Many widely distributed e-mails and several individuals within Senator Obama’s presidential campaign are accusing the Jewish community of “smearing Obama by falsely stating that Obama is a Muslim.”
Their inflammatory charges against the Jewish community are untrue. No responsible (or even irresponsible) Jewish group has in any way been involved in spreading this rumor.
The attached memo documents exactly how, when and where the rumor originated.
Please feel free to publish this memo (or to use any portion of it) to inform your readers that accusations against the Jewish community are completely unfounded.
Obama is a Christian. Then How did the Rumor that Obama is a Practicing Muslim get Started and Why are Islamic Sources Helping to Fuel its Spread? What are possible National and International Impacts of This Belief?
Recorder: Lt. Col. Howard Laitin, Ph.D. [ Neither the Rand Corporation nor the US Army are responsible for the contents of this memo.]
Sources of the Rumor
Several columnists and voter survey organizations have stated that many Americans believe that Barack Obama is either a practicing Muslim or a closet Muslim (Pew Research says approximately 12%).
The Obama campaign website brands this belief “a smear.” Official and unofficial advisers within the Obama campaign accuse “right wing nuts”, “republicans within the McCain campaign”, “Jewish Neocons”, “Orthodox Jews”, etc. of deliberately spreading this “smear.”
In media interviews, both Barack Obama and Michelle Obama state that they are practicing Christians. From all that I have personally observed, I believe that both Obamas are Christians. (How “committed” they are is not the subject of this discussion.)
How then, did this apparently widespread public perception that Barack Obama is a Muslim originate?
During the three years (1985-1988) that Barack Obama worked in South Chicago as a community organizer, it was obvious both to Obama and to many in the South Chicago community that “Obama looked different, that Obama acted different and that Obama talked white.” To gain acceptance and the required “street cred,” Obama needed to obtain the approval and the support of other groups that were already entrenched within the South Chicago area such as youth gangs, the Nation of Islam, etc.
Most community organizers learn that involvement in church meetings and door to door campaigns are the two prime vehicles that must be mastered in order to successfully penetrate the community. The Nation of Islam was active and successful in the South Chicago community. The Nation of Islam concluded that Obama was no threat to them. Thus, at joint appearances, the Nation of Islam representative often assured the audiences: “Don’t worry. You can trust Barack here. He’s one of us.”
When Barack Obama campaigned for a U.S. Senate seat in 2004, Muslims were a major base of his support. While Obama had already gained a great deal of voter and financial support in the general Islamic community, to capture additional votes and financial support from the more conservative elements of the Islamic community, some of Obama’s supporters within the Islamic community spread the rumor that Obama was actually a practicing Muslim.
This rumor appeared to succeed in that Obama gained additional support from those more conservative segments within the Islamic community (to whom ethnic considerations matter a great deal).
The current re-floating of the rumor that Barack Obama is a practicing or is a closet Muslim can be traced to at least six domestic and international sources.
1) Some residual beliefs that circulated during Obama’s days on the Chicago streets as a community organizer, are still floating around within the general Chicago community.
2) Some Muslims who were induced to vote for Obama and to contribute to Obama in previous campaigns due to their belief that Obama is, in fact, a Muslim, remain within the Islamic Community.
3) Several Obama presidential campaign staffers, several of Obama’s left wing supporters, and a surprisingly large number of pro-Obama journalists state that by continually affirming that Obama is not a Muslim, they are “preempting”, what, in their eyes, is the near certainty of future attacks on Obama by what they label “the Republican smear machine”. (One of the repeated sound bites is “They will try to scare you. They will tell you that Barack Obama looks different. He has a funny name. He’s a Muslim. He’s black.”) These statements and sound bites are directed towards an audience that is only half listening. Thus, the effect of these statements seems to help cement the view that Barack Obama is a Muslim.
4) The many official denials that have been issued by the Obama campaign, coupled with numerous journalist denials, coupled with various much-too-clever cartoons issued by Obama supporters (such as Barry Blitt’s New Yorker cover, dated July 31, 2008) tend to reinforce existing subliminal impressions that may have been held by a portion of the American public that Obama is a Muslim.
5) Currently, the rumor that Obama is a Muslim is being heavily marketed throughout the Islamic world by Al Manar, Al Jazeera and by other Islamic media. Also, several Islamic leaders are publicly claiming that Barack Obama is a Muslim. For example, on June 11, 2008, Muammar Qaddafi stated: “...there are elections in America. Along came a black citizen of Kenyan African origins, a Muslim who had studied in an Islamic school in Indonesia. His name is Obama. All the people in the Arab and Isamic world and Africa applaud this man. They welcome him and pray for his success. We are still hoping that this black man will take pride in his African and Islamic identity.” Qaddafi further stated that many throughout the Islamic world have been involved in contribution campaigns “to enable him [Obama] to win the American presidency.”
6) Also, partially responsible is the intentional spread of this rumor by a small number of individuals and websites. (My survey indicates that the elements that are spreading these kinds of reports are not tied to the McCain campaign nor are they tied to the Republican party, nor are they tied to any responsible or even irresponsible Jewish organizations.)
Possible National and International Impacts of This Belief
1) Key 2008 battleground states where the perception by a portion of the electorate that Barack Obama is a Muslim (which could be a major advantage to the Obama campaign) include: Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Colorado and Washington. However, the net effect of this lasting perception on the actual voting results remains to be determined.
2) Of more concern is that a major portion of the Islamic world believes that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Currently, mainly due to extensive Arab television coverage, they are fully aware of Obama’s many recent pro-Israel statements. They are willing to forgive Obama’s words because they believe (as Al Jazeera stated) that his words are “merely an election lie to enable him to get the Jewish vote.” “A person lies and lies to people just so they will vote for him.” (Al Jazeera TV, June 11, 2008) The Islamic world expect that Obama’s actual agenda will include:
* Dismantling Israel nuclear capability;
* Implementing “the one state solution”;
* Arranging for “the return of millions of Palestinian refugees to the land of Palestine [Israel] from which they were expelled in 1948 and 1967.”
If in Islamic eyes, Barack Obama fails to fully deliver on all of these expectations, the Islamic world will feel betrayed and they will brand Barack Obama as a hated apostate “Enemy of Islam.” And the consequences of their resentments may be severe.
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