SPLC apologizes and shells out $3.375 million to
man they placed on their Anti-Muslim extremists list, by
Ann Corcoran 6/19/18.
That
would be the 2016 “Field
Guide” written
by Mark Potok that they created to try to
silence voices they
disapprove
of (yours truly is on it!). This time their shoddy research
cost them big bucks and a black eye.
I
told you about Maajid Nawaz’s case here. From Fox News:
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced Monday that it would
pay $3.375 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a British anti-extremism
group that was put on a list of “anti-Muslim extremists.” In a statement, the Alabama-based SPLC apologized to the Quilliam
Foundation and its founder, Maajid Nawaz.
“Although
we may have our differences with some of the positions that Mr. Nawaz and
Quilliam have taken, they are most certainly not anti-Muslim extremists,” the
statement read in part. “We would like to extend our sincerest apologies to Mr.
Nawaz, Quilliam, and our readers for the error, and we wish Mr. Nawaz and
Quilliam all the best.”
In
2016, the SPLC included Nawaz and Quilliam in an online publication
called “A
Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists.” The
list, which included conservative blogger Pamela Geller and human rights
activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, drew ire from across the political spectrum.
That
October, left-wing British writer Nick Cohen accused the SPLC of “[doing] the
dirty work of the misogynists, the racists, the homophobes, the censors, and
the murderers it was founded to oppose” in calling Nawaz an extremist. In June
2017, Nawaz told Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum” that the SPLC was
“ideologically driven to silence any voice that introspects from within the
Muslim community.” The
list has since been removed from the SPLC’s website and replaced with the
statement apologizing to Nawaz and Quilliam.
The
settlement marked another black eye for the SPLC, which has repeatedly been
accused of branding some conservative organizations as “hate groups.” In March,
the SPLC was forced to retract an article accusing reporters of enabling white
supremacists and anti-Semites. More here.
Here is my post (I made a joke of it!) when I was initially named on
the list of 15 that included in addition to Nawaz, Ayan Hirsi Ali and Pamela Gellersome outspoken critics of Islamic
supremacism. (Presumably anyone following this case long ago downloaded the now
deleted Field Guide and its ‘proof’ for future
reference.) Taking flak = over the target!
I’m
sure I was placed on the list because the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (one of nine federal refugee contractors
and close friends with the SPLC) was not happy with the facts I put out about
the big money/fat salaries involved in the refugee industry in the US and had
hoped to silence me or to at least make sure no one in the mainstream media
listened to me.
Here are the others rounding out the list: Steve
Emerson, Brigitte Gabriel, Frank Gaffney, John Guandolo, David Horowitz, Ryan
Mauro, Robert Muise, Daniel Pipes, Walid Shoebot, Robert Spencer and David
Yerushalmi.
By
the way, below are screenshots of the cover and the credits page. Until
now I hadn’t realized that Media
Matters for America and
others were involved in this shameful project.
My
previous posts on the Southern
Poverty Law Center are here. If
you are running a struggling non-profit group that has been targeted by the
SPLC, maybe you should try a lawsuit to boost your budget!
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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