspersed with frightening images of gun-wielding youths and speakers who misuse traditional Islamic concepts such as jihad to incite violence. Eerie, "Middle Eastern"-sounding world-beat music sets off both sets of clips.
The frankly anti-Islamic message of Obsession is most apparent when the viewer is being warned about the "danger at home." Undercutting the narrators' assurances that the masses of peaceful, "good" Muslims are not to blame and ought not to feel insulted by any insinuation they might infer from Obsession, is the repetition of the word "infiltrated," and the frightening message that the saboteurs among us may be indistinguishable by dress, manner or any outward sign — save that they are Muslim. To understand why this is dangerous, one need only remember the situation, during World War II, of Japanese Americans and the stigma faced earlier in the 20th century by non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants, including Jews. Anyone needing reassurance after viewing Obsession might find it in remembering the degree to which all of those groups have, after all the fuss, helped to shape and become shaped by the culture of our country. (MORE)
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