There are a multitude of opinions out there about the Islamic reformist Maajid Nawaz, some positive and some negative. Some commentators admire him for turning against violent Islamic extremism whilst others may wish him to go further and denounce and renounce Islam itself. Some individuals believe that Mr Nawaz is the great hope for the future and an Islam that is genuinely peaceful. On the other hand his critics believe that he has little influence on the generality of the Islamic community in Britain and and only support from the middle class non Muslim ‘wine bar set’.
However there is one thing that Maajid Nawaz cannot be accurately accused of and that is being an ‘anti Muslim extremist.’ He isn’t such a thing and there is zero evidence that I can find that would justify such an accusation. Therefore it is right and proper that Mr Nawaz challenged in court the left wing Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC) over their accusation that he was an ‘anti Muslim extremist’.
Mr Nawaz has gained a settlement of $3.3million against the SPLC after they published a ‘hate groups’ list that included his name among a group of individuals whom the SPLC called ‘anti-Muslim extremists’. The list that his name was included on also had on it the names of peaceful critics of Islam along with other Muslim reformists. This was a smear on the name of Mr Nawaz as it was a smear on the names of some others on the list who were not ‘anti Muslim extremists’ but were merely critics of Islam or those who wished to see Islam reform and modernise. The SPLC treated Mr Nawaz as if he was the same as the sort of people who fire-bomb the homes of innocent Muslims and he was right to sue SPLC in order to clear his name.
For years the SPLC’s stock in trade has been smearing people as ‘far right’, or ‘racist’ or ‘Islamophobe’. They have employed questionable data techniques such as treating local branches of organisations the SPLC has sometimes falsely accused of ‘hatred’ as separate entities. This has given readers of the SPLC’s ‘hate groups list’ a false impression that there were hundreds of KKK-style groups across America when the reality is that genuinely hateful groups make up a minuscule part of the American political scene. The SPLC has used this list, and the subsequent publicity that this list has often garnered as a form of ‘shroud-waving’ activity in order to attract donations from supporters. For years this tactic has worked and it has swelled the coffers of the SPLC to a considerable extent.
But, the victory of Maajid Nawaz against the SPLC marks a major victory for common sense and honesty against an organisation that has smeared, lied and misrepresented its opponents. Whatever ones opinion of Maajid Nawaz, whether you like him or whether you don’t, he should be congratulated for taking on this appalling and dishonest far Left organisation and winning.
Link
Breitbart story on Maajid Nawaz winning his case against the Southern Policy Law Centre.
It’s also indicative of the wealth of SLPC.
Often an organization might have to plead, erm, poverty when faced with such a pay out and at least suggest that their so valuable work might be hit. SLPC don’t seem to be even blinking.
Whatever they might claim to be doing for those in poverty they certainly aren’t spreading the wealth or running on a shoestring on their behalf.
SPLC has been using their admittedly admirable past record of countering the KKK to float phantom ‘haters’ in front of various wealthy liberals and leftists in order to gain funds. They do nothing for poverty and have amassed a massive amount of money gained from scaring liberals with fake ‘nazis’ or by classing those who are primarily opposed to particular ideologies and who are in no way ‘nazis’. Whatever ones opinion of Maajid (and my view is that he may not have much influence in the wider orthodox Muslim community) he’s hit the SPLC where it hurts and encouraged others who have been smeared by the SPLC to go after them in the courts.