“˜Obsession’ film triggers dialogue

Students for Justice in Palestine hosted a roundtable discussion
Wednesday about a documentary on Islamic radicalism shown recently
at a Students for Peace and Justice event.

The documentary, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War
Against the West,” was about militant Islamic extremism in
the Middle East, according to Daily Bruin archives.

Students from both groups, the Muslim Student Association and
Bruins for Israel, attended the event and discussed their views on
the documentary and previous events held by each group.

Linda Khoury, member of Students for Justice in Palestine and
the moderator of the event, said the event was planned in order to
discuss the problems that SJP had with the film in terms of its
portrayal of Islam.

“We don’t deny or accept extremism in any way or
form but we do demand that they analyze the issues in a scholarly
manner,” Khoury said during opening comments.

Leeron Morad, President of Bruins for Israel, said the purpose
of the film was not to be scholarly but to expose certain issues
about radicalism.

Another concern discussed was that the film was shown during
Islamic Awareness Week on campus. Khalid Hussein, co-president of
Students for Justice in Palestine, said he felt it was
inappropriate to show the documentary during that week.

Trevor Klitofsky, the Students for Justice and Peace member who
organized the screening, said the timing was coincidental.

Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, the director of Hillel at UCLA,
asked students on both sides to use an educational approach when
dealing with these issues rather than pushing each side’s
agenda with propaganda.

“I think that both of us in the Jewish and Muslim
community are afflicted with the problem of propaganda,” said
Seidler-Feller. “This movie was a typical, classical attempt
to manipulate people. Is it possible for us to advocate on behalf
of our causes but do so in an educational mode?”

Both the Jewish student groups as well as the Muslim student
groups admitted that they have made mistakes in the past in regards
to the content and speakers of their events.

Mistakes that were discussed included the misrepresentation of
Nonie Darwish, featured in the film, as the daughter of a
Palestinian terrorist, when in fact it was an Egyptian officer.
Hussein said this mistake was a problem because it allowed for
terms like “Palestinian,” “Islam” and
“suicide bomber” to be used as if they were one in the
same. Morad acknowledged the mistake and said that it should have
been caught and fixed.

An event which Seidler-Feller said offended many Jewish students
on campus was the appearance of Amir Abdel Malik Ali, an outspoken
anti-Semitic Muslim, at a Muslim Student Association event. Norah
Sarsour, a Muslim Student Association board member, agreed that
Malik Ali’s appearance was inappropriate.

At the meeting, Morad proposed that SJP co-sponsor an event with
Bruins for Israel in order to show that both Palestinians and
Israelis want peace, Morad said.