Organization blasts “hate group” designation by leftist law center

Almost immediately after another deadly Islamic jihad terror plot involving weapons of mass destruction was thwarted in Dallas, SPLC’s staff released its latest list of hate groups, including Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), a pro-American and pro-Israel, public-interest organization dedicated to educating people about radical Islam and its adherents.

SIOA Executive Director Pamela Geller said in her prepared statement: "It’s outrageous that the SPLC designates a group dedicated to protecting the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and legal equality for all Americans as a ‘hate group.’ The SPLC, instead of standing for those freedoms, is carrying water for the real haters, the real neo-Nazi Jew-haters: the forces of Islamic [supremacy] and jihad.

Geller, who’s also a noted columnist, lecturer and frequent news and talk show guest (Fox News Channel, etc.), went on to state: "The SPLC doesn’t even have a category for Islamic jihadi groups. The greatest threat facing our nation, our people, our world, and they are shilling for them."

SIOA Associate Director Robert Spencer — who is the director of Jihad Watch, a noted journalist and lecturer — pointed out Friday that the Islamic supremacist hate group known as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which the Justice Department designated an  unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case and has had several of its officials convicted of jihad terror activity, is not listed by the SPLC as a hate group.

 "That the SPLC would list SIOA and not CAIR as a hate group shows the hollowness and political motivation of the SPLC’s classifications," Spencer said.

According to a report from the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland
Security: "The Council on American-Islamic Relations and its employees have combined, conspired, and agreed with third parties, including, but not limited to, the Islamic Association for Palestine, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the Global Relief Foundation, and foreign nationals hostile to the interests of the United States, to provide material support to known terrorist organizations, to advance the Hamas agenda, and to propagate radical Islam."

"The Council on American-Islamic Relations, and certain of its officers, directors, and employees, have acted in support of, and in furtherance of, this conspiracy," said the Senate report.

The Washington Times reported in November 2010 that "the Southern Poverty Law Center is a small, hard-left political activist outfit known for promoting a panoply of radical liberal causes. The Center holds itself out as an objective monitor of potentially violent or subversive hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, skinheads and other white supremacists."

"But in recent years — and with increasing abandon — the SPLC has leveraged (abused, really) its rapidly decreasing political capital and waning credibility to target and undermine organizations that, rather than dealing in the business of genuine ‘hate,’ instead pose a direct threat to the advancement of postmodern secular-socialism generally — and to the Democratic Party specifically. … In sum, the SPLC has become an extremist wolf in ‘watchdog’ clothing," the Washington Times pointed out.

Former police detective, military intelligence officer and director of the Society of Professional Investigators, Timothy Burgender tells the Law Enforcement Examiner that the Southern Poverty Law Center is notorious for making outlandish accusations.

"Many members of the news media jump at the chance to read their press releases as if they were real news stories with little, if any, skepticism. These so-called reporters agree with SPLC’s progressive or Marxist views and so they’re more than willing to give an insignificant organization unearned attention," said Det. Burgender.

"My group is a human rights group," Geller said. "And these people are taken seriously? This is the morally inverted state of the world."

Geller added: "The SPLC [executives are] getting well-paid to defame freedom fighters. According to the SPLC’s 990 Form for 2008, the SPLC’s Chief Trial Counsel Morris Dees made a generous $348,420 that year. SPLC President and CEO Richard Cohen was right behind him at $344,490. General Counsel Joseph Levin made $189,166. Legal director Rhonda Brownstein brought in $179,806; CFO Teenie Hutchinson, $155,414. Former Chief Operating Officer Jeff Blancett made $159,301 — that’s right, the former COO. Who is funding this anti-America, anti-Jewish group of subversives?"

"We are going to fight this libelous designation," Geller said, "and continue our struggle to protect human rights for all people. The SPLC has made itself the servant of the most radically intolerant ideology on earth. They’re on the wrong side of history."

SPLC is active in its use of vitriol to tarnish the reputations of some of the most patriotic and pro-Constitution groups such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the Family Research Council, and other conservative or libertarian organizations. 

Yet. SPLC never criticized nor listed CAIR on its web site in spite of the fact that the FBI discovered during a terror financing investigation that CAIR’s founders were part of a Muslim Brotherhood-created Hamas-support network in America. CAIR itself is listed among the network’s entities.

Last year, according to Steve Emerson’sInvestigative Project, a Department of Justice official reported that "no new evidence had emerged that exonerates CAIR from the allegations that it provides financial support to designated terrorist organizations."

Jim Kouri, CPP, formerly Fifth Vice-President, is currently a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a columnist for Examiner.com and New Media Alliance (thenma.org).  In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty. 

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations.  He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.   Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com.   Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc. 

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