Clarion Fund
Encyclopedia
Clarion Fund is a New York City
-based nonprofit organization
founded in 2006 whose stated mission is "to educate Americans about issues of national security," with its main focus on what it calls "the most urgent threat of radical Islam."
The organization was founded by Canadian-Israeli
film producer Raphael Shore
.
The Clarion Fund has collaborated with the pro-Israeli media watch organization HonestReporting
in the production of its films. The Clarion Fund has also collaborated or had their films shown at venues such as the Hudson Institute
, Heritage Foundation
, Library and Archives Canada
, and Fox News Channel
.
The group has been involved in the production or distribution of documentaries such as Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
, The Third Jihad
, and Iranium
.
In December 2010, the organization announced an advisory board including:
, a pro-Israel organization.
The three founders of The Clarion Fund are or were full-time employees of Aish HaTorah. Raphael Shore, the leader of The Clarion Fund is also a full-time employee of Aish HaTorah. Clarion Fund initially denied its ties to Aish Hatorah, which were first discovered by an IPS
investigation in 2007.
The International Relations Center
reports that the Endowment for Middle East Truth
(EMET) was Clarion's distribution partner for the Obsession DVD. EMET's advisors include former Israeli ambassador Yoram Ettinger, a former chair at the Ariel Center for Policy Research.
to place at the doorstep of newspaper subscribers. The DVDs were distributed almost exclusively in swing state
s. The DVD's website www.radicalislam.org endorsed John McCain
in September 2008, before being pulled down.
Amongst its notable content, Obsession intersperses scenes of Muslim children being encouraged to become suicide bombers with shots of Nazi rallies.
The movie starts with a disclaimer:
Despite this statement, the DVD's content was controversial. The film features Walid Shoebat
, who, according to the Huffington Post, said "Islam is the devil." The NPR called the DVD inflammatory. The film draws parallels between Nazi Germany
and monolithic Islam, according to Willamette Week
. News & Record, a newspaper that refused to distribute the DVD, called it "fear-mongering and divisive."
The National Public Radio reported that it is unclear as to who funded Clarion's distribution of the DVD. Clarion claimed it used only money from U.S. citizens.
reported that the website stated,
The Huffington Post referred to the distribution as a "propaganda campaign". The National Public Radio received complaints from listeners who said the DVD seemed like a partisan message in favor of McCain.
The group Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) filed a Federal Elections Commission complaint against Clarion Fund, Inc. CAIR alleges that the free distribution of the documentary Obsession was designed to help John McCain win the presidential election. CAIR also claimed that Obsession is intended to foster hatred of Muslims. Because they are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, the Clarion Fund is not legally permitted to intentionally influence voters.
Clarion Fund director of communications Gregory Ross, later acknowledged that the article "crossed the line" and would be removed. The Clarion Fund has denied that it endorsed any candidate, and asserts that they are a non-partisan organization.
journalist and Clinton administration advisor Erik Werth
.
Unlike its predecessor, The Third Jihad focuses on Western Europe and America, and not on worldwide radical Islam.
"Third Jihad" in the title refers to, according to the film makers the rise of Islamic terrorism (the film makers claim that Arab spread throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa in the seventh century, then the Turkish push into Constantinople and Southeastern Europe in the fifteenth century, were the first and second jihads).
The film starts of with the statement
Former New York City
Mayor Rudy Guliani stated that The Third Jihad was “A wake up call for America.”
, which focuses on the history of Iran's government since 1979 and perceived threats associated with the Iranian nuclear program.
, a Jewish educational organization. According to Clarion Fund's incorporation papers, it is based at the same address as Aish Hatorah
, a religious organization.
According to the International Relations Center
, Eli Clifton said that the Clarion fund was attempting to “stir up a climate of fear in the United States.”
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
founded in 2006 whose stated mission is "to educate Americans about issues of national security," with its main focus on what it calls "the most urgent threat of radical Islam."
The organization was founded by Canadian-Israeli
film producer Raphael Shore
Raphael Shore
Raphael Shore is an Canadian-Israeli film writer, producer, and rabbi. He is the founder of The Clarion Fund, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance the idea that the United States faces a threat of radical Islam....
.
The Clarion Fund has collaborated with the pro-Israeli media watch organization HonestReporting
HonestReporting
HonestReporting is a non-governmental organization that monitors the media for what it perceives as bias against Israel. The organization has affiliates in the United States, UK, Canada, Italy, and Brazil...
in the production of its films. The Clarion Fund has also collaborated or had their films shown at venues such as the Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
, Heritage Foundation
Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is a conservative American think tank based in Washington, D.C. Heritage's stated mission is to "formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong...
, Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...
, and Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
.
The group has been involved in the production or distribution of documentaries such as Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2005 documentary film about the perceived threat of radical Islam to Western civilization. Using extensive Arab television footage it claims to give an 'insider's view' of the hatred preached by radicals to incite global...
, The Third Jihad
The Third Jihad
The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision For America is a documentary film made by Wayne Kopping on the subject of radical Islam in present day United States.- Production :...
, and Iranium
Iranium
Iranium is a 2011 documentary film that explores the Iranian nuclear program as it pertains to strategic threats against the West, and Islamic fundamentalism in Iran....
.
In December 2010, the organization announced an advisory board including:
- Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, and President of the Center for Security PolicyCenter for Security PolicyThe Center for Security Policy is a Washington, D.C. think tank that focuses on national security issues. The Center was founded in 1988 by Frank Gaffney, Jr....
- Dr. Zuhdi JasserZuhdi JasserZuhdi Jasser, also known as M. Zuhdi Jasser, and Mohamed Zuhdi Jasser, is a medical doctor specializing internal medicine and nuclear cardiology in Phoenix, AZ. Jasser is a former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy where he served as staff internist in the Office of the Attending...
, President and Founder of the American Islamic Forum for DemocracyAmerican Islamic Forum for DemocracyAmerican Islamic Forum for Democracy is a Muslim American think tank formed in March 2003 by a small group of Muslim professionals in the Phoenix Valley of Arizona. The group's founder is M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D... - Daniel PipesDaniel PipesDaniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
, Director of the Middle East ForumMiddle East ForumThe Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director. MEF became a 5013 non-profit organization in 1994...
and founder of Campus WatchCampus WatchCampus Watch is a web-based project of the Middle East Forum, a think tank with its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to its website, Campus Watch "reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them." Critics of Campus Watch say that it is a... - Dr. Harold Rhode, Former Foreign Affairs Specialist at the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment and Senior Advisor at the Hudson InstituteHudson InstituteThe Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
Origins and affiliations
According to Clarion Fund's incorporation papers, it is based at the same address as Aish HatorahAish HaTorah
Aish HaTorah is a Jewish Orthodox organization and yeshiva. Aish HaTorah is actively pro-Israel and encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and connect to the land and its history. Some consider the organisation to reflect a more Religious Zionist philosophy in its attachment to Israel, promoting...
, a pro-Israel organization.
The three founders of The Clarion Fund are or were full-time employees of Aish HaTorah. Raphael Shore, the leader of The Clarion Fund is also a full-time employee of Aish HaTorah. Clarion Fund initially denied its ties to Aish Hatorah, which were first discovered by an IPS
Inter Press Service
Inter Press Service is a global news agency. Its main focus is the production of independent news and analysis about events and processes affecting economic, social and political development....
investigation in 2007.
The International Relations Center
International Relations Center
The International Relations Center is an American "policy studies institute" based in Silver City, New Mexico. It was founded in 1979 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, focusing initially on "The plight of undocumented Mexican workers and the impact of energy development on indigenous communities in the...
reports that the Endowment for Middle East Truth
Endowment for Middle East Truth
Endowment for Middle East Truth is a registered 5013 non-profit organization. According to the group's website, it is "...the first unabashedly pro-Israel and pro-American think tank and policy shop on Capitol Hill..." and describes itself as focusing on, "...Israel’s unique role as being the...
(EMET) was Clarion's distribution partner for the Obsession DVD. EMET's advisors include former Israeli ambassador Yoram Ettinger, a former chair at the Ariel Center for Policy Research.
"Obsession"
In September 2008, the group gained attention by distributing free copies of the film Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West, produced and co-written by Shore, by mail and in newspaper supplements. The Fund has reportedly sent 28 million DVDs to at least 70 newspapers in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to place at the doorstep of newspaper subscribers. The DVDs were distributed almost exclusively in swing state
Swing state
In United States presidential politics, a swing state is a state in which no single candidate or party has overwhelming support in securing that state's electoral college votes...
s. The DVD's website www.radicalislam.org endorsed John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
in September 2008, before being pulled down.
Amongst its notable content, Obsession intersperses scenes of Muslim children being encouraged to become suicide bombers with shots of Nazi rallies.
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."
Despite this statement, the DVD's content was controversial. The film features Walid Shoebat
Walid Shoebat
Walid Shoebat is a Palestinian immigrant to the United States and campaigner for Christianity and Israel, against Islam. He was born to a Jordanian father and Caucasian American mother, and claims to have been a former PLO militant, although neither the PLO nor the Israeli government have any...
, who, according to the Huffington Post, said "Islam is the devil." The NPR called the DVD inflammatory. The film draws parallels between Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and monolithic Islam, according to Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Willamette Week is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture....
. News & Record, a newspaper that refused to distribute the DVD, called it "fear-mongering and divisive."
The National Public Radio reported that it is unclear as to who funded Clarion's distribution of the DVD. Clarion claimed it used only money from U.S. citizens.
Allegations of McCain support
The endorsement of John McCain, on the website of the DVD Obsession, was noted by several media sources. The Patriot-NewsThe Patriot-News
The Patriot-News is the largest daily newspaper serving the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania metropolitan area. In 2005, the newspaper was ranked in the top 100 in daily/Sunday circulation in the United States...
reported that the website stated,
McCain's policies seek to confront radical Islamic extremism and terrorism and roll it back while [Barack] Obama's, although intending to do the same, could in fact make the situation facing the West even worse.
The Huffington Post referred to the distribution as a "propaganda campaign". The National Public Radio received complaints from listeners who said the DVD seemed like a partisan message in favor of McCain.
The group Council on American-Islamic Relations
Council on American-Islamic Relations
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is America's largest Muslim civil liberties advocacy organization that deals with civil advocacy and promotes human rights...
(CAIR) filed a Federal Elections Commission complaint against Clarion Fund, Inc. CAIR alleges that the free distribution of the documentary Obsession was designed to help John McCain win the presidential election. CAIR also claimed that Obsession is intended to foster hatred of Muslims. Because they are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, the Clarion Fund is not legally permitted to intentionally influence voters.
Clarion Fund director of communications Gregory Ross, later acknowledged that the article "crossed the line" and would be removed. The Clarion Fund has denied that it endorsed any candidate, and asserts that they are a non-partisan organization.
The Third Jihad
The Third Jihad: Radical Islam’s Vision for America is a 72 minute documentary released in May 2009 and produced by NBC NewsNBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
journalist and Clinton administration advisor Erik Werth
Erik Werth
Erik Werth is a documentary director, Emmy-nominated TV news producer, and Clinton Administration appointee. Werth co-directed The Third Jihad, which Rudolph Giuliani described as "a wake-call for America." At NBC News, Werth was an investigative journalist for Dateline NBC.-The Third Jihad:Werth...
.
Unlike its predecessor, The Third Jihad focuses on Western Europe and America, and not on worldwide radical Islam.
"Third Jihad" in the title refers to, according to the film makers the rise of Islamic terrorism (the film makers claim that Arab spread throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa in the seventh century, then the Turkish push into Constantinople and Southeastern Europe in the fifteenth century, were the first and second jihads).
The film starts of with the statement
- “This is not a film about Islam; it is about the threat of radical Islam. Only a small percentage of the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims are radical. This film is about them.”
Former New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor Rudy Guliani stated that The Third Jihad was “A wake up call for America.”
Iranium
In 2011, the Clarion Fund released a film entitled IraniumIranium
Iranium is a 2011 documentary film that explores the Iranian nuclear program as it pertains to strategic threats against the West, and Islamic fundamentalism in Iran....
, which focuses on the history of Iran's government since 1979 and perceived threats associated with the Iranian nuclear program.
Criticism
Clarion Fund has been criticized for what some see as close ties to Aish HatorahAish HaTorah
Aish HaTorah is a Jewish Orthodox organization and yeshiva. Aish HaTorah is actively pro-Israel and encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and connect to the land and its history. Some consider the organisation to reflect a more Religious Zionist philosophy in its attachment to Israel, promoting...
, a Jewish educational organization. According to Clarion Fund's incorporation papers, it is based at the same address as Aish Hatorah
Aish HaTorah
Aish HaTorah is a Jewish Orthodox organization and yeshiva. Aish HaTorah is actively pro-Israel and encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and connect to the land and its history. Some consider the organisation to reflect a more Religious Zionist philosophy in its attachment to Israel, promoting...
, a religious organization.
According to the International Relations Center
International Relations Center
The International Relations Center is an American "policy studies institute" based in Silver City, New Mexico. It was founded in 1979 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, focusing initially on "The plight of undocumented Mexican workers and the impact of energy development on indigenous communities in the...
, Eli Clifton said that the Clarion fund was attempting to “stir up a climate of fear in the United States.”
See also
- Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the WestObsession: Radical Islam's War Against the WestObsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, also called Obsession, is a 2005 documentary film about the perceived threat of radical Islam to Western civilization. Using extensive Arab television footage it claims to give an 'insider's view' of the hatred preached by radicals to incite global...
- The Third JihadThe Third JihadThe Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision For America is a documentary film made by Wayne Kopping on the subject of radical Islam in present day United States.- Production :...
- IraniumIraniumIranium is a 2011 documentary film that explores the Iranian nuclear program as it pertains to strategic threats against the West, and Islamic fundamentalism in Iran....