Pamela Geller is confused about what constitutes lies, lies, lies!

by Sheila Musaji


Pamela Geller is beside herself with rage over this article Tony Lloyd’s plea: Don’t let hate preachers into UK by the editor of the Manchester Gazette in Britain.  The article was written about Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer’s plan to go to Britain to attend an EDL rally, and the various groups asking that they be banned from entry into the country (including Tony Lloyd, Greater Manchester’s Police and Crime Commissioner)  as inciters of hate.  See Britain should ban Geller & Spencer, and deport Al-Arefe & Al-Habib for background and details (including updates) on this story.

Here is the particular paragraph from the Manchester Gazette that Geller chooses to focus on: “Geller and Spencer have a long track record of preaching hate. From denying the Bosnian genocide to believing that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim, they and the organisations they represent have sought to cast all Muslims as extremists who Geller and Spencer have a long track record of preaching hate. From denying the Bosnian genocide to believing that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim, they and the organisations they represent have sought to cast all Muslims as extremists who have a secret plot to take over Europe. They even said the children murdered by Anders Breivik in Norway were not innocent victims. They even said the children murdered by Anders Breivik in Norway were not innocent victims.”

Geller attacks the author and the article saying: “And the editor of the Manchester Gazette should be fired. This piece is vile propaganda. I have never said that Obama was a secret Muslim. I have never said “all Muslims as extremists.” I have never said those “murdered by Anders Breivik in Norway were not innocent victims.” This is vicious Goebbels-style lies.  Lies, lies, lies, lies.” 

Let’s look at the facts, and see who is engaging in “vile propaganda”, and “vicious Goebbels-style lies”. 

Actually, Geller has insinuated, and said straight out that President Obama is a Muslim
“President Sarkozy called him “a madman,” “a lunatic.” Perhaps, I don’t know—but one thing is for sure: Hussein is a muhammadan. He ‘s not insane ...........he wants jihad to win. That’s what he is doing. Of course, to the western mind, the rational mind, the logical mind, the American mind, that is insane.” **

In an article promoting the false Obama said he is a Muslim story - Geller said “This is akin to an SS officer getting elected president during WW II. Every country in the free world must be cognizant of such a catastrophic sea change in the leadership of the free world (as witnessed by events over the past year). This changes everything. He took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, and yet he has gone around the world promoting Islam, the sharia (Islamic law). ...  This is devastating news, and yet no media is covering it. A stealth jihad on the White House. Remember, during his campaign, I and others were excoriated for using Obama’s middle name. We were accused of implying he was a crypto-Muslim. We could not discuss his background, his Islamic schooling, his ties to Islam. However, I have meticulously documented his Muslim background in my soon-to-be-released book ... ”  **

Geller has called Obama an “anti-Semite” and “Hitlerian” **, and “The Jihad President” **.  Geller said that “Obama’s reign will go down in the annals of history as the Muslim Brotherhood presidency” **, and that “The White House is mad obsessed with protecting and sanctioning Islamic jihad as it advances in its goal of world domination.” **

Recently, in an attack on the Toronto Board of Rabbis who had called her work anti-Muslim, she said “they can’t find one quote” — and I was able to provide a list of quotes from a previous article discussing claims that Geller and her partner Robert Spencer had made after the Breivik incident.  Here are just a few of those quotes from Geller that can only be seen to paint all Muslims as extremists and to be a broadbrush demonization of all Muslims:

— ”Devout Muslims should be prohibited from military service. Would Patton have recruited Nazis into his army?”
— “Al-Qaeda is a manifestation of devout Islam ... It is Islam.
— “I would like to feel all warm and fuzzy and embrace the moderate Muslim/ meme but they show no evidence of their existence - not in any real number anyway. The only voices of reason in the Muslim world are lapsed Muslims or apostates.
— “Hitler WAS inspired by Islam”
— “Islam is a mental illness”.
— “How dare they use the word “extremists”? That is islamophobic! These are devout Muslims. There are no moderates. There are no extremists. Only Muslims.”
— ”Islam is not a race. This is an ideology. This is an extreme ideology, the most radical and extreme ideology on the face of the earth.” Geller said “I do believe that if you’re a follower of traditional Islam, of pure Islam, then you support jihad.”
— “There is no distinction in the American Muslim community between peaceful Muslims and jihadists. While Americans prefer to imagine that the vast majority of American Muslims are civic-minded patriots who accept wholeheartedly the parameters of American pluralism, this proposition has actually never been proven.”

I have never said those “murdered by Anders Breivik in Norway were not innocent victims.”

The article Shamelessly Attacking the Memory of Norway Terror Victims discusses this claim at length, and discusses many of the articles that Geller wrote or posted about this incident. 

Here is a passage written by Geller in one of those articles:  “But the more that is revealed about that youth indoctrination center, the more grotesque the whole story becomes. Of course, the genocidal leftists will twist what I write here; I am not condoning the slaughter in Norway or anywhere. I abhor violence (except in regard to self defense). But the jihad-loving media never told us what antisemitic [sic] war games they were playing on that island. Utoya Island is a Communist/Socialist campground, and they clearly had a pro-Islamic agenda.  Only the malevolent media could use the euphemism summer camp and get away with it.  The slaughter was horrific. What these kids were being taught and instructed to do was a different kind of grotesque. There is no justification for Breivik’s actions whatsoever. There is also no justification for Norway’s antisemitism and demonization of Israel.”

Geller ignored two claims in the Manchester Gazette Article — denying the Bosnian genocide and a secret plot to take over Europe.  However, both of these claims about Geller are equally true, true, true!

As James Bloodworth reported:  Geller is also a prominent genocide denier. As One Law for All put it in their brilliant report on the far-right, Enemies not Allies:  “Geller has defended Radovan Karadzic, and likened his war crimes trial at The Hague to a ‘Sharia court’. She has also asserted that Bosnian Muslims killed themselves during the conflict in question in order to ‘manipulate media coverage’. Further, Geller has published and endorsed articles by Julia Gorin, which in their criticism of Karadzic’s trial refer to the ‘8000’ Muslims supposedly executed by Serbian forces’ [sic], and place scare quotes around the word ‘genocide’ when discussing Srebrenica.”

Geller strongly promotes Bat Ye’or’s work which focuses on the Eurabia myth, and promotes the ridiculous Muslim demographics plot.

Pamela Geller and her fellow Islamophobes are confused about who are the “brownshirts”, and who are engaging in “vicious Goebbels-style lies”. 

UPDATE 6/26/2013

Geller’s partner, Robert Spencer has now weighed in with British pol Tony Lloyd libels Spencer and Geller, incites hatred and violence.  Spencer attacks the author of the article, and Tony Lloyd who is quoted in the article, calling them “jihad enablers”, telling “Big Lies”, and saying that

“if we get in and are physically attacked while there, it will be due in large part to the demonization and lies of Tony Lloyd.  ...  If anything happens to us in England, the blood will be on his hands.”

  This is curious from someone who so strongly has defended the “fact” that nothing he said could have been responsible for the actions of anyone else.

Spencer also repeats Geller’s claim that they have never said any such things as the article claims.  Again, from Spencer and Geller’s “Defense”: Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing, here are a few Robert Spencer quotes:

— “Islam itself is an incomplete, misleading, and often downright false revelation which, in many ways, directly contradicts what God has revealed through the prophets of the Old Testament and through his Son Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh… For several reasons… Islam constitutes a threat to the world at large.” 
— “I hope there will be some who have the courage to point out that no American official should be taking an oath on the Qur’an, since—as we have been pointing out here for over three years now—there are so many elements of traditional and mainstream Islam that are at variance with our system of government, our Constitution, and our entire way of life. But since that is blandly denied and unexamined by the mainstream media and government officials, it is much more likely that Qur’anic oath-taking will be allowed without any discussion at all.” 
— “I have maintained from the beginning of this site and before that that there is no reliable way to distinguish a “moderate” Muslim who rejects the jihad ideology and Islamic supremacism from a “radical” Muslim who holds such ideas, even if he isn’t acting upon them at the moment. And the cluelessness and multiculturalism of Western officialdom, which make officials shy away from even asking pointed questions, only compound this problem.”
— “It’s absurd” to think that “Islam is a religion of peace that’s been hijacked by ... extremists”
— “The misbegotten term “Islamo-fascism” is wholly redundant: Islam itself is a kind of fascism that achieves its full and proper form only when it assumes the powers of the state.” 
— “I have written on numerous occasions that there is no distinction in the American Muslim community between peaceful Muslims and jihadists. While Americans prefer to imagine that the vast majority of American Muslims are civic-minded patriots who accept wholeheartedly the parameters of American pluralism, this proposition has actually never been proven.”
— “The EDL deserves the support of all free people”
—  “Islam constitutes a threat to the world at large.”  **

Pamela Geller has also posted an attack on the Board of Deputies of British Jews who have posted a statement saying

The Board of Deputies shares with the CST and American Jewish communal bodies including the Anti-Defamation League the very strong and longstanding concerns about the views of people like Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, who are planning to attend the Woolwich EDL march.
 
The Board’s Vice President Jonathan Arkush said: “Our community has no need of their presence here and they would be better advised to have nothing to do with the EDL.

“The Board considers their presence to be deeply unhelpful to community relations and would have no objection if they were not permitted to enter this country.”

Geller says about this statement: “It mimics the inadequate and ill-conceived political action of the Jewish Councils in Germany in the late 1930s and 40s”  and accuses them of “collaboration”. 

This is how these folks operate.  When Jews and others spoke out against their bus ads Geller and Spencer accused them of

“working for our enemies”, “undermining national security”, “enabling Islamic supremacists and jihadists”, “spreading of the Big Lie, Goebbels-like hate propaganda against anyone who dares speak about jihad”, “attempting to enforce Sharia blasphemy laws”, “doing the bidding of annihilationists and Jew haters”, “providing cover for the most brutal and extreme ideology on the face of the earth”, “obfuscating the most lethal threat the free world faces”, “waging jihad”, “self-righteous nudniks”, “standing with those who are oppressing and subjugating their brothers and sisters”, “attempting to suppress our mesage”, “taking their talking points from Islamic supremacists”, “whitewashing Islamic Anti-Semitism”.  They were called “kapos”, “self-hating Jews”, “lackeys”, “media tools”, “quislings”, “craven”, “cowardly”, “knaves”, and “clowns”, “pro-jihad”, “dim bulbs”, “weaselly”, “easy marks for Islamic propagandists”.

See The Islamophobic Attempt to Marginalize American Muslim Civic Participation for examples of hundreds of other such attacks on individuals and organizations.  Here is just the section on their attacks on religious and interfaith leaders:

— Karen Armstrong was attacked by Robert Spencer for speaking at ISNA. — Auburn Seminary and its Center for Multifaith Education, Interfaith Center of New York, Intersections International, Odyssey Networks, Quest, and The Tanenbaum Center and its Religion and Diversity Education Program were accused of being part of a “leftist/Islamic machine”, and setting up “Goebbels-style propaganda websites” producing “jihadist propaganda” by Pamela Geller for an interfaith 9/11 program promoting healing and reconciliation. — The ADL Interfaith Coalition on Mosques was called a “dhimmi-Jew stunt” which was “kowtowing to the Islamic Jihad”. — Abraham Foxman of the ADL was called a “dhimmi Jew” “kowtowing to the Islamic jihad”. — Any Jew who suports, organizes, or fund raises for Pres. Obama was accused of being like Jews who had a gathering in 1933 Berlin in which uniformed Nazis participated. — J Street accused of being “Jewicidal” and “traitors and JINOs” “masquerading as a Jewish organization” for its positions on Israeli policy and the Palestinian issue. — The Los Angeles Jewish Federation were called “Dhimmi Jews” and “Jewicidal, JINOs” by Pamela Geller for not allowing her speak at their offices. — The Pope was accused of “engaging in dawah” for expressing respect for Islam — Cardinal McCarrick was attacked for his friendship with Imam Mohamed Magid — Rabbi Marc Schneier called a “dhimmi Rabbi” for his involvement in Jewish/Muslim dialogue. — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was attacked for signing an interfaith letter on anti-Muslim prejudice. —  Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz was attacked for writing an article against the anti-Sharia movement.  He was accused of “doing the bidding of Islamic supremacist Sharia” and an “enemy” of the Jewish people. 

Pamela Geller is one of the minority in the Jewish community whose motto seems to be Never again (after just one more time)!

UPDATE:  I have just received an email from Hope Not Hate saying that “American anti-Muslim rabble-rousers Pam Geller and Robert Spencer have both been banned from entering the UK.”

They included this photograph

This has been confirmed by the Huffington Post and other publications.  And, Geller has posted a copy of the letter received from the British Home Office under the title Banned in Britain: UK Caves to Jihad.  In her usual “civilized manner” she says about this: “In a striking blow against freedom, the British government has banned us from entering the country. Muhammad al-Arifi, who has advocated Jew-hatred, wife-beating, and jihad violence, entered the U.K. recently with no difficulty. In not allowing us into the country solely because of our true and accurate statements about Islam, the British government is behaving like a de facto Islamic state. The nation that gave the world the Magna Carta is dead.”

Now if the Muslim community can only get the Muslim hate preachers banned/deported or somehow totally sidetracked, that would be wonderful.

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RESOURCES FOR DEALING WITH ISLAMOPHOBIA SUMMARY

The Islamophobia Industry exists and is engaged in an anti-Muslim Crusade.  They have a manifesto for spreading their propaganda, and which states their goal of “destroying Islam — as a culture, a political ideology, and a religion.” They produce anti-Muslim films.  They are forming new organizations and coalitions of organizations at a dizzying speed, not only nationally, but also internationally.   They have formed an International Leadership Team “which will function as a mobile, proactive, reactive on-the-ground team developing and executing confidential action plans that strike at the heart of the global anti-freedom agenda.”

Currently, the Islamophobia Industry is engaged in a full-scale, coordinated,  demonization campaign against American Muslims and Arabs. In just the past few months we have seen a series of inflammatory provocations:    There was the Innocence of Muslims film Titanic, a German satire magazine plans an “Islam” cover article to be published later this month.   Charlie Hebdo, a French satire magazine published an issue with inflammatory cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.   Newsweek published their ‘Muslim Rage’ cover.  Terry Jones held a “trial of Prophet Muhammad”.  SION held a “global” gathering in NYC to plan propaganda strategy.  A group in Toronto publicized a “walk your dog at the mosque” day.   AFDI/SIOA has run a series of anti-Muslim ads on public transportation across the country.   AFDI/SIOA are planning to run 8 more anti-Muslim ads.  There are three more films on Prophet Muhammad in the works by Ali Sina, Mosab Hassan Yousef and Imran Farasat.   They are even bringing their hate messages into public schools.

Daniel Pipes is encouraging publication of “A Muhammad cartoon a day”, and says “So, this is my plea to all Western editors and producers: Display the Muhammad cartoon daily, until the Islamists become accustomed to the fact that we turn sacred cows into hamburger.”.  Pipes joins Daniel Greenfield (aka Sultan Knish) who published an appeal on David Horowitz’ Front Page Magazine Is It Time for ‘Make Your Own Mohammed Movie Month’?.  And, both are following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Pamela Geller, who promoted just such a plan back in 2010 with her promotion of Draw Muhammad Day, even after the cartoonist who drew the first cartoon and suggested the idea, Molly Norris apologized to Muslims and asked for the day to be called off, and American Muslims had issued a defense of free speech.    None of this is surprising as one of the Islamophobes laid out their strategy as “The Muslims themselves have shown us their most vulnerable spot, which is the questionable (though unquestioned) character of the ‘Prophet’ himself. We need to satirise and ridicule baby-bonking Mo until the Muslims fly into uncontrollable tantrums, then ridicule them even more for their tantrums, and repeat the process until they froth at the mouth and steam comes out of their ears.”

The Islamophobia of these folks is very real, it is also strikingly similar to a previous generations’ anti-Semitism, and it has predictable consequences.   The reason that this is so obvious to so many is that rational people can tell the difference between legitimate concerns and bigoted stereotypes.

Sadly, the Islamophobic echo chamber has been aided by some in the Jewish and Christian clergy, and even by some of our elected representatives, particularly in the GOP.

The claim that the Islamophobes are “truth-tellers” and “defenders of freedom” who actually “love Muslims” and have never engaged in “broadbrush demonization” or “advocated violence”, or that nothing that they say could have had anything to do with any act of violence,  are nonsense.  The claim that they are falsely being accused of Islamophobia for no reason other than their legitimate concerns about real issues and that in fact there is not even such a thing as Islamophobia, or their claim that the fact that there are fewer hate crimes against Muslims than against Jews or that some Muslims have fabricated such crimes “proves” that Islamophobia doesn’t exist,  or that the term Islamophobia was made up by Muslims in order to stifle their freedom of speech, or that anti-Muslim bigotry is “not Islamophobia but Islamorealism” are all nonsense. 

These individuals and organizations consistently promote the false what everyone “knows” lies about Islam and Muslims (including distorting the meaning of Qur’anic verses, and distorting the meaning of Islamic terms such as taqiyya, jihad, sharia, etc.).  Islamophobes falsely claim to see “JIHAD” PLOTS everywhere, particularly where they don’t exist.   They, like Muslim extremists, don’t understand the true meaning of the term jihad.  The Islamophobes have uncovered countless examples of “shocking”, non-existent Muslim jihad plots.

Here are just a few ridiculous claims about nonsensical Muslim plots:

An Eid Celebration for Muslim Special Needs Kids was described as a “stealth jihad”.   A children’s page in a newspaper focusing on Eid was described as a toxic propaganda plot.  Joel Hinrichs (a Christian) had a beard and had walked through the parking lot of a campus mosque thus proving that his crime was an example of sudden jihad syndrome.  Leon Alphans Traille, Jr., the Arlington, Virginia Mall Bomber was accused of possible “sudden jihad syndrome” just because he had a beard, obviously, a case of beard jihad.   
Tyler Brehm who carried out the Hollywood shooting jihad was accused of “sudden jihad syndrome” because he shouted something that one witness from the Philippines said he might have shouted “Allahu Akbar”.  This report was not backed up by any other witnesses.  The awful April 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech by a Korean student was also called Islamic jihad because Cho’s father had once worked in Saudi Arabia (before he was married and before Cho was born).    A Muslim doctor had a heart attack and died at the wheel of his car which then crashed into a shopping mall and this was described as “vehicular jihad”.   A Muslim cab driver objected to what he considered pornographic ads on the roof of his cab, and that became a stealth-jihad plot to impose Sharia on America.  Any Muslim who has sued an employer for violation of their rights under the EEOC is engaged in employment jihad, or litigation jihad.  Muslim environmentalists are said to be actually engaged in “civilizational jihad”.  A cartoon series “The 99” aimed at young Muslims was described as “cultural jihad”.  The victims of the terrorist attack of 9/11 included Muslims, they were accused of dying as martyrs in an act of jihad. Muslims hoped to open a Muslim hospital in the U.S. and that was called hospital jihad.

The Islamophobes have uncovered countless examples of “shocking” Muslim jihad plots.  They have uncovered:

bumper sticker jihad — Thanksgiving turkey jihad — paisley scarf jihad — marriage to important men jihad — spit jihad —  fashion jihad — spelling bee jihad — rape jihad — defacing dollar bills jihad — population jihad — creeping Sharia jihad —  mosque building jihad — terror baby jihad — “creeping Sharia” jihad — pedophilia jihad — bus driver prayer jihad — forehead bruise jihad — postage stamp jihad — soup jihad —  banning alcohol jihad — fake hate crimes jihad — piggy bank jihad — tv reality series jihad — handshake jihad — prom jihad — interfaith jihad — Arabic language jihad — public school jihad — religious accommodation jihad — Crescent moon jihad — Christmas tree tax jihad — oath of office jihad — immigration jihad — community fundraiser jihad— public school/madrassa jihad — post office jihad — food jihad — pyramid jihad — crucifixion jihad in Egypt — fireworks jihad — computer donation jihad — civic participation jihad — Olympic “judo” jihad— stealth name jihad— pre-violent jihad — Love jihad — fashion jihad 2 — #MyJihad ad jihad — talk show host jihad — art museum jihad — Halloween jihad — DNC Muslim Prayer Jihad — cat crucifixion jihad in Ghana — Scottish Muslim women’s stealth jihad — anti-democracy jihad — un-neighborly Musims in Paris jihad — jihad on Christopher Columbus — Iranian smallpox jihad — Muslim Christmas grinch jihad — #MyJihad twitter jihad — Muslim takeover of National Parks jihad

 

Nothing is too trivial to escape the eagle eyes of these “defenders of Western civilization” against devious Muslim stealth jihad plots.  Christina Abraham (a Muslim) has a name that is not recognizably Muslim enough and so we have stealth name jihad. And, if a Muslim somewhere is not doing anything at all suspicious, then they are engaged in pre-violent jihad.

Islamophobes generalize specific incidents to reflect on all Muslims or all of Islam.    Islamophobes consistently push demonstrably false memes such as:  - we are in danger from creeping Sharia, - the Muslim population is increasing at an alarming rate, - 80% of American Mosques are radicalized,  -  There have been 270 million victims of “jihad”  -  There have been 17,000+ “Islamic terrorist” attacks since 9/11    - Muslims in government are accused of being Muslim Brotherhood plants, stealth jihadists, and creeping Sharia proponents and should be MARGINALIZED or excluded.  Muslim and Arab organizations and individuals are connected to the infamous Muslim Brotherhood document or the unindicted co-conspirator label, or accused of not condemning Hamas, telling American Muslims not to talk to the FBI, of being “Jew haters”, etc.

When Islamophobes are caught in the act of making up or distorting claims they engage in devious methods to attempt to conceal the evidence. 

Islamophobes do not understand freedom of speech or that freedom of speech does not include freedom from condemnation of that speech and they are quick to call for censorship and repression of speech they don’t like.

There is a reason that many, even outside of the Muslim community see such demonization of Muslims as Islamophobic.  There is a reason that the ADL has stated that Brigitte Gabriel’s Act for America, Pamela Geller & Robert Spencer’s Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA), David Yerushalmi’s Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE)  are “groups that promote an extreme anti-Muslim agenda”.  There is a reason that The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated SIOA as a hate group, and that these individuals are featured in the SPLC reports Jihad Against Islam and The Anti-Muslim Inner Circle.  There is a reason that these individuals and organizations are featured prominently in: — the Center for American Progress reports “Fear Inc.” on the Islamophobia network in America and Understanding Sharia Law: Conservatives skewed interpretation needs debunking. — the People for the American Way Right Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism.  — the NYCLU report Religious Freedom Under Attack:  The Rise of Anti-Mosque Activities in New York State.  — the Political Research Associates report Manufacturing the Muslim menace: Private firms, public servants, and the threat to rights and security.  — The ACLU report Nothing to Fear: Debunking the Mythical “Sharia Threat” to Our Judicial System — in The American Muslim TAM Who’s Who of the Anti-Muslim/Anti-Arab/Islamophobia Industry.   There is a reason that the SIOA’s trademark patent was denied by the U.S. government due to its anti-Muslim nature.   There is a reason that these individuals and organizations are featured in just about every legitimate report on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred. 

See Resources for dealing with Islamophobes for many more reasons that these people cannot be trusted.

Sheila Musaji is the founding editor of The American Muslim (TAM), published since 1989.  Sheila received the Council on American-Islamic Relations 2007 Islamic Community Service Award for Journalism,  and the Loonwatch Anti-Loons of 2011: Profiles in Courage Award for her work in fighting Islamophobia.  Sheila was selected for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims published since 2009 by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan.    Biography  You can follow her on twitter @sheilamusaji ( https://twitter.com/SheilaMusaji )