Aish HaTorah Deceit Clouds Hasbara Effort

Aish HaTorah, using the name of one of its many subsidiaries and shadow organizations, makes a film on Islamic terror. Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against The West did not find normal distribution. (It did air on Fox News awhile back and I gave the film some free PR related to those airings.) So it is being distributed in part by the Hasbara Fellowships, another part of Aish HaTorah. All this is fine with with me, except for how Aish is handling that distribution according to the New York Times:

…When a Middle East discussion group organized a showing at New York University recently, it found that the distributors of “Obsession” were requiring those in attendance to register at IsraelActivism.com, and that digital pictures of the events be sent to Hasbara Fellowships, a group set up to counter anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses.

“If people have to give their names over to Hasbara Fellowships at the door, that doesn’t have the effect of stimulating open dialogue,” said Jordan J. Dunn, president of the Middle East Dialogue Group of New York University, which mixes Jews and Muslims. “Rather, it intimidates people and stifles dissent.”…

What it also does is give Aish HaTorah a huge list of college-age Jews they can target with haredi missionary propaganda which, no doubt, is a major goal.

Steven I. Weiss is quoted in the Times article this way:

Steven I. Weiss, editor and publisher of CampusJ.com, an Internet site that covers Jewish news on campuses, said he was surprised by the Jewish skepticism to the film at N.Y.U. “Were a Jewish leader from virtually any significant organization to walk in on that discussion,” he said, “they’d be very surprised and displeased. This is the opposite of the change they’ve been looking for in campus rhetoric.”

Perhaps, SIW, it is the Aish missionary machine that spawned a chunk of that skepticism.

In a tangential note, my friend Arie Zmora is the focus of the lead story on Campus J today. Serendipity, no doubt. And only like maybe three degrees of separation.

Comments

[Formallyfrum]

If Aish HaTorah really would want an many people to see this film they would not
require registration and digital photos
of the event. However, by doing so they are almost certain to draw only people who are already very Pro-Israel and most likely Jewish. Therefore Shmarya point is right on target.

[Steven I. Weiss]

Shmarya - I don't doubt that the work of Aish and other groups on campus has very much altered the nature of the Jewish discussion on campus. In the case of NYU, though, I very much doubt that that's a major factor. It was really quite surprising to hear the rhetoric there be novel, but in precisely the opposite way that even the major liberal Jewish organizations are pushing for. Obsession is, relative again to even the major liberal Jewish organizations, a very cautious film; it portrays Islam far more carefully than Jews tend to. That the dialogue then consisted of Jews upset with the film says a lot about Jewish and Muslim attitudes there; it's not with a lot of hesitation that I'd say it's a unique situation.

[Mike]

Its also important to note that the Campus rabbi at UCLA its fair to say is not very fond of anything resembling balance or right wing concerning israel.

[IbnTznunya]

As one of the finest burnouts ever to be produced by Aish Hatorah, I can state chategorically that Aish is fundementally an honorable organization. They do far more good than bad and I would just chalk this up to overzealousness and bad judgment. There are many things that I would change about their approach -for one, the outlawing of black hats (that's a joke) and other external gestures of extremism which can certainly damage young, fragile, idealistic minds. This being said, I count Aish amongst those who are doing G-ds work, and I know of that which I speak.