PORTLAND, Ore. – About 50 people gathered in front of the headquarters of The Oregonian Monday to protest the newspaper's decision to include a controversial DVD about radical Muslims in Sunday's editions as a paid advertisement.

More than 70 newspapers across the country have distributed the DVDs this month, including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Some newspaper have refused. A New York nonprofit paid for the DVDs; officials with the group say they wanted to warn Americans about radical Islamists' threat to national security.

Those who turned out for Monday's protest said the DVD is just pure Muslim-bashing and only incites fear and anxiety in people who watch it. They said the paper should not have sent it out, and they asked for an apology by newspaper officials.

"It is time to tell the media - The Oregonian specifically - to stop the use of sophisticated propaganda tools, such as this DVD," said Hala Gores, a Palestinian-American attorney.

State Sen. Avel Gordly, a Portland Democrat, told those in attendance to send the DVD back to the newspaper.

Publisher Fred Stickel had no comment on the protest Monday, saying a statement he made in an article published in the newspaper Sunday would suffice.

In that article, he was quoted as saying: "I've always felt we have an obligation to keep our advertising columns as open as possible.

Our acceptance of anything -- our acceptance or rejection -- does not depend on whether or not we agree with the content. . . . There is a principle of freedom of speech involved here. I could find no reason to reject this."

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