Difference between revisions of "Pamela Geller"
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| − | + | {{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzPTkFTx98E|400|right|Pamela Geller}}'''Pamela Geller''' (born 1958) is a far-right blogger, a writer for [[Arutz Sheva]], a former journalist for [[Mortimer Zuckerman]]'s ''New York Daily News'', and the former associate publisher of the ''New York Observer''.<ref>[http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Author.aspx/567 Geller profile], Arutz Sheva, accessed 16 August 2010</ref> During the 2008 presidential elections she published a post alleging that Barack Obama was the illegitimate child of the late American Muslim leader Malcolm X<ref>Alex Pareene, [http://gawker.com/5071373/bombshell-obama-malcom-x-love-child Bombshell: Obama Malcolm X Love Child?], ''Gawker'', 30 October 2010</ref> and that he was 'involved with a crack whore'.<ref name=guide> [https://www.splcenter.org/20161025/field-guide-anti-muslim-extremists#executive%20summary Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists],''Southern Poverty Law Center'', October 25, 2016. Accessed 07 November 2016. </ref> She has also alleged that Obama is a secret Muslim.<ref>Daniel Luban and Eli Clifton, [http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45928 POLITICS: US Allies Overlook Dutch Foe of Islam's Far Right Ties], ''Inter Press Service'', 28 February 2009.</ref> At one point PayPal banned Geller's website [[Atlas Shrugs]] on the grounds that her site promotes 'hate' and 'racial intolerance.'<ref>Michael Stone, [http://www.examiner.com/progressive-in-portland/paypal-spanks-pamela-atlas-shrugs-geller-for-hate-speech "PayPal spanks Pamela 'Atlas Shrugs' Geller for hate speech"], Examiner, 13 June 2010</ref><ref>Pamela Geller, [http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/06/paypal-cuts-off-atlas-truth-is-the-new-hate-speech.html "PAYPAL CUTS OFF ATLAS: TRUTH IS THE NEW HATE SPEECH"], Atlas Shrugs, 12 June 2010, accessed on 23 November 2010</ref> | |
She is the co-founder, along with another anti-Muslim colleague [[Robert Spencer]] of the [[American Freedom Defense Initiative]]. | She is the co-founder, along with another anti-Muslim colleague [[Robert Spencer]] of the [[American Freedom Defense Initiative]]. | ||
| − | In February 2015 the British court of appeal upheld a ban by UK home secretary [[Theresa May]] preventing Geller and | + | In February 2015 the British court of appeal upheld a ban by UK home secretary [[Theresa May]] preventing Geller and Spencer from entering the country in June 2013. The two had challenged this ruling in June 2014, represented by barrister [[Arfan Khan]]. <ref> [http://arfankhan.co.uk/news/third-post-title/ Court of Appeal grants permission to appeal in the free speech appeal of Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer], 4 June 2014, accessed 10 February 2015 </ref> |
| − | |||
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
| − | |||
Geller is the ex-wife of a now deceased wealthy luxury car dealer and has no professional or academic training in journalism. She worked for different right-leaning news publications prior to quitting in 1994 to "stay home with her daughters."<ref name=outraged>ANNE BARNARD and ALAN FEUER, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10geller.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all "Outraged, and Outrageous"], New York Times, 8 October 2010</ref> At that point she moved to New York City while being financially supported by her husband. She has admitted that in the wake of 9/11 (which was what prompted her blogging) her most valued news source was the then far right-wing political blog, [[Little Green Footballs]].<ref>JONATHAN DEE, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24Footballs-t.html?_r=1 "Right-Wing Flame War!"], New York Times, 21 January 2010, accessed on 27 October 2010</ref> Former ally and LGF founder [[Charles Johnson]] stated in 2010 that Geller "got her start on the internet by commenting at my site, Little Green Footballs (LGF). She posted more than 6,000 comments at LGF in our earlier days, when our comment moderation policy was much more laissez faire than it is now."<ref>Charles Johnson, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/13/ground-zero-islam "Pamela Geller and the bloggers of hate"], The Guardian, 14 October 2010</ref> Geller also reportedly learned about Islam by reading virulent critics of the religion: | Geller is the ex-wife of a now deceased wealthy luxury car dealer and has no professional or academic training in journalism. She worked for different right-leaning news publications prior to quitting in 1994 to "stay home with her daughters."<ref name=outraged>ANNE BARNARD and ALAN FEUER, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10geller.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all "Outraged, and Outrageous"], New York Times, 8 October 2010</ref> At that point she moved to New York City while being financially supported by her husband. She has admitted that in the wake of 9/11 (which was what prompted her blogging) her most valued news source was the then far right-wing political blog, [[Little Green Footballs]].<ref>JONATHAN DEE, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/magazine/24Footballs-t.html?_r=1 "Right-Wing Flame War!"], New York Times, 21 January 2010, accessed on 27 October 2010</ref> Former ally and LGF founder [[Charles Johnson]] stated in 2010 that Geller "got her start on the internet by commenting at my site, Little Green Footballs (LGF). She posted more than 6,000 comments at LGF in our earlier days, when our comment moderation policy was much more laissez faire than it is now."<ref>Charles Johnson, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/13/ground-zero-islam "Pamela Geller and the bloggers of hate"], The Guardian, 14 October 2010</ref> Geller also reportedly learned about Islam by reading virulent critics of the religion: | ||
:She spent the next year educating herself about Islam, reading [[Bat Ye’or]] a French writer who focuses on tensions over Muslim immigrants in Europe; [[Ibn Warraq]], the pseudonym for a Pakistani who writes about his rejection of Islam; and [[Daniel Pipes]], whom she ultimately rejected because he believes in the existence of a moderate Islam.<ref name=outraged>ANNE BARNARD and ALAN FEUER, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10geller.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all "Outraged, and Outrageous"], ''New York Times'', 8 October 2010</ref> | :She spent the next year educating herself about Islam, reading [[Bat Ye’or]] a French writer who focuses on tensions over Muslim immigrants in Europe; [[Ibn Warraq]], the pseudonym for a Pakistani who writes about his rejection of Islam; and [[Daniel Pipes]], whom she ultimately rejected because he believes in the existence of a moderate Islam.<ref name=outraged>ANNE BARNARD and ALAN FEUER, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10geller.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all "Outraged, and Outrageous"], ''New York Times'', 8 October 2010</ref> | ||
| − | Geller's "closest partner"<ref name=outraged>ANNE BARNARD and ALAN FEUER, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10geller.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all "Outraged, and Outrageous"], New York Times, 8 October 2010</ref> is [[Robert Spencer]] (founder of [[Jihad Watch]]) with whom she has authored a book and co-founded the [[Freedom Defense Initiative]] (which also uses the name [[Stop the Islamization of America]]). She shot to fame after sprouting the roots to the heated debate surrounding [[Park51]]<ref>Justin Elliot, [http://www.salon.com/news/ground_zero_mosque/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/08/16/ground_zero_mosque_origins Ground Zero Mosque Origins], ''Salon'', 16 August 2010</ref> | + | {{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SLTx-jQvlE|320|right|Pamela Geller and AFDI co-founder Robert Spencer}}Geller's "closest partner"<ref name=outraged>ANNE BARNARD and ALAN FEUER, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10geller.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all "Outraged, and Outrageous"], New York Times, 8 October 2010</ref> is [[Robert Spencer]] (founder of [[Jihad Watch]]) with whom she has authored a book and co-founded the [[Freedom Defense Initiative]] (which also uses the name [[Stop the Islamization of America]]). She shot to fame after sprouting the roots to the heated debate surrounding [[Park51]].<ref>Justin Elliot, [http://www.salon.com/news/ground_zero_mosque/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/08/16/ground_zero_mosque_origins Ground Zero Mosque Origins], ''Salon'', 16 August 2010</ref> She labeled it a 'victory mosque' being raised by Muslims on 'conquered land' to celebrate the 9/11 attacks, insinuating without evidence that its financing could have terrorist origins.<ref name=guide> [https://www.splcenter.org/20161025/field-guide-anti-muslim-extremists#executive%20summary Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists],''Southern Poverty Law Center'', October 25, 2016. Accessed 07 November 2016. </ref> She was featured in the media as the ringleader of the opposition, heading rallies and blogging continuously about the issue. |
==Extremism== | ==Extremism== | ||
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On 27 February 2009, Geller co-sponsored a reception for [[Geert Wilders]] at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington DC during the [[Conservative Political Action Conference]]. The other sponsors were the [[David Horowitz Freedom Center]], [[Jihad Watch]] and Dr [[Andrew Bostom]].<ref>Pamela Geller, [http://europenews.dk/en/node/20159 Wilders is coming to America an evening with Geert Wilders], EuropeNews, 23 February 2009</ref> | On 27 February 2009, Geller co-sponsored a reception for [[Geert Wilders]] at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington DC during the [[Conservative Political Action Conference]]. The other sponsors were the [[David Horowitz Freedom Center]], [[Jihad Watch]] and Dr [[Andrew Bostom]].<ref>Pamela Geller, [http://europenews.dk/en/node/20159 Wilders is coming to America an evening with Geert Wilders], EuropeNews, 23 February 2009</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | When it was revealed that white supremacist terrorist [[Anders Breivik]] had cited her 12 times in his manifesto, Geller refused to take responsibility, instead saying that 'If anyone incited him to violence, it was Islamic supremacists.' | ||
==Atlas Shrugs== | ==Atlas Shrugs== | ||
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==Mohammed cartoon contest== | ==Mohammed cartoon contest== | ||
| − | In May 2015 Geller hosted a 'Muhammad Art Exhibit' in Garland, Texas, via her organisation [[American Freedom Defense Initiative]]. Organisers planned to award a $10,000 prize for the 'best caricature of the Prophet Muhammad' and Dutch anti-Islam MP [[Geert Wilders]] spoke at the event. Two armed men believed to have been attempting to kill those inside the building were shot and killed outside the event.<ref>Liam Stack, [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/us/gunmen-killed-after-firing-on-anti-islam-groups-event.html Texas Police Kill Gunmen at Exhibit Featuring Cartoons of Muhammad], New York Times, 3 May 2015</ref> | + | In May 2015 Geller hosted a 'Muhammad Art Exhibit' in Garland, Texas, via her organisation [[American Freedom Defense Initiative]]. Organisers planned to award a $10,000 prize for the 'best caricature of the Prophet Muhammad' and Dutch anti-Islam MP [[Geert Wilders]] spoke at the event. Two armed men believed to have been attempting to kill those inside the building were shot and killed by police outside the event.<ref>Liam Stack, [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/04/us/gunmen-killed-after-firing-on-anti-islam-groups-event.html Texas Police Kill Gunmen at Exhibit Featuring Cartoons of Muhammad], New York Times, 3 May 2015</ref> |
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| + | The incident sparked attempts to repeat the exhibition in Europe, by [[Anders Gravers]]'s of [[Stop Islamisation of Europe]]'s group [[Stop Islamisiringen af Danmark]] and [[Anne Marie Waters]]' British group [[Sharia Watch UK]].<ref>Ewan Palmer, [http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mohammed-cartoon-exhibition-planned-central-london-1508963 Prophet Mohammed cartoon exhibition with Geert Wilders planned for central London], IBTimes, 2 July 2015</ref> The latter was cancelled and the former never materialised.<ref>Jess Denham, [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/london-draw-mohamed-exhibition-cancelled-due-to-real-possibility-people-could-be-killed-10464019.html London 'Draw Mohamed' exhibition cancelled due to 'real possibility people could be killed'], The Independent, 20 August</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | British counterjihad activist [[Alan Ayling]] has reportedly told other UK activists that Geller will fund a Mohammed cartoon campaign | ||
| + | <ref name="HNHCartoonRep"/> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ==Links to EDL== | ||
| + | According to British group [[Hope Not Hate]], Geller is 'personally linked' to both former [[English Defence League]] (EDL) leader [[Stephen Yaxley-Lennon]] (aka Tommy Robinson) and former EDL strategist and funder [[Alan Ayling]] (aka Alan Lake) as well as his close associate who uses the pseudonym [[Kinana Nadir]]. The organisation reports that when Lennon was imprisoned for using a fake passport to travel to a [[Stop Islamization of Nations]] event of hers in New York, she gave $10,000 to 'help his family'.<ref name="HNHCartoonRep">Hope Not Hate[http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk//launch.aspx?eid=c943edb2-0d73-4d9c-98c1-8e27e5e89fee The Muhammed Cartoons: the counter-jihadist plot to ignite a civil war in Britain], Hope Not Hate, July 2015</ref> | ||
| + | In 2013, she and [[Robert Spencer]] were banned from entering the United Kingdom to speak to an [[EDL]] rally, as authorities feared it would mount 'inter-community violence.' <ref name=guide> [https://www.splcenter.org/20161025/field-guide-anti-muslim-extremists#executive%20summary Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists],''Southern Poverty Law Center'', October 25, 2016. Accessed 07 November 2016. </ref> | ||
==Views== | ==Views== | ||
| + | ===Islam=== | ||
| + | "It’s not like Judaism, where you have these different levels of observance... “Islam is Islam. … There’s no way you can be a devout Muslim and not support jihad.”<ref>Doug Chandler, [http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/passions_and_perils_pamela_geller "The Passions (And Perils) Of Pamela Geller"], The Jewish Week, 1 September 2010</ref> | ||
| − | + | In a [[Fox Business]] interview in 2011, she stated: 'Islam … is an extreme ideology, the most radical and extreme ideology on the face of the earth.'<ref name=guide> [https://www.splcenter.org/20161025/field-guide-anti-muslim-extremists#executive%20summary Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists],''Southern Poverty Law Center'', October 25, 2016. Accessed 07 November 2016. </ref> | |
| − | + | ===The Arab language=== | |
| + | In a February 2011 interview on [[Fox Business]]’ ''Follow the Money'', she told the host that Arabic 'is the language of Islam and it is a spearhead of an ideological project that is deeply opposed to the United States of America.' <ref name=guide> [https://www.splcenter.org/20161025/field-guide-anti-muslim-extremists#executive%20summary Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists],''Southern Poverty Law Center'', October 25, 2016. Accessed 07 November 2016. </ref> | ||
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===='Moderate Muslims'==== | ===='Moderate Muslims'==== | ||
| − | |||
ANNE BARNARD Just to be completely clear, so you’re saying if someone is a devout Muslim, meaning if he or she is practicing and believing in the tenets of Islam, they cannot in your view be a political moderate?<br/> | ANNE BARNARD Just to be completely clear, so you’re saying if someone is a devout Muslim, meaning if he or she is practicing and believing in the tenets of Islam, they cannot in your view be a political moderate?<br/> | ||
| Line 45: | Line 55: | ||
::"The implication that [[Vlaams Belang]] is somehow neo-Nazi or racist is salacious," Geller told IPS. "They are the only party in Belgium that is staunchly pro-Israel."<ref>Daniel Luban and Eli Clifton, [http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45928 POLITICS: Dutch Foe of Islam Ignores US Allies' Far Right Ties], Inter Press Service, 28 February 2009.</ref> | ::"The implication that [[Vlaams Belang]] is somehow neo-Nazi or racist is salacious," Geller told IPS. "They are the only party in Belgium that is staunchly pro-Israel."<ref>Daniel Luban and Eli Clifton, [http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45928 POLITICS: Dutch Foe of Islam Ignores US Allies' Far Right Ties], Inter Press Service, 28 February 2009.</ref> | ||
===On Barack Obama=== | ===On Barack Obama=== | ||
| + | In 2010: | ||
::'''Pamela Geller:''' 'It is not enough to fetishize the dead Jews that were murdered in WWII...[we must] make sure that it doesn't happen again. Because a second holocaust is coming. Six million Jews are in the Jewish homeland of Israel. It is now up to you and me to stop -- well -- the anti-Semite in the White House, and his useful idiots in the Congress.' | ::'''Pamela Geller:''' 'It is not enough to fetishize the dead Jews that were murdered in WWII...[we must] make sure that it doesn't happen again. Because a second holocaust is coming. Six million Jews are in the Jewish homeland of Israel. It is now up to you and me to stop -- well -- the anti-Semite in the White House, and his useful idiots in the Congress.' | ||
::'''Robert Spencer:''' 'That's right'.<ref>Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, [http://www.libertiesalliance.org/2010/04/25/pamela-geller-robert-spencer-sioa-stands-with-israel-rally-nyc/ Pamela Geller Robert Spencer, SIOA Stands With Israel Rally NYC], [[International Civil Liberties Alliance]], 25 April 2010</ref> | ::'''Robert Spencer:''' 'That's right'.<ref>Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, [http://www.libertiesalliance.org/2010/04/25/pamela-geller-robert-spencer-sioa-stands-with-israel-rally-nyc/ Pamela Geller Robert Spencer, SIOA Stands With Israel Rally NYC], [[International Civil Liberties Alliance]], 25 April 2010</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | She has also made claims that Obama is 'a third worlder and a coward' who seeks to 'appease his Muslim overlords,' and accused him of being 'a muhammadan' who 'wants jihad to win.' In an April 29, 2011, post on [[Atlas Shrugs]] (now [[PamelaGeller.com]]), she even wrote, 'President Obama is indeed a bastard, literally [referring to the accusation that he is Malcolm X's 'love child] and figuratively.'<ref name=guide> [https://www.splcenter.org/20161025/field-guide-anti-muslim-extremists#executive%20summary Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists],''Southern Poverty Law Center'', October 25, 2016. Accessed 07 November 2016. </ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | She has publicly made accusations that 'Obama has sided with jihadists at every turn,' explaining that 'he sided with Al Qaeda and [the] Muslim Brotherhood in Syria' in a May 2014 interview on [[Fox News]]’ ''Hannity''. | ||
| + | |||
===On Jeffrey Goldberg=== | ===On Jeffrey Goldberg=== | ||
Geller's affinity for Israel is so strong that even staunchly pro-Israel figures like [[Jeffrey Goldberg]] have failed to escape her wrath. She has denounced Goldberg as 'Jihad Jeff'; as a 'Jewicidal Jihadi', and as 'a liar and an asshat, jihad Jeffro'; Goldberg is 'the Jew tool that Obama used to sell his taqiya on Israel. She took her leave with the following message: | Geller's affinity for Israel is so strong that even staunchly pro-Israel figures like [[Jeffrey Goldberg]] have failed to escape her wrath. She has denounced Goldberg as 'Jihad Jeff'; as a 'Jewicidal Jihadi', and as 'a liar and an asshat, jihad Jeffro'; Goldberg is 'the Jew tool that Obama used to sell his taqiya on Israel. She took her leave with the following message: | ||
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===On New York Times=== | ===On New York Times=== | ||
| − | The New York | + | The ''New York Time''s has frequently been accused of one sided coverage on the Israel-Palestine conflict by critics. But for Geller, the paper is not just anti-Israel, indeed it is the 'mother-ship for Jewicidals both foreign and domestic.'<ref name="jg"/> |
===On Ehud Olmert=== | ===On Ehud Olmert=== | ||
Geller wasn't pleased by Ehud Olmert's pronouncements favouring a two state solution. She has labelled him 'Olmurderer' for his offense.<ref name="jg"/> | Geller wasn't pleased by Ehud Olmert's pronouncements favouring a two state solution. She has labelled him 'Olmurderer' for his offense.<ref name="jg"/> | ||
| − | ===On UK Jewish | + | ===On UK Jewish groups=== |
After the [[Community Security Trust]] and some Rabbis advised British Jews against participating in an anti-Muslim rally organized by [[SIOE]], Geller accused them of "aiding and abetting Islamic jihad and Islamic anti-Semitism."<ref>Mark Hosenball, [http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/2010/08/30/mosque-protest-leader-defends-u-k-group-that-clashed-with-riot-police.html N.Y. Anti-Mosque Leader Defends Group That Clashed With British Police], ''Newsweek'', 30 August 2010</ref> | After the [[Community Security Trust]] and some Rabbis advised British Jews against participating in an anti-Muslim rally organized by [[SIOE]], Geller accused them of "aiding and abetting Islamic jihad and Islamic anti-Semitism."<ref>Mark Hosenball, [http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/declassified/2010/08/30/mosque-protest-leader-defends-u-k-group-that-clashed-with-riot-police.html N.Y. Anti-Mosque Leader Defends Group That Clashed With British Police], ''Newsweek'', 30 August 2010</ref> | ||
| Line 69: | Line 85: | ||
:I have researched the EDL and I am comfortable with the EDL. I stand with EDL. They are NOT BNP but the campaign to smear them is relentless. The EDL has my confidence in fighting a global scourge. If, at any time, they take action or do something counter to our fight, I will be first to call them out on it<ref>Pamela Geller, [http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/03/uk-violence-erupts-fascists-uaf-and-muslims-descend-on-patriots-edl-and-police.html UK Violence Erupts: Fascists (UAF) and Muslims Descend on Patriots (EDL) and Police], ''Atlas Shrugs'', 20-March-2010, Accessed 08-September-2010</ref>. | :I have researched the EDL and I am comfortable with the EDL. I stand with EDL. They are NOT BNP but the campaign to smear them is relentless. The EDL has my confidence in fighting a global scourge. If, at any time, they take action or do something counter to our fight, I will be first to call them out on it<ref>Pamela Geller, [http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/03/uk-violence-erupts-fascists-uaf-and-muslims-descend-on-patriots-edl-and-police.html UK Violence Erupts: Fascists (UAF) and Muslims Descend on Patriots (EDL) and Police], ''Atlas Shrugs'', 20-March-2010, Accessed 08-September-2010</ref>. | ||
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==Affiliations, Resources, Contacts, Notes== | ==Affiliations, Resources, Contacts, Notes== | ||
| Line 87: | Line 104: | ||
*Little Green Footballs [http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33462_Pamela_Geller-_Poster_Girl_for_Eurofascists Pamela Geller: Poster Girl for Eurofascists] World | Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 3:37:33 pm PDT, accessed 10 December 2009 | *Little Green Footballs [http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33462_Pamela_Geller-_Poster_Girl_for_Eurofascists Pamela Geller: Poster Girl for Eurofascists] World | Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 3:37:33 pm PDT, accessed 10 December 2009 | ||
*Eli Clifton, [http://www.lobelog.com/cpacs-third-rail/ CPAC’s Third Rail], ''Lobelog.com'', 19 February 2010 | *Eli Clifton, [http://www.lobelog.com/cpacs-third-rail/ CPAC’s Third Rail], ''Lobelog.com'', 19 February 2010 | ||
| + | *Eli Clifton, [http://forward.com/news/324670/why-is-a-mainstream-jewish-charity-fund-bankrolling-pamela-geller/ Why Is a Mainstream Jewish Charity Funding Pamela Geller?], ''Forward'', 21 November 2015 | ||
*Anne Bayard and Alan Feuer, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10geller.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all Outraged and Outrageous], New York Times, 8 October 2010 | *Anne Bayard and Alan Feuer, [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/nyregion/10geller.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all Outraged and Outrageous], New York Times, 8 October 2010 | ||
*Robert Chalmers, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pamela-geller-american-patriot-or-extremist-firebrand-2282486.html Pamela Geller: American patriot or extremist firebrand?], The Independent on Sunday, 15 May 2011. | *Robert Chalmers, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/pamela-geller-american-patriot-or-extremist-firebrand-2282486.html Pamela Geller: American patriot or extremist firebrand?], The Independent on Sunday, 15 May 2011. | ||
Latest revision as of 08:30, 27 July 2017
{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzPTkFTx98E%7C400%7Cright%7CPamela Geller}}Pamela Geller (born 1958) is a far-right blogger, a writer for Arutz Sheva, a former journalist for Mortimer Zuckerman's New York Daily News, and the former associate publisher of the New York Observer.[1] During the 2008 presidential elections she published a post alleging that Barack Obama was the illegitimate child of the late American Muslim leader Malcolm X[2] and that he was 'involved with a crack whore'.[3] She has also alleged that Obama is a secret Muslim.[4] At one point PayPal banned Geller's website Atlas Shrugs on the grounds that her site promotes 'hate' and 'racial intolerance.'[5][6]
She is the co-founder, along with another anti-Muslim colleague Robert Spencer of the American Freedom Defense Initiative.
In February 2015 the British court of appeal upheld a ban by UK home secretary Theresa May preventing Geller and Spencer from entering the country in June 2013. The two had challenged this ruling in June 2014, represented by barrister Arfan Khan. [7]
Contents
Background
Geller is the ex-wife of a now deceased wealthy luxury car dealer and has no professional or academic training in journalism. She worked for different right-leaning news publications prior to quitting in 1994 to "stay home with her daughters."[8] At that point she moved to New York City while being financially supported by her husband. She has admitted that in the wake of 9/11 (which was what prompted her blogging) her most valued news source was the then far right-wing political blog, Little Green Footballs.[9] Former ally and LGF founder Charles Johnson stated in 2010 that Geller "got her start on the internet by commenting at my site, Little Green Footballs (LGF). She posted more than 6,000 comments at LGF in our earlier days, when our comment moderation policy was much more laissez faire than it is now."[10] Geller also reportedly learned about Islam by reading virulent critics of the religion:
- She spent the next year educating herself about Islam, reading Bat Ye’or a French writer who focuses on tensions over Muslim immigrants in Europe; Ibn Warraq, the pseudonym for a Pakistani who writes about his rejection of Islam; and Daniel Pipes, whom she ultimately rejected because he believes in the existence of a moderate Islam.[8]
{{#ev:youtube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SLTx-jQvlE%7C320%7Cright%7CPamela Geller and AFDI co-founder Robert Spencer}}Geller's "closest partner"[8] is Robert Spencer (founder of Jihad Watch) with whom she has authored a book and co-founded the Freedom Defense Initiative (which also uses the name Stop the Islamization of America). She shot to fame after sprouting the roots to the heated debate surrounding Park51.[11] She labeled it a 'victory mosque' being raised by Muslims on 'conquered land' to celebrate the 9/11 attacks, insinuating without evidence that its financing could have terrorist origins.[3] She was featured in the media as the ringleader of the opposition, heading rallies and blogging continuously about the issue.
Extremism
Geller has "defended Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president who died while on trial at The Hague for war crimes, and denied the existence of Serbian concentration camps in the 1990s."[12] She has also allied with "racist extremists in South Africa in promoting a claim that the black population is carrying out a "genocide" of whites."[12] Geller also advocates in favor of the English Defence League which she refers to as "patriotic."[13]
On 27 February 2009, Geller co-sponsored a reception for Geert Wilders at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington DC during the Conservative Political Action Conference. The other sponsors were the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Jihad Watch and Dr Andrew Bostom.[14]
When it was revealed that white supremacist terrorist Anders Breivik had cited her 12 times in his manifesto, Geller refused to take responsibility, instead saying that 'If anyone incited him to violence, it was Islamic supremacists.'
Atlas Shrugs
In 2010 Geller's blog "Atlas Shrugs" averaged about 20,000 visitors a month (spiking on hot topic issues such as the Danish cartoons of Muhammad and Israel's war on Lebanon in 2006)[8] and features Geller's daily "venomous"[8] observations about Islam, Muslims in America, and Middle East politics, often with attached images, some "doctored."[8] The blog's official tagline is: "Evil is made possible by the sanction you give it. Withdraw your sanction."[15] Geller includes endorsements of the blog on her "About" page from Wafa Sultan, John Bolton and Jihad Watch.[15]
Mohammed cartoon contest
In May 2015 Geller hosted a 'Muhammad Art Exhibit' in Garland, Texas, via her organisation American Freedom Defense Initiative. Organisers planned to award a $10,000 prize for the 'best caricature of the Prophet Muhammad' and Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders spoke at the event. Two armed men believed to have been attempting to kill those inside the building were shot and killed by police outside the event.[16]
The incident sparked attempts to repeat the exhibition in Europe, by Anders Gravers's of Stop Islamisation of Europe's group Stop Islamisiringen af Danmark and Anne Marie Waters' British group Sharia Watch UK.[17] The latter was cancelled and the former never materialised.[18]
British counterjihad activist Alan Ayling has reportedly told other UK activists that Geller will fund a Mohammed cartoon campaign [19]
Links to EDL
According to British group Hope Not Hate, Geller is 'personally linked' to both former English Defence League (EDL) leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) and former EDL strategist and funder Alan Ayling (aka Alan Lake) as well as his close associate who uses the pseudonym Kinana Nadir. The organisation reports that when Lennon was imprisoned for using a fake passport to travel to a Stop Islamization of Nations event of hers in New York, she gave $10,000 to 'help his family'.[19]
In 2013, she and Robert Spencer were banned from entering the United Kingdom to speak to an EDL rally, as authorities feared it would mount 'inter-community violence.' [3]
Views
Islam
"It’s not like Judaism, where you have these different levels of observance... “Islam is Islam. … There’s no way you can be a devout Muslim and not support jihad.”[20]
In a Fox Business interview in 2011, she stated: 'Islam … is an extreme ideology, the most radical and extreme ideology on the face of the earth.'[3]
The Arab language
In a February 2011 interview on Fox Business’ Follow the Money, she told the host that Arabic 'is the language of Islam and it is a spearhead of an ideological project that is deeply opposed to the United States of America.' [3]
'Moderate Muslims'
ANNE BARNARD Just to be completely clear, so you’re saying if someone is a devout Muslim, meaning if he or she is practicing and believing in the tenets of Islam, they cannot in your view be a political moderate?
PAMELA GELLER No.
...
ANNE BARNARD What would be a moderate Muslim then?
PAMELA GELLER I think a moderate Muslim is a secular Muslim.[21]
On Vlaams Belang
- "The implication that Vlaams Belang is somehow neo-Nazi or racist is salacious," Geller told IPS. "They are the only party in Belgium that is staunchly pro-Israel."[22]
On Barack Obama
In 2010:
- Pamela Geller: 'It is not enough to fetishize the dead Jews that were murdered in WWII...[we must] make sure that it doesn't happen again. Because a second holocaust is coming. Six million Jews are in the Jewish homeland of Israel. It is now up to you and me to stop -- well -- the anti-Semite in the White House, and his useful idiots in the Congress.'
- Robert Spencer: 'That's right'.[23]
She has also made claims that Obama is 'a third worlder and a coward' who seeks to 'appease his Muslim overlords,' and accused him of being 'a muhammadan' who 'wants jihad to win.' In an April 29, 2011, post on Atlas Shrugs (now PamelaGeller.com), she even wrote, 'President Obama is indeed a bastard, literally [referring to the accusation that he is Malcolm X's 'love child] and figuratively.'[3]
She has publicly made accusations that 'Obama has sided with jihadists at every turn,' explaining that 'he sided with Al Qaeda and [the] Muslim Brotherhood in Syria' in a May 2014 interview on Fox News’ Hannity.
On Jeffrey Goldberg
Geller's affinity for Israel is so strong that even staunchly pro-Israel figures like Jeffrey Goldberg have failed to escape her wrath. She has denounced Goldberg as 'Jihad Jeff'; as a 'Jewicidal Jihadi', and as 'a liar and an asshat, jihad Jeffro'; Goldberg is 'the Jew tool that Obama used to sell his taqiya on Israel. She took her leave with the following message:
- Jihad Jeff Goldberg, from one Jew to another, go to hell. Cuz it's foe shizzle you are going to rot there.'[24]
On New York Times
The New York Times has frequently been accused of one sided coverage on the Israel-Palestine conflict by critics. But for Geller, the paper is not just anti-Israel, indeed it is the 'mother-ship for Jewicidals both foreign and domestic.'[24]
On Ehud Olmert
Geller wasn't pleased by Ehud Olmert's pronouncements favouring a two state solution. She has labelled him 'Olmurderer' for his offense.[24]
On UK Jewish groups
After the Community Security Trust and some Rabbis advised British Jews against participating in an anti-Muslim rally organized by SIOE, Geller accused them of "aiding and abetting Islamic jihad and Islamic anti-Semitism."[25]
On the English Defence League
When asked about the English Defence League on her blog, Geller argued that:
- I have found Paul Ray to be dishonest and duplicitous. I broke with him in 2007 when he tried to strong arm me to support the BNP. He is abusive. And yet has the indecency to say he has many Jewish friends and then cite me for example, years later. He derides the EDL because they threw him out and yet, he had the audacity to start a new group calling it EDL: St German division despite EDL protestations.They asked him repeatedly not to be associated with EDL[26].
She adds:
- I have researched the EDL and I am comfortable with the EDL. I stand with EDL. They are NOT BNP but the campaign to smear them is relentless. The EDL has my confidence in fighting a global scourge. If, at any time, they take action or do something counter to our fight, I will be first to call them out on it[27].
Affiliations, Resources, Contacts, Notes
Affiliations
- EDL - calls it 'the standard bearers of freedom in the UK'.[28]
- Stop Honorcide!
- CounterJihad Brussels Conference
- Freedom Defense Initiative - a frontgroup Geller runs with Robert Spencer to campaign against the so-called Ground Zero Mosque
- Stop the Islamization of America
- Ground Zero Mosque
- Leave Islam Safely
- Abhijit Pandya - described by Geller as 'one of our British solicitors'
Publications
- The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America with Robert Spencer. The 400-page attack on Barack Obama features a foreword by John Bolton and has been endorsed by Geert Wilders, Brad Thor, David Horowitz, Caroline Glick, Mark Steyn, Andrew C. McCarthy.
Resources
- Little Green Footballs Pamela Geller: Poster Girl for Eurofascists World | Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 3:37:33 pm PDT, accessed 10 December 2009
- Eli Clifton, CPAC’s Third Rail, Lobelog.com, 19 February 2010
- Eli Clifton, Why Is a Mainstream Jewish Charity Funding Pamela Geller?, Forward, 21 November 2015
- Anne Bayard and Alan Feuer, Outraged and Outrageous, New York Times, 8 October 2010
- Robert Chalmers, Pamela Geller: American patriot or extremist firebrand?, The Independent on Sunday, 15 May 2011.
Contact
- email: writeatlas@aol.com
- Website: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/ Atlas Shrugs blog
- Address: 1040 1st Avenue PO Box 121 New York NEW YORK 10022.[29]
Notes
- ↑ Geller profile, Arutz Sheva, accessed 16 August 2010
- ↑ Alex Pareene, Bombshell: Obama Malcolm X Love Child?, Gawker, 30 October 2010
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists,Southern Poverty Law Center, October 25, 2016. Accessed 07 November 2016.
- ↑ Daniel Luban and Eli Clifton, POLITICS: US Allies Overlook Dutch Foe of Islam's Far Right Ties, Inter Press Service, 28 February 2009.
- ↑ Michael Stone, "PayPal spanks Pamela 'Atlas Shrugs' Geller for hate speech", Examiner, 13 June 2010
- ↑ Pamela Geller, "PAYPAL CUTS OFF ATLAS: TRUTH IS THE NEW HATE SPEECH", Atlas Shrugs, 12 June 2010, accessed on 23 November 2010
- ↑ Court of Appeal grants permission to appeal in the free speech appeal of Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, 4 June 2014, accessed 10 February 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 ANNE BARNARD and ALAN FEUER, "Outraged, and Outrageous", New York Times, 8 October 2010 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "outraged" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "outraged" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "outraged" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "outraged" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "outraged" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ JONATHAN DEE, "Right-Wing Flame War!", New York Times, 21 January 2010, accessed on 27 October 2010
- ↑ Charles Johnson, "Pamela Geller and the bloggers of hate", The Guardian, 14 October 2010
- ↑ Justin Elliot, Ground Zero Mosque Origins, Salon, 16 August 2010
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chris McGreal, "The US blogger on a mission to halt 'Islamic takeover'", Guardian, 20 August 2010
- ↑ Pamela Geller, UK Violence Erupts: Fascists (UAF) and Muslims Descend on Patriots (EDL) and Police, Atlas Shrugs, 20 March 2010, accessed on 23 November 2010
- ↑ Pamela Geller, Wilders is coming to America an evening with Geert Wilders, EuropeNews, 23 February 2009
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Pamela Geller, "About", Atlas Shrugs, accessed on 23 November 2010
- ↑ Liam Stack, Texas Police Kill Gunmen at Exhibit Featuring Cartoons of Muhammad, New York Times, 3 May 2015
- ↑ Ewan Palmer, Prophet Mohammed cartoon exhibition with Geert Wilders planned for central London, IBTimes, 2 July 2015
- ↑ Jess Denham, London 'Draw Mohamed' exhibition cancelled due to 'real possibility people could be killed', The Independent, 20 August
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Hope Not HateThe Muhammed Cartoons: the counter-jihadist plot to ignite a civil war in Britain, Hope Not Hate, July 2015
- ↑ Doug Chandler, "The Passions (And Perils) Of Pamela Geller", The Jewish Week, 1 September 2010
- ↑ Anne Barnard and Alan Feuer, "Pamela Geller: In Her Own Words", New York Times, 8 October 2010
- ↑ Daniel Luban and Eli Clifton, POLITICS: Dutch Foe of Islam Ignores US Allies' Far Right Ties, Inter Press Service, 28 February 2009.
- ↑ Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller Robert Spencer, SIOA Stands With Israel Rally NYC, International Civil Liberties Alliance, 25 April 2010
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Pamela Geller, Jeffrey Goldberg: Jewicidal Jihadi bends over, submits demands Israel do same, Atlas Shurgs, 18 May 2008
- ↑ Mark Hosenball, N.Y. Anti-Mosque Leader Defends Group That Clashed With British Police, Newsweek, 30 August 2010
- ↑ Pamela Geller, UK Violence Erupts: Fascists (UAF) and Muslims Descend on Patriots (EDL) and Police, Atlas Shrugs, 20-March-2010, Accessed 08-September-2010
- ↑ Pamela Geller, UK Violence Erupts: Fascists (UAF) and Muslims Descend on Patriots (EDL) and Police, Atlas Shrugs, 20-March-2010, Accessed 08-September-2010
- ↑ Pamela Geller, Riots in Dudley, Reports of Muslim Gangs Attacking People ....., Atlas Shurgs, 17 July 2010
- ↑ According to SOIA's registration application submitted on 21 February 2010 to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Serial Number: 77940881)
