Misery Index

This is an award-winning documentary on Radical Islam that has been out for a couple of years however, I think it’s time to bring it back to the surface.  My first experience with this movie was back in September when it showed up inside my local Sunday newspaper where some 28 million copies of this DVD have been distributed for free.

Using images from Arab TV, rarely seen in the West, Obsession reveals an “insiders view” of the hatred the Radicals are teaching, their incitement of global jihad, and their goal of world domination. 

Obsession examines how seemingly isolated acts of terrorism are seen by radical Islamists as an integral part of a global war or jihad for world domination.

Walid Shoebat is shown in this video.  He was born in Bethlehem and became a member of the PLO.  He was jailed and after his release came to the US and continued his anti-Israel activities.  In 1993, he studied the Jewish Bible in a challenge to convert his wife to Islam.  Six months later, Walid realized that everything he had been taught about Jews was a lie.

Nonie Darwish is also in this video.  Her father headed the Egyptian military in Gaza and the Sinai when Gaza was under Egyptian control in the fifties. In 1978 she emigrated to America.  After 9/11 she realized that her culture of origin is in a head of collision with the rest of the world, and started speaking out about terrorism.  She believes that her support to Israel does not take away from her love of her culture of origin.

Mary Matalin, former Assistant to the President, Counselor to Vice President & Political Strategist and Commentator said about the movie:

For those people who don’t understand the threat posed by Radical Islam, and especially for those people who do understand the threat - ‘Obsession’ demonstrates in the clearest possible terms that we must stand up and defend our way of life. 

Major General Bentley Rayburn (Ret) of the USAF had to say about ‘Obsession’:

As a retired Air Force Major General who has lived and traveled through the Middle East and has commanded major combat organizations in key Muslim countries, I believe ‘Obsession’ is a movie that every American ought to see.  It is the most accurate description I’ve seen of the great struggle that the western world will face for many years to come."

Now the movie does have its share of refuters, calling the movie nothing but a lie filled with propaganda.  One such website is “Obsession With Hate” saying that

“there are those who have misused Islam to promote an anti-Western militant ideology” but “Obsession is not an honest critique of violent radicalism.  Instead, it is a propaganda piece that seeks to cast a wide net of suspicion of against Muslims by blurring the line between violent radicalism and mainstream Islam.”

“As such, it does not call on credible experts and reputable scholars but resorts to shady characters like “former-terrorist” Walid Shoebat, who has made such outlandish statements as: ‘Islam is no the religion of God Islam is the devil.’”

Those who oppose this movie, mostly Muslims, are quick to note that the movie was produced and made by Jews saying again, it is nothing more than propaganda against Muslims produced by Jews.

Either way, Obsession does show some interesting things.  Only you yourself can decide what to get out of this movie, and what the movie is trying to say.

Below is the movie, in it’s entirety.  The movie can also be downloaded via Google Video for your iPod.