Pamela Geller’s Latest False “Blood Libel” Claim

by Sheila Musaji

Pamela Geller has posted an article on her site Wall Street Journal Prints Ground Zero Radical Rauf’s Blood Libel.  Geller often uses this “blood libel” charge against her critics.  This like her “truth is the new hate speech” has become one of her trademark expressions.  Her grasp of the meaning of “truth” is, however, limited, and often leads to the necessity of attempting to conceal what was originally said.

In this article, she objected to an article in which Imam Rauf said

“I launched my effort last year to build an Islamic Community Center in Lower Manhattan as part of reconciliation after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the vitriol hurled against me and Islam was overwhelming. Islam is evil, our critics said. The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.”

Geller said about this statement:

“I am outraged. This is the disgusting and vile lie of a leading “moderate” Muslim in the US. No one in the oppostion has ever thought of such a thing, let alone said it.”

The “Islam is evil” meme is made regularly.  Here are just a few examples:

— “Islam is of the devil” tee shirts and signs.  Rev. Fred Phelps
— “The Koran presents an evil deity, one who is acknowledged as the author of evil.. “ Rev. John Ankerberg
— “Islam is an evil encroaching on the United States”.  Rev. John Clippard
— “Islam is a vicious evil.”  Rev. Charles Colson
— “Islam, the evil religion”.  Rev. Maury Davis
— “The difference between Israel and the Arab World ... is the difference between good and evil.”  Brigitte Gabriel
— “Islam is evil”.  Rev. Franklin Graham

So that can’t be the “disgusting and vile lie” of Imam Rauf’s that caused Geller such “outrage” as a “blood libel”,  It must have been the next part of the paragraph in which he said that critics had said “The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim”. 

The American Jihad site has an article titled The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim by George M. Weinert V.

Someone named Mr. Machachi has a video on You Tube titled The only Good Muslim is a dead Muslim. Case Closed.

These directly say exactly what Geller claims no one has ever said (or even thought).  And, Geller has posted an article by this George M. Weinert on her site.

Here are just a few such statements that say pretty much the same thing in slightly different words, and that can be turned up by anyone with access to google search in just a few minutes:

Radio host Jav Severin said on air “I’ve got an idea, let’s kill all Muslims.”

Someone named Don Feder has a PDF article online titled KILL ‘EM ALL. LET ALLAH SORT ‘EM OUT.

Rev. Robert Morey on the St. Louis am 630 radio program “The Tim and Al Show” said Let’s bomb Mecca and Medina and that will end Islam.  It will become ‘‘a lame duck’’ without its holy sites.”  Actually, a lot of folks made this same statement in favor of collective punishment.

The War on Jihad site published an article “Winning Muslim Hearts and Minds” which included this statement:

We would be looked upon as uncouth for suggesting that the only language all Muslims understand is that of blood and death and only death can stop them. As long as they survive on this planet, they will be a destabilizing influence and never allow civilized people to breathe freely. There is no hope of transforming the Muslims into a good peace-loving and noble community. As long as a Muslim lives, killing infidels comes to him/her as naturally as does attacking its prey comes to a wild and hungry beast. Muslims are brainwashed to do this by the Quran - the instruction manual of hate and terror. They can never be transformed into good citizens. And so the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim. This is the harsh reality. And so we need to face the seemingly heartless and brutal fact of life that all Muslims need to be given the choice of leaving Islam voluntarily or being put out of harm’s way, i.e. put out of the way from harming anybody else! No other way has the prospect of resolving the Muslim problem across the globe.

There is a website called http://www.deathtoislam.org/ The site lists only two contributors:  “anti islam” – Google News, and Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch.  As I noted in an article about this site, their “about” page includes this However, there are local pockets anti-Islam extremist groups forming in all corners of the globe. Do we endorse them to protect democracy? When it comes down to it the answer is yes. We would rather not see extreme violence against radical Islam but most of the time it is used. Used for a purpose, to save the rights of free people.

After the killing of Osama bin Laden, Debbie Schlussel said: Rot in hell, Osama bin Laden.  One down, 1.8 billion to go ... many of ‘em inside U.S. borders, with the U.S. government at all levels kissing their asses.  Note: Geller has published many of Schlussel’s articles on Atlas Shrugs.

Lawrence Kulak wrote an article which was published in the 5 Towns Jewish Times titled, “The Appropriate Response to Islamic Terror.”  A few quotes from Mr. Kulak’s article:

“Moreover, the only way to deal with Islamic terrorists is the same way in which they deal with their victims. Muslims believe in the literal interpretation of the Biblical doctrine of an eye for an eye, and they do not have respect for anything perceived as a lesser standard of justice. They killed our innocents, and unless we kill theirs, they will go on killing ours.  The Torah, however, preaches a doctrine which, if implemented by the West, could finally put an end to all Islamic terror: If somebody is coming to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” ...  “Any and all collateral damage in the form of casualties to friends, relatives, or anyone connected to the lives of these terrorists should be swiftly ignored.”

Operation Save America whose motto is “Jesus is the standard” wrote  “If we love our brothers and sisters who claim the Name of Christ, we must love them enough to tell them that Islam and Christianity cannot peacefully coexist. They are at war (Genesis 3:15).”

WordPress.com archived/suspended the site bootislam.wordpress.com for the posting of hateful material such as directions on how to properly shoot a Muslim, false bomb threats, and burning mosques.

Robert Spencer posted an article by Roland Shirk on his Jihad Watch site about the Egyptian Revolution.  The article closed with this sentence:  “If I could have Mubarak’s ear, I would whisper just two words of wisdom: Tiananmen Square.”  Clearly a call to violence against the Egyptian people.  That sentence was later removed, presumably after its inexpediency was realised, but you can see a screenshot of the original here thanks to Loonwatch.  As Loonwatch notes: “This is a very serious charge which Spencer must answer. Yes, the offending line has been removed but who uploaded the original article – Spencer or someone else? If not Spencer, then who? And, perhaps most damning of all, why has Roland Shirk continued to post articles on Jihad Watch since calling for the massacre of countless Egyptians as they demonstrated against one of the Middle East’s most brutal regimes?”

In a 2007 interview on Front Page magazine, Spencer said “There will be civil war in Europe,” he says. “The European citizenry, for the most part, are not ready to accept Islamic law and there will be armed conflicts. Across Europe there seems to be one opinion among the elite and one among the people; the mainstream political parties are going to have to start representing this, otherwise they’re going to be shunted aside by the neo-fascists.” ...  “Fascism lasted 25 years, Communism for 75; Islam is 1,400 years old, the imperative to make war against unbelievers is 1,400 years old and they believe they are fighting a 1,400-year-old struggle. And jihad will destroy us if we don’t do anything about it.”

Charles Johnson reported that Spencer had joined a genocidal Facebook group called Campaign for the Reconquista in Anatolia.  As Johnson noted “white nationalists who advocate conquering Turkey and expelling/slaughtering the entire Muslim population—150 million people.”  And, when this was brought out, Spencer claimed that he didn’t know what the group was about when he joined, and was “duped” into joining.  It would be impossible to read anything the group had published without understanding clearly what they were about. 

Pastor Rod Parsley said about Islam: “I do not believe that our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed.” 

In July of 2010 David Horowitz’s News Real Blog published an article by Jeanette Pryor titled It’s Time to Put the Coffee Down and Eradicate Islam in the West.  This article included the passage “It’s time to join the war, not on “terror” (that oh-so soothing illusion,) but on Islam in the West.  Most urgently, we must defend Israel as the frontline in the war against the spread of Islam.” 

Ann Coulter said “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.”

Deborah Pauly, an elected representative in Orange County, California said at a demonstration:  ”What’s going on over there right now, make no bones about it, that is pure unadulterated evil ...  I know quite a few Marines who would be very happy to help these terrorists to an early meeting in Paradise.”  “Over there” was the community center which Muslim families were entering.  I can see no other meaning to Councilwoman Pauly’s statement except that she knows United States Marines who would be happy to kill these men, women, and children because since they are Muslims, they must be terrorists.

“We do not want to reform Islam. We want to eradicate it. Just as cancer cannot be reformed and the only way to cure the patient is to eradicate it, Islam cant be reformed either and it must be eradicated for the world to be saved.”  Ali Sina Note:  Geller has posted many of Ali Sina’s articles, and he sits on the advisory board of SION.

I believe that “Muslim civilization is at war with Judeo-Christian civilization…The Muslim peoples, those committed to Islam as we know it today, are our enemies.”  David Yerushalmi Note:  Yerushalmi is Geller’s lawyer

“We love you Muslims because you are humans like us. We are all related to each other. We are all limbs of the body of mankind. But you are diseased. You are infected by a deadly cult that threatens our lives. Your humanity is destroyed. Like a limb infected by flesh eating disease, now you are a threat to the rest of mankind. We will do everything to save you, to make you see your folly, and to make you understand that you are victims of a gigantic lie, so you leave this lie, stop hating mankind and plotting for its destruction and it domination. But if all efforts fail and if you become a threat to our lives and the lives of our children, we must amputate you.”  Ali Sina

There is a need for an “old fashion [sic] war with wholesale slaughter including indiscriminate death of innocents and babes. down to the last muslim, if necessary.”  John Joseph Jay

Note:  Jay was on the Board of Spencer and Geller’s organization SIOA

I submit, that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf was simply stating what is obvious to any reasonable observer of the current of the climate of Islamophobia prevalent in this country at this time.

I recommend reading Imam Rauf’s article that provoked this vicious response from Pamela Geller.  A Call to All Religious Moderates.  Here is a passage from Imam Rauf’s article:

At some point, we must recognize that the real battlefield in this world is not between Muslims and non-Muslims but between extremists of any stripe and the anti-extremists of all faiths.

We hear very little about the underlying fundamentals of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These are three faiths based on the Abrahamic principle that the purpose of humankind is to praise God and to help each other. The tenets of each religion provide common ground to work out the underlying issues of power and control that actually are at the root of conflict.

Moderate people in the West and the Muslim world understand this. But too often, especially in this time of indiscriminate communication, the moderates have let themselves be hijacked by extremists.

It’s time to build a Global Coalition of the Moderates. This may sound like a wimpy thing, but I can tell you from hard experience, moderation is a dangerous place to be. It takes courage and stamina to stand up to the people who love their megaphones and nurture their hatred.

We must start with this premise: Extremists can never live together in peace. Conflict for them must be eternal. That’s why the Coalition of the Moderates must work together—different religions not just in toleration of each other but in acceptance of each other.

We must use the basic peaceful principles of our religions to overwhelm the extremists. In this way, religion can be part of the solution, not the cause of the problem.

I ask my brothers and sisters of all faiths, especially members of the media, to join hands with me in building that future.

Read what Imam Rauf said, and read what Pamela Geller said - and ask yourself, which worldview best represents the ideals of the United States, and provides hope for a better future for ourselves and for our children?  I pray that the voice of the moderates of all religions is the worldview that prevails.  The extremists will take us nowhere except a very dark place.

UPDATE 6/10/2012

An few interesting developments.  The first is that on the deathtoIslam site is that it no longer lists Jihad Watch as a “contributor” although it is still listed in their blogroll, and doing a site search for the name Robert Spencer, no articles by Spencer come up.

The second is that the American Jihad blog is no longer online.  Going to the site, you only get a notice that “this blog has been removed”.  http://americanjihad.blogspot.com/  The article by George M. Weinert V is no longer available from that site.

The third is that all that still exists on Pamela Geller’s Atlas Shrugs site at the link given is a comment by Weinert that is only a list of Qur’anic verses.

SEE ALSO: Pamela Geller Attempts to Make a Point, Muslims Shrug (SIOA/AFDI/Atlas Shrugs)  http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/pamela_geller_attempts_to_make_a_point