Who Put Hate in My Sunday Paper?: Uncovering the Israeli-Republican-Evangelical Networks behind the “Obsession” DVD

Abstract

In September 2008, something strange showed up inside the Sunday edition of the New York Times newspapers of millions of Americans. Alongside comics, coupons, and advertisements for local stores, readers found a controversial DVD called “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War against the West.” Around twenty-eight million copies of this DVD were distributed for free in this fashion. In some ways the scale of this campaign, and its ideological venom, were unprecedented; many newspapers have since stated that they had never previously distributed free DVDs as inserts, let alone something with such charged content. The copies were distributed in specific “swing states”: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and so on, all of which were understood to be “toss-ups” in the November 2008 presidential election between Senator John McCain and then-senator Barack Obama. It was obvious to all that someone was trying to influence the American electorate by playing on the themes of fear and hate. But who? Who was behind this massive, multimillion dollar campaign?