I was looking for a film to review for the class and found this:
The Third Jihad
It's a documentary on radical Islam's threat to the US, and has been labeled "propaganda" by many (I would tend to agree). The film follows the same lines as the anti-Muslim Cultural Center advertisements we watched in class, and just the message disseminated in the trailer (which is all I have seen thus far) is terrifying.
The film is put out by the Clarion Fund, which also distributed copies of "Obsession" (comparing Islam to Nazism) in newspapers during the 2008 Presidential Election.
2 comments:
Thanks for this film recommendation, Mika.
I was particularly disturbed to read that it was screened at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance in L.A. Wiesenthal was a holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to bringing Nazi criminals to trial...he founded this institution on the principles of tolerance and respect for human dignity. The decision to screen this film - while unintentional - validates the film's message. A film like this can only incite violence and fuel a growing irrational fear of Muslims and discrimination. Arendt would see this as a failure in the institution's moral responsibility to the human community...and the failure to "think".
Wikipedia offers its own take on the film and does a pretty good job: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Jihad
The use of the burqa in the opening trailer scene is truly an offence.
I looked at the link you provided and I would agree that it is very similar to the videos we watched in class about the Ground Zero Mosque. It is also worth noticing how the way the website was made could contribute to the impression the movie makes on the audience. At the top right corner you see quotes like "A wake-up call for America" and others that are similar. The overall design of the page overwhelms the public with fear. Although it is explained that the movie is a documentary and that only a small percentage of the Muslim population is radical, the overall sense of threat presented by the web page is much greater.
I also read some of the information provided by the "Radical Islam" tab and this website tries to appeal to everyone. It addresses the threat to western values, religions, women rights, and LGBT. It seeks to unite the people by providing a common goal (something we have discussed in class).
Post a Comment