FL ATTORNEY GENERAL REQUIRES EMPLOYEES TO WATCH ANTI-MUSLIM PROPAGANDA

(Los Angeles - 1/24/08) - The Muslim Public Affairs Council today sent a letter to Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who serves as a campaign adviser to Rudy Giuliani, calling on him to cease subjecting his employees to blatantly anti-Muslim propaganda. 
 
Last week, MPAC learned that McCollum sent an email to his employees requiring them to attend one of three screenings of a controversial video called “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West” in the State Senate Building. In the email, McCollum says the screening is intended to help employees “better understand the threat that we face as a nation and society.”

McCollum is a former member of Congress (1981-2001) who served on the Republican Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare for the US Congress.  The Task Force was first in issuing papers on the clash of civilization and promoting an anti-Muslim agenda in the US Congress.

“Obsession”, a 60-minute tirade of cherry picked inflammatory statements from foreign individuals interspersed with “analysis” from controversial American figures including self-proclaimed terrorism expert Steve Emerson, has been widely discredited since its release in 2006. 

As Attorney General, McCollum is tasked with ensuring the rule of law in the State of Florida. It is concerning, then, that the very office that victims of hate crimes would turn to for legal aid and justice, is leading its employees to make decisions based upon bias and fear.

“For a public official to publicly endorse and subject his employees to such hateful and divisive messages from controversial sources is tainting the purpose of the Attorney General’s office,” said MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati. “All Americans have a moral responsibility to work diligently to replace fear and hate by justice and good will, and to hold those who do otherwise accountable to the consequences of their actions.”

By all accounts, Obsession is a piece of propaganda that cherry picks intolerant and offensive quotes from foreign individuals to paint all Muslims as part of a global jihad against the West. It is horrific in its demonization of a sizeable, respectable group of Americans.  “Obsession” contributes directly to fear, mistrust and suspicion of Islam and Muslims - i.e. Islamophobia - in American society. Its particular brand of Islamophobia incites hysteria, hate mongering, and the alienation of the Muslim American community. 

See:  Obsession:  Radical Islam’s War With the West?, Sheila Musaji

Founded in 1988, the Muslim Public Affairs Council is an American institution which informs and shapes public opinion and policy by serving as a trusted resource to decision makers in government, media and policy institutions. MPAC is also committed to developing leaders with the purpose of enhancing the political and civic participation of Muslim Americans.