Southern Poverty Law Center Creates Hit List of ‘Anti-Muslim’ Women
Anti-conservative “hate group watchdog” provides list of “hardline anti-Muslim” women in U.S.
In a new article titled “Women Against Islam,” anti-conservative “hate group watchdog” Southern Poverty Law Center provides a hit list of twelve women it says promote anti-Islamic messages. Among them are Ann Coulter, Pamela Geller, and Laura Ingraham.
In the introduction, the list’s authors, Mark Potok and Janet Smith, say that while the “radical right” has generally been “dominated by men,” some “hardline anti-Muslim women activists” are starting to play prominent roles in drumming up right-wing hatred:
The radical right, and more broadly the political right, has generally been dominated by men. And there are certainly plenty of men in the world of Muslim-bashing activism — men like Robert Spencer, Geller’s partner; David Yerushalmi, who has led the charge against an imaginary plot to impose Shariah religious law in the United States; and a crew of terrorism “experts” who see Islam as the enemy.
But the universe of American anti-Muslim activists is peculiarly dominated by women. They are a mixed bag of bloggers, politicos, authors, TV personalities, radio talk show hosts, and leaders of anti-Muslim organizations. Many of them have other windmills to tilt at, from gay rights to communism to President Obama, but most have increasingly focused on attacking Muslims. That has been even truer in recent months, in the wake of the horrific Islamist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris and the many barbaric murders carried out by the Islamic State.
The list includes Ann Coulter, Pamela Geller, and Laura Ingraham. The other nine the SPLC profiles: Cathie Adams (former chair of Republican Party of Texas), Ann Barnhardt (blogger), Brigette Gabriel (founder of ACT!), Cathy Hinners (former police officer, editor of Daily Roll Call), Clare Lopez (former CIA), Jeanine Pirro (Fox News host), Sandy Rios (American Family Association talk show host), Debbie Schussel (blogger, granddaughter of Holocaust survivors), and Diana West (author and columnist).