Founded 2006 Tax ID no. 20-5845679 | Founder Raphael Shore Location Washington, D.C. | |
Motto Challenging extremism, Promoting dialogue Mission "[T]o expos[e] the dangers of Islamic extremism while providing a platform for the voices of moderation and [to] promot[e] grassroots activism." | ||
The Clarion Project (formerly Clarion Fund Inc.) is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization founded in 2006. The organization has been involved in the production and distribution of the films Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, The Third Jihad, Iranium and Honor Diaries.
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Mission, organization and funding
The Clarion Project states its mission as "exposing the dangers of Islamic extremism while providing a platform for the voices of moderation and promoting grassroots activism."
Ryan Mauro is the Clarion Project’s national security analyst.
Funders include Donors Capital Fund, a nonprofit donor-advised fund, which gave the organization a donation of $17.7 million in 2008, and casino owner Sheldon Adelson.
The fund's advisory board included Frank Gaffney of Center for Security Policy, Daniel Pipes of Middle East Forum, and Walid Phares of Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Clarion Project also closely cooperates with MEMRI, an organization that provided translations of media from Muslim-majority countries for its films.
It also shares an address and staff with Aish HaTorah, strongly tied to the Israeli settler movement.
Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West
Obsession is a documentary film – produced and co-written by Raphael Shore, Clarion Project founder, about the perceived threat of radical Islam to Western civilization. Using footage from Arab television, it reveals an "insider's view" of what it claims is hatred being taught in schools, incitement to global jihad and radical Islam's goal of world domination. The film also traces the parallels between the Nazi movement of World War II, current radicals and the Western world's response to both threats. Obsession features interviews with Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, professor Alan Dershowitz.
The movie starts with a disclaimer: "This is a film about radical Islamic terror. A dangerous ideology, fueled by religious hatred. It's important to remember most Muslims are peaceful and do not support terror. This is not a film about them. This is a film about a radical worldview and the threat it poses to us all, Muslim and non-Muslim alike."
The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision For America
The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision For America is a 72-minute documentary released in May 2009. It was produced by former NBC News journalist and Clinton administration adviser Erik Werth and narrated by Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.
The Third Jihad focuses specifically on Islamic extremism in Western Europe and America. It also introduces the concept of cultural jihad – defined by the narrator as a non-violent means of infiltrating and undermining American society with the goal of working against it and overthrowing it.The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision for America. 24:07 minutes in. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
According to the film makers, the growth of Islamic terrorism in the second half of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st century should be seen as the beginning of "The Third Jihad" being waged by radical Islamist elements. The film presents "the first jihad" as the Arab conquest of the Middle East and North Africa in the seventh century and the second as the Turkish thrust into Constantinople and central Europe in the 15th century.The Third Jihad: Radical Islam's Vision for America. 6:28 minutes in. Retrieved December 31, 2015.
Iranium
Iranium, which premiered in 2011, presents the views of certain experts on the Middle East who see the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran as having a radical Islamist ideology bent on developing nuclear weapons. Among the experts featured are Professor Bernard Lewis (Professor Emeritus at Princeton University), R. James Woolsey, Jr (former head of the CIA) and U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee).
Honor Diaries
Honor Diaries, released in 2013, documents gender inequality and abuse of women in Muslim-majority societies. The film features nine women’s rights advocates who share firsthand testimonies of the hardships women suffer.
Honor Diaries was shown at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva at a screening organized by the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU). Honor Diaries was also screened at the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Amnesty International and the United Nations in New York.
Criticism
The Southern Poverty Law Center described the organization as an anti-Muslim group, and the Muslim advocacy group Council on American–Islamic Relations said the group promotes Islamophobia in America.