Frontline: Jihad In America

Description: Terrorists Among Us - Jihad in America is a documentary by counter-terrorism expert Steven Emerson. It first aired in the United States in 1994 on the PBS series Frontline.[1] The film has won numerous awards for journalism, including the George Polk Award. [2][1] According to Emerson, the impetus for the film came in 1992, when he happened to come across a conference of Arab youths in Oklahoma City. After gaining entrance by pretending to be Muslim, Emerson said that he found tables of pro-terrorism literature from groups such as Hamas and heard speeches calling for death to Americans.[1] The film features hidden camera footage of men publicly raising money for terrorism in U.S. hotel conference rooms. The men are often speaking in Arabic.[1] Emerson also identifies Sami Al-Arian as the primary supporter of Islamic jihad in the United States.[3] After the film’s release, American Muslim groups such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations accused Emerson of mischaracterizing speeches and taking innocuous language and activities out of context to make them appear more menacing.[1] In 1995, U.S. representatives Bill McCollum of Florida and Gary Ackerman of New York distributed the documentary to every member of the House of Representatives, accompanied by a letter urging them to watch the film before the House began debating anti-terrorism legislation that summer. The move was decried by Arab American and Muslim leaders for linking terrorism to Arabs and Muslims.[4] Attention to Emerson and his work were renewed following the September 11, 2001 attacks by terrorists on the United States; later in 2001, Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey credited Emerson’s film with helping to pass a recent anti-terrorism bill in the House.[1] Emerson has also given briefings to both chambers of Congress and to the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.[1]