[Unoloknovagog]

Unbelievable... it's as funny as it is sad. May Allah keep us all under his protection. Ameen.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...ti-muslim-film

Rally calls for NYPD commissioner to quit over anti-Muslim training film

Mayor Bloomberg admits commissioner Ray Kelly's reputation has been 'dented' over video shown to hundreds of officers

Ryan Devereaux in New York

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 26 January 2012 18.30 EST

Members of the New York Muslim community gather at City Hall to protest against the showing of an anti-Muslim film to police officers. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA
Members of New York's Muslim community took to the steps of City Hall Thursday to call for the resignation of the police commissioner and his chief spokesman, after the NYPD admitted showing a virulently anti-Muslim film to officers undergoing counter-terrorist training.

Local religious leaders and city lawmakers accused the New York police commissoner Ray Kelly and his chief spokesman Paul Browne of misleading the media and community representatives over the film.

Hours after the protesters spoke, it was revealed that the CIA had withdrawn an officer who had been working in the NYPD on controversial post 9/11 counter-terrorism strategies.

On Monday, the New York Times revealed The Third Jihad had been shown to nearly 1,500 police officers, directly contradicting previous statements by Browne, who said it had only been shown a handful of times. Kelly is interviewed in the video discussing the dangers of terrorism.

At City Hall, Amna Akbar, an adjunct professor at City Univeristy New York, spoke for the Muslim American Cilvil Liberties Coalition, which organized the press conference. "We're standing here together today to call for Commissioner Kelly's resignation, to call for the resignation of Paul Browne, to call on city council to establish an independent community control and oversight mechanism because we now know the NYPD does not feel accountable to our communities." She also called for "a re-training of the officers that watched The Third Jihad".

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg rejected calls for Kelly's resignation but admitted the affair had dented the reputation of the NYPD. "I think it's fair to say that there is a little bit of embarrassment that this film was made," he said. "I think anything like this doesn't help credibility. Ray's gotta work at re-establishing the credibility that he has."

With violent imagery and shots of executed children, The Third Jihad makes the claim that American Muslims of all stripes are in the midst of an effort to seize control of the country; the third phase of an ongoing "1,400-year war".

"Americans are being told that most of the mainstream Muslim groups are moderate," the narrator says, "when in fact if you look a little closer you'll see a very different reality. One of their primary tactics is deception." The film was produced by the Clarion fund, a non-profit group linked to pro-Israel organizations. The New York Times said a previous documentary made by Clarion, about Muslims' "war on the west", was funded by Sheldon Adelson, the casino mogul who recently donated millions to Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign.

When the Village Voice revealed last year that the film had been shown at training sessions, Browne claimed no NYPD officers had seen the video and that it was "reviewed and found to be inappropriate". After being pressed further, Browne conceded the "wacky film" had been shown a "couple of times." He maintained, however, that Kelly's clip had been lifted from a previous interview.

A letter sent by Kelly to the Muslim Bar Association in March 2011 indicated the film was not used in official NYPD training. Kelly wrote: "The film was not and is not part of the approved training curriculum; it was projected on a screen while training attendees were completing administrative paperwork."

After news of the video became public, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University law school filed a freedom of information request to find out more about about the NYPD's relationship to the controversial video.

The documents, revealed this week, showed the 72-minute video had been played on a "continuous loop" for a period of three months to a year and was witnessed by at least 1,489 police officers. Questions remain about exactly what role the film played in the training of the officers who were exposed to it.

On Tuesday, the filmmakers behind The Third Jihad provided the New York Times with evidence that Kelly had taken part in a 90-minute interview shot at NYPD headquarters in March 2007. Browne corroborated the claim, admitting that he had "recommended" Kelly take the interview.

Browne says he thought the interview would focus on "foiled terrorist plots andthe current threat matrix." The film's producer, Raphael Shore, says Browne was "informed that the interview was for a documentary on radical Islam."

Speaking at Thursday's press conference, Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid, president of the Islamic Leadership Council of New York, suggested Kelly may have lied to him and "well-over 100 imams" when asked about the film at the NYPD's pre-Ramadan briefing in July last year.

"He said that the NYPD had not used that film as a training tool or a training device. He stated that the film was simply playing in the background prior to the beginning of a training session," Andur-Rashid claimed.

"It is now clear that either someone intentionally deceived Commissioner Kelly or Commissioner Kelly intentionally deceived us," he added.

Abdur-Rashid said the Islamic Leadership Council of Metropolitan New York intends to call on the New York state attorney general Eric Schneiderman to investigate the NYPD's use of the film. Abdur-Rashid added that the council would seek the intervention of federal attorney general Eric Holder "if necessary."

New York city council member Jumaane Williams echoed the call for Browne to resign, but stopped short of calling for Kelly to quit, arguing more investigation was needed. Williams said Browne was a "liar" and described a "corrosive culture" within the NYPD.

"This is not the type of person that we need speaking on behalf of, as the mayor called, 'personal army'," Williams declared.

"This is not the first, second or third time that this has happened. Once, perhaps you can say it was a mistake. Twice, 'Oops, I did it again.' Three, four, five times, there's no excuse," he went on to say. "If the mayor and the commissioner will not hold him accountable, will not hold themselves accountable, then perhaps it's time for them to go as well."

The extensive use of the film and its blatantly anti-Muslim bias have added to a growing list of concerns about the NYPD's relationship with the city's substantial Islamic community.

Late last summer, the Associated Press launched a series of investigative reports on the department's efforts to monitor ethnic communities. The AP revealed the existence of the department's so-called "Demographics Unit," which has been used to map out ethnic communities. The unit focused on a list of 28 "ancestries of interest," all which are predominantly Muslim. In the course of over two dozen articles, the AP laid out how the NYPD – with the help of CIA advisors – infiltrated mosques, Muslim community centers and local colleges.

Kelly dismissed the stories as inaccurate, without detailing the inaccuracies.

On Thursday, the AP reported that the CIA has withdrawn an officer who had been working in the NYPD, after a critical internal investigation.

AP said the CIA's inspector general said the agency had sent the officer to New York with little oversight after the Septenber 11 terrorist attacks and had left him there too long.

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