A Mighty Spin: Paramount in bed with CAIR

A Mighty Spin: Paramount in bed with CAIR

By Arlene Peck
June 25, 2007

Move over, Bill O'Rilley! CAIR has so perfected the art of spin that I don't think even you would catch the con job until it was over. At least, I'd bet that the innocents at Paramount didn't have a clue that the screening they arranged for the movie, "A Mighty Heart," was a ruse to make CAIR, the terror supporting organization, look good.

Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director of CAIR- Greater Los Angeles Area,joined forces with Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak, a nondescript nobody whom no one has ever heard of. Lacking credibility, his claim to fame, apparently, that he is head of a dot.com "synagogue" and a group called, "Jews on First.com" He shared the panal with another group called "Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace" (don'tcha just love it?) Oh yes, another of the panelists was DeDe Gardner, co-producer with Brad Pitt/Plan B Entertainment. She was on the stage thinking she would be discussing the movie in an effort to publicize the movie. This was held in the Sherry Lansing screening room at the studio. I thought it kind of a clever that the venue was held at the site named for a Jewish girl who made good.

It was an evening that CAIR cleverly orchestrated. It was simply a forum for presenting the audience with a means to discuss how to "Build Unity and Understanding in Today's World." Folks, for this terrorist supporting organization to carry that off - imagine the Nazi Party having a car wash benefit for a group of yeshiva boys. I was waiting for them to raffle off a puppy.

The movie, about Daniel Pearl, was made to show the sick, barbaric mentality of his captors and the primitive and savage lifestyle in that part of the world. Yet, Paramount gave CAIR was given a platform from which to proclaim that the criminals out there were giving Muslims a bad name. Hussam, referring to CAIR, claimed that Muslims suffer from 'misconceptions. "There is wide spread belief that Muslims are sympathetic to terrorism. And of course, CAIR cares about all religions." I think that he referred to what is happening now as the "demonization of the Muslim religion." Finally, he smiled and said.."CAIR cares about not only Daniel Pearl but all human beings. CAIR is speaking against evil through their own people."

Of course, had we been allowed to ask questions during this so-called "dialogue," I would have said that if that were the case, how come the Koran says, "if you're not one of them.. then they must be destroyed!"

Of course, they carefully picked a self-hating "rabbi," who never said where his congregation was located, except in the universe of the dot.coms. He spoke movingly about how the Jews should be so grateful because the Muslims gave them refuge in Turkey in years past. And, how no Jewish group would be "brave" enough to bring together a group such as the one gathered, and that the "problem in the Jewish community is because they suffer from Islamic phobia and he commended CAIR for the courage that they showed" as he couldn't imagine a Jewish organization having the "courage" to bring a dialogue such as the wonderful evening we were experiencing..gawd!

While the now-benevolent group, CAIR was presented by the good people at Paramount as a loving organization in all of their 33 chapters, I couldn't help but wonder what Daniel's wife and parents would think of that evening? I don't blame Paramount because they are so clueless. Here, in the land of Hollywood, they don't even know what FOX news is, much less CAIR or its intentions. However, it might have been prudent for Paramount to do a little homework before giving this group credibility by using their studios to promote their propaganda. In the movie, the terrorists made the comment that it was "the Jews" who were responsible for 9/11 and that 4,000 stayed home from work that day at the Twin Towers. I thought it wouldn't have hurt had this misconception been corrected. In fact, the ultimate spin was the end of the movie when they didn't show the be-heading. These peaceful people needed a reminder!

One of the primary comments, repeated often, was that there was no reason to be ashamed of being Muslim. Oh really? It was also interesting that this so-called panel was, in reality, a sounding board to promote the Islamic culture. Although the evening had been billed as a "dialogue" about the movie, only two hand-picked bland "questions" were asked. Then, suddenly, an announcement was made that there was,unfortunately, no more time for questions.

Apparently, there was no time for questions at all. Especially the one that I had written asking, "If the Muslim religion is such a peaceful one and the 'criminals' don't represent the masses, why we aren't seeing the "million man" marches protesting the actions of the murders and dysfunctional behavior by the 1.6 billion people they represent?" In fact, forget the million man marches... how about a twenty-five man march? (Women, in many of those countries aren't even allowed on the streets. Look at the pictures next time and see how many pictures of women you see in the crowd.)

The moral of the story: Maybe the Israeli governement ought to hire CAIR to handle their public relations. As they sure seem to be doing a better job at it. Maybe they could get a big Hollywood studio to help them in their endeavers. Maybe they'll even raffle off a trip to The Holy Land? Or at least have everyone leave with a hug!