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57-491: Stop Islamization of America ( SIOA ), also known as the American Freedom Defense Initiative ( AFDI ), is an anti-Muslim, pro-Israel American counter-jihad organization known primarily for its controversial, Islamophobic advertising campaigns. The group has been described as extremist and far-right . The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) lists SIOA as an anti-Muslim hate group . SIOA

114-640: A Pegida rally in the German city of Dresden. In June 2018, 10,000 protesters attended a " Free Tommy " rally in London. It has been argued by Christopher Othen that, after a fallout following the 2011 Norway attacks, the movement was reinvigorated by events such as the Arab Spring , a series of Islamist terrorist attacks, and the European migrant crisis , and to have influenced the success of Donald Trump in

171-555: A totalitarian political doctrine . The Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League consider Jihad Watch an active hate group due to its "extreme hostility toward Muslims." Guardian writer Brian Whitaker described Jihad Watch as a "notoriously Islamophobic website", while other critics such as Dinesh D'Souza , Karen Armstrong and Cathy Young , pointed to what they see as "deliberate mischaracterizations" of Islam and Muslims by Spencer as inherently violent and therefore prone to terrorism. Benazir Bhutto ,

228-537: A "fifth column", collectively seeking to destabilize Western nations' identity and values for the benefit of an international Islamic movement intent on the establishment of a caliphate in Western countries . Much of the Eurabia literature and Counter Jihad forums describe taqiyya as a manipulative strategy used by moderate Muslims to infiltrate and eventually overthrow society. The movement has been compared to

285-661: A $ 132,000 salary in 2010. Jihad Watch has also received funding from donors supporting the Israeli right , and a variety of individuals and foundations, like Bradley Foundation and Joyce Chernick, wife of Aubrey Chernick. Politico said that during 2008–2010, "the lion's share of the $ 920,000 it [David Horowitz Freedom Center] provided over the past three years to Jihad Watch came from [Joyce] Chernick". In 2015, Jihad Watch received approximately $ 100,000 in revenue, with three quarters of that revenue coming from donations. Articles begin with editorial commentary, then follow usually with

342-1080: A Canadian publisher; Wafa Sultan , a Syrian-American writer; Ali Sina , an Iranian-born Canadian activist; Stefan Herre, a German author of the blog Politically Incorrect ; Mordechai Kedar , an Israeli author; Babu Suseelan, a Hindu activist; Oskar Freysinger , a Swiss politician; Cliff Kincaid , editor of the Accuracy in Media Report; and Ashraf Rameleh the President of Voice of the Copts. Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer are President and Vice President of SION. SION has taken part in hosting international counter-jihad conferences along with other organisations and multiple individual speakers, including in Stockholm, Sweden and New York City in 2012 and in Melbourne, Australia in 2014. Counter-jihad While

399-570: A conspiratorial anti-Muslim agenda under the guise of fighting radical Islam" and "seeks to rouse public fears by consistently vilifying the Islamic faith and asserting the existence of an Islamic conspiracy to destroy 'American' values." In 2011, the Southern Poverty Law Center named SIOA an anti-Muslim hate group , calling it a "propaganda powerhouse" that paints moderate Muslims as radical terrorists . Geller described

456-752: A fundraiser called "Stand With the Prophet in Honor and Respect" at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas . Pamela Geller spearheaded about 1,000 picketers at that event. The Garland Independent School District board president Rick Lambert said in January, "The Culwell Center is available for rental as long as you comply with the law. Because it is a public facility, the district is not allowed to discriminate based upon viewpoint." On May 3, 2015,

513-420: A linked excerpt from a news website. Jihad Watch is one of the world's most popular sites on the subject of terrorism, with more than 6,000 other sites being linked to it. It is the most popular counter-jihad blog. Genocide: Massacres, torture, expulsion: Other incidents: Jihad Watch has widely been described as an anti-Muslim blog. Jihad Watch has been criticized for its portrayal of Islam as

570-522: A manifesto explaining his views which drew heavily on the work of counter-jihad bloggers such as Fjordman . Daniel Pipes argues that a "close reading of his manifesto suggests" that Breivik wanted to discredit and undermine the movement's dedication to democratic change to further Breivik's "dreamed-for revolution" as the only alternative. Breivik has later been identified as a neo-Nazi , and has stated that he had exploited counter-jihad rhetoric in order to protect " ethno-nationalists ", and instead start

627-505: A media drive against what he deemed "anti-nationalist counterjihad"-supporters. Executive director of the Institute of Race Relations , Liz Fekete , has argued that although most of the counter-jihad movement "stops short of advocating violence to achieve their goals", the most extreme parts share much of Breivik's discursive frameworks and vocabulary. She contrasts this with more mainstream counter-jihadists, that warn of Islamisation as

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684-523: A result of naïvety or indecisiveness, whom she identifies as a source of legitimacy for the former. Philosopher Marius Mjaaland has described the role given to Christianity in some parts of the counter-jihad movement and has identified some aspects of the movement's ideology that he says links it to fascism-like conspiracy theories, claiming that the movement draws heavily from the Crusades . Counter-jihad has sought to portray Western Muslims as

741-1272: A second summit, "Counterjihad Brussels 2007", was hosted by the Belgian Flemish-nationalist party Vlaams Belang in the European Parliament building in Brussels, Belgium. This conference has been regarded as a crucial event in the movement's history and featured speakers Bat Ye'or and David Littman followed by "country reports" from delegates Paul Beliën and Filip Dewinter (Vlaams Belang, Belgium), Stefan Herre ( PI blog , Germany), Nidra Poller ( Pajamas Media blog, France), Gerard Batten ( UK Independence Party , UK), Ted Ekeroth ( Sweden Democrats , Sweden), Lars Hedegaard ( International Free Press Society , Denmark), Jens Tomas Anfindsen ( HonestThinking blog, Human Rights Service , Norway), Kenneth Sikorski (Tundra Tabloids blog, Finland), Johannes Jansen (Netherlands), Adriana Bolchini Gaigher (Lisistrata blog, Italy), Traian Ungureanu (Romania), Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff (Austria), Matyas Zmo (Czech Republic), with further speeches by Arieh Eldad ( Moledet , Israel). Patrick Sookhdeo ( Institute for

798-514: Is a threat not just from terrorism carried out by Islamic extremists but from Islam itself. Therefore, by extension, all European Muslims are a threat." Arun Kundnani, in a report published by the International Centre for Counter-terrorism, writes that the counter-jihad movement has evolved from earlier European far-right movements through a shift from race to values as identity markers: "In moving from neo‐Nazism to counter‐jihadism,

855-585: Is also a part of the movement and operates a counter-jihad campaign. In time, a network of formal organisations has been established, with its main centres in Europe and the United States. A transatlantic umbrella organisation, Stop Islamization of Nations (SION) was established in 2012. The International Free Press Society lists representatives from many parts of the counter-jihad spectrum on its board of advisors. Eurabia conspiracy theorist Bat Ye'or

912-471: Is an allegation that European leaders allow a Muslim dominance of Europe, whether by intention or not, through multicultural policies and lax immigration laws . According to Hope not Hate , counter-jihad discourse has replaced the racist discourse of rightwing, populist and nationalist politics in America and Europe "with the language of cultural and identity wars". Toby Archer detects a difference between

969-718: Is in the ascendancy in civil society, is a common sentiment in some circles. One of the first organizations of the counter-jihad movement (CJM), the 910 Group (later renamed to the International Civil Liberties Alliance ) was founded in 2006 and announced on Gates of Vienna , "a principal blog of the CJM since 2004". Its stated purpose was to defend "liberties, human rights, and religious and political freedoms [that] are under assault from extremist groups who believe in Islamist supremacy". In April 2007,

1026-535: Is on the board of advisors, while owner of the blog Gates of Vienna , Edward S. May, serves as outreach co-ordinator on its board of directors. The U.S.-based Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) is led by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer. SIOA has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League of "promot[ing] a conspiratorial anti-Muslim agenda under the guise of fighting radical Islam. The group seeks to rouse public fears by consistently vilifying

1083-475: Is seen as continued reinforcement of the separation of the Muslim population from the wider populous. As strong as the threatening practices of Muslims in descriptions of the counter jihad are images of a powerless Europe in decline and sliding into decadence, unable to resist Islamic takeover. The idea that European culture in particular is in a state of decline, while a spiritually vigorous East represented by Islam

1140-599: The 2016 United States presidential election . The counter-jihad movement has also been seen to have had numerous links with the Trump administration , and to have influenced Trump's ideology . Aspects of the movement has thus been seen to have entered mainstream right-wing politics in the United States, as well as in European countries. Blogs such as Gates of Vienna , Jihad Watch , Atlas Shrugs , Politically Incorrect , and The Brussels Journal are central to

1197-610: The David Horowitz Freedom Center , Jihad Watch is the most popular blog within the counter-jihad movement. The site features commentary by multiple editors, and its most frequent editor is Robert Spencer. It is a project of the David Horowitz Freedom Center . Dhimmi Watch was a blog on the Jihad Watch site, also maintained by Spencer, focusing on alleged outrages by Muslims. The Horowitz Freedom Center has paid Spencer, as Jihad Watch's director,

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1254-606: The English Defence League (EDL) and Pegida . The movement has adherents both in Europe and in North America. The European wing is more focused on the alleged cultural threat to European traditions stemming from immigrant Muslim populations, while the American wing emphasizes an alleged external threat, essentially terrorist in nature. According to academics, conspiracy theories are a key component of

1311-722: The European Union . While the roots of the movement go back after the Iranian Revolution , it did not gain significant momentum until after the September 11 attacks . The authors of Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse describe the movement as heavily relying on two key tactics: The first is arguing that the most radical Muslims – men like Osama bin Laden – are properly interpreting

1368-584: The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who supported the Nazi dictator before and during World War II. In May, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was not required to grant SIOA a trademark registration for its name because it could be disparaging to American Muslims. Geller criticized the ruling, calling it a "complete whitewash" and describing

1425-618: The Pakistani Prime Minister, in her book Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West , wrote that Spencer uses Jihad Watch to spread misinformation and hatred of Islam. She added that he presents a skewed, one-sided, and inflammatory story that only helps to sow the seed of civilizational conflict. Abdel Bari Atwan , the editor-in-chief of the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi , wrote that "Most of

1482-515: The Quran , while peaceful moderate Muslims either do not understand their own holy book or are strategically faking their moderation. The second key tactic is to relentlessly attack individuals and organizations that purport to represent moderate Islam...painting them as secret operatives in a grand Muslim scheme to destroy the West. Benjamin Lee describes the "counter-jihad scene" as one where Europe and

1539-646: The Swiss People's Party , Vlaams Belang , Sweden Democrats , Lega Nord , Alternative for Germany , National Rally of France, Freedom Party of Austria , and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban , while Dutch politician Geert Wilders is the most important figurehead for the movement. In the words of Toby Archer, a scholar of political extremism and terrorism, "Counter-jihad discourse mixes valid concerns about jihad-inspired terrorism with far more complex political issues about immigration to Europe from predominantly Muslim countries. It suggests that there

1596-784: The World Trade Center site in 2010. In 2016, they have run public transit advertisements in San Francisco calling for the end of United States security assistance to the Palestinian National Authority . Genocide: Massacres, torture, expulsion: Other incidents: SIOA describes itself as a human rights organization, promoting freedom of speech , freedom of conscience , and equal rights. The SIOA's ideology has been called Islamophobic by political and historical scholars, news sources, religious leaders, and hate group watchdogs. SIOA opposed

1653-504: The anti-communism of the Cold War . The Southern Poverty Law Center compares both as similar exaggerated threats. "Like the communists that an earlier generation believed to be hiding behind every rock, infiltrated 'Islamist' operatives today are said to be diabolically preparing for a forcible takeover." Jihad Watch Jihad Watch is an American far-right Anti-Islam blog operated by Robert Spencer . A project of

1710-507: The "sharing of ideas between Europeans and Americans and daily linking between blogs and websites on both sides of the Atlantic", and, according to Rasmus Fleischer, "calls for a counterjihad against the supposed Islamisation of Europe ". Two central counter-jihad themes have been identified, namely that Islam and Muslim immigration poses a threat to Western civilisation, and a lack of trust in political "elites", focusing especially against

1767-465: The European and American wings of the movement. The American wing emphasizes an external threat, essentially terrorist in nature. The European wing sees a cultural threat to European traditions stemming from immigrant Muslim populations. While Archer notes that the perceived failure of multi-culturalism is shared across much of the political spectrum, he argues the counter-jihad movement is a particular conservative manifestation of this trend. He acknowledges

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1824-454: The Islamic faith and asserting the existence of an Islamic conspiracy to destroy 'American' values". In 2010, a workgroup dubbed "Team B II" published a report titled Shariah: The Threat To America which has been cited as influencing the movement's discourse and the public's perception. The report was published by the Center for Security Policy . With the election of Donald Trump to

1881-485: The SIOA invited Geert Wilders to an art exhibit in Garland, Texas that offered a $ 10,000 prize for the best cartoon of Muhammad . During the event, a shooting incident occurred. Both gunmen, later identified as ISIL -inspired, were shot and killed by police shortly after the suspects shot a security guard. The SIOA says it spent $ 10,000 on security, and had 40 police officers and private security guards present. The event

1938-657: The SIOA placed advertisements in New York City Subway stations. that juxtaposed images of the September 11 attacks with a quote from the Quran : "Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers." By that time the New York City Transit Authority , had changed its advertising policy to accept what it called "viewpoint advertisements" but to require a disclaimer saying that the Transit Authority did not endorse

1995-655: The SPLC listing as a "badge of honor" and later, in 2015, stated to CNN, "Who designated the SPLC as a legitimate authority? They are a radical leftist group who targets patriots, vets and even GOP presidential candidates. They have never named a jihadi group as a hate group." In July and August 2011, Geller and Spencer were discussed in the media because Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik 's anti-Muslim manifesto quoted Spencer at length, and also cited Geller's blog. According to Heidi Beirich, deputy director of SPLC , Geller and Spencer's writings were "the primary sources for

2052-650: The Study of Islam and Christianity , Barnabas Fund, UK), Dr Marc Cogen (Professor of International Law, Vesalius College, Belgium), Sam Solomon (Islamic Affairs Consultant, Christian Concern ), Robert Spencer ( Jihad Watch , David Horowitz Freedom Center ), Andrew G. Bostom , and Laurent Artur du Plessis. From 2009, the English Defence League (EDL) street movement began holding rallies with thousands of protesters. A March 2012 counter-jihad conference in Denmark drew 200–300 supporters from throughout Europe. Ten times

2109-443: The United States are under threat from an aggressive and politicized Islamic world that is attempting to take over Europe through a process of "Islamification" with the eventual aim of imposing Sharia law . In this process, the threat is characterized by the perceived removal of Christian or Jewish symbols, the imposition of Islamic traditions, and the creation of no-go areas for non-Muslims. The construction of mosques in particular

2166-520: The United States presidency in 2016, it has been claimed that the American wing has achieved some influence in the US administration. This is focused on the influence from Frank Gaffney , President of the Center for Security Policy, and Brigitte Gabriel , President of ACT for America . An umbrella organization, Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), was founded by Anders Gravers Pedersen , who also sits on

2223-509: The advertiser's views. In the fiscal year 2013, the organization disclosed a complete revenue amounting to $ 958,800.00. Employee wages and benefits stood at $ 243,150.00, while the overall operational costs totaled $ 419,652.00. In response to an ad by the American Muslims for Palestine that the SIOA called "Jew-hating", the SIOA sponsored an ad on Washington, D.C., buses with a photograph of Adolf Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini ,

2280-556: The anti-Muslim propaganda that had helped give voice" to Breivik's 1500+ page manifesto. SIOA published a statement jointly with Jihad Watch and Stop Islamisation of Europe condemning Breivik's attack. In 2012, SIOA sponsored ads in the public transit systems of New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago reading, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad ." The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) initially refused to display them. The authority's decision

2337-568: The board of the Stop Islamisation of Nations. and there are affiliated groups in several European countries, among them Stop Islamisation of Denmark and Stop Islamisation of Norway . The English Defence League was a prominent street movement in the United Kingdom, formerly led by Tommy Robinson . The counter-jihad movement has connections to, and has influenced the ideology of European right-wing populist parties such as

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2394-730: The construction of Park51 , originally named Cordoba House, a 13-story Muslim community center proposed for a location two blocks from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan . On May 6, 2010, Geller posted a blog piece calling the building a "monster mosque" and a "stab in the eye of America" and comparing it to the reconsecration of the Hagia Sophia as a mosque by the Ottoman Turks after they conquered Constantinople in 1453. In another blog post, Geller encouraged readers to protest its construction. In July 2010,

2451-493: The counter-jihad current became visible as a movement operating in northwestern Europe with "The UK and Scandinavia Counterjihad Summit", organised by a transatlantic network of anti-Islam bloggers in Copenhagen , Denmark. The conference was hosted by American blogger Edward May, Danish activist Anders Gravers Pedersen , and Danish blogger Exile, and included participants such as Norwegian blogger Fjordman . In October 2007

2508-416: The counter-jihad movement. The movement is also strongly pro- Israel , praising the country as a bastion of Western culture against its surrounding Muslim countries. On a day-to-day level, it seeks to generate outrage at perceived Muslim crimes. Genocide: Massacres, torture, expulsion: Other incidents: Counter-jihad is a radical right-wing movement that operates, according to Toby Archer, via

2565-521: The court as having a politically correct bias. In 2015 the SIOA started a new ad campaign in New York, that included one parody billboard with a quote from Hamas stating 'Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah.' A court judgement in April 2015 ruled that New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority cannot prevent the ads from running on buses. In January 2015 a Muslim group organized

2622-457: The effective surveillance work tracking jihadi sites is being done not by the FBI or MI6, but by private groups. The best-known and most successful of those are [ Internet ] Haganah ... SITE [ Institute ] ... and Jihad Watch." The website was cited 64 times by Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik , who committed the 2011 Norway attacks due to his belief that Muslim immigrants were

2679-408: The movement's conservative defense of human rights and the rule of law but he believes by rejecting progressive policy it rejects much of what Europe is today. The views of the counter-jihad movement have been criticised as a source of support for the anti-Muslim views of individuals inspired to take violent direct action. Anders Behring Breivik , responsible for the 2011 Norway attacks , published

2736-402: The movement. The first official counter-jihad conferences were held in 2007. The movement received considerable attention in 2011 following the lone wolf attacks by Anders Behring Breivik , a neo-Nazi who disguised himself with a manifesto that exploited and extensively reproduced the writings of prominent counter-jihad bloggers, and following the emergence of prominent street movements such as

2793-451: The number of left-wing protesters staged a counter-demonstration. The 2012 conference in Denmark was claimed by its organisers, the EDL, to mark the starting point of a pan-European movement. There have been no official CJM conferences since 2013, pointing to a decline in the original movement. However, a high-point in the European street movement came in January 2015 when 25,000 people attended

2850-589: The organization purchased bus advertising in New York and other American cities promoting a website purporting to advocate for Muslims who wanted to disclaim their religion but who feared they might be killed by other Muslims if they did so. The Council on American-Islamic Relations criticized the premise of the ads, that there were any such Muslims, calling it "a smoke screen to advance [Geller's] long-standing history of anti-Muslim bigotry". The Anti-Defamation League , beginning in 2010, included SIOA in their online resource on extremist groups, saying that it "promotes

2907-410: The roots of the movement go back after the Iranian Revolution , it did not gain significant momentum until after the September 11 attacks . As far back as 2006, bloggers such as Fjordman were identified as playing a key role in forwarding the nascent counter-jihad ideology. Bat Ye'or 's Eurabia conspiracy theory published in her eponymous book in 2005 also played an important factor in influencing

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2964-590: The subway attacking Israel does not excuse the use of attack ads against Muslims." William McGurn , a former speechwriter for George W. Bush , wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal supporting the ads, arguing that "savage" was an appropriate term to describe jihadists, and criticizing "our new political correctness". During the 2012 tax year, the organization reported total revenue of $ 157,870.00, no employee salary or compensation, and total operating expenses of $ 296,044.00. In early January 2013,

3021-627: The transatlantic counter-jihad movement. Notable figures include the editors of these blogs, respectively Edward 'Ned' May (pseudonym Baron Bodissey), Robert Spencer , Pamela Geller , Stefan Herre, and Paul Beliën . Notable writers in the counter-jihad movement are Bat Ye'or , David Horowitz and Fjordman . Think tanks such as the International Free Press Society and the David Horowitz Freedom Center have had an important role in providing funds and establishing international links. The Center for Security Policy

3078-461: The underlying structure of the narrative remains the same." Continuing on this note, he writes that comparing the counter-jihadist worldview to the older, neo-Nazi one, "Muslims have taken the place of blacks and multiculturalists are the new Jews." Cas Mudde argues that various conspiracy theories with roots in Bat Ye'or 's Eurabia are important to the movement. The main theme of these theories

3135-469: Was founded in 2010 by its current leaders, Pamela Geller and author Robert Spencer , at the request of Anders Gravers Pedersen , the leader of Stop Islamisation of Europe , of which it is the American affiliate. It has launched ad campaigns in urban public transit systems, including one in New York City opposing Park51 , a Muslim community center that had been proposed for Lower Manhattan near

3192-593: Was hosted at the Curtis Culwell Center, rented from the Garland Independent School District , which hosted an event in January called "Stand with the Prophet". Stop Islamization of Nations (SION) is an international counter-jihad organization founded in 2012 by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer of SIOA, and Anders Gravers Pedersen of SIOE. Other board members are Debbie Robinson, of Q Society of Australia ; Ezra Levant ,

3249-932: Was ruled unconstitutional by Judge Paul A. Engelmayer of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in July 2012. Judge Engelmayer held that SIOA's ad was "core political speech" protected by the First Amendment . Rabbis for Human Rights , the Sojourners Community , and United Methodist Women all sponsored subway ads countering SIOA's original ad and promoting religious tolerance. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs called SIOA's ad "bigoted, divisive, and unhelpful", and Steve Gutow , its president, said, "The fact that ads have been placed in

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