30 Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim Hate Groups in America #HummusHaters
With all the anti-Arab bashing we see in the news every week, Arab America is determined to expose those who discriminate against our community. We will recognize those who vilify the positive influence and contributions Arabs have made to the fabric of American society. And we will use hummus as our weapon. By naming those who vilify the Arab American community as #HummusHaters, we can express our culture positively while showing intolerance to bigotry.
BY: Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer and Marissa Ovassapian/Contributing Writer
America has been infected with hate groups since the start of the Civil War in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan was formed. Throughout the country today, Americans are living alongside secret and visible hate groups that target anger and fear towards specific groups of people for no substantiated reasons. Among these groups are anti-Arab and anti-Muslim ones that harbor ill will, aggression, and unjustifiable hate towards Arab Americans.
In Arab America’s pledge to combat negative images and stereotypes of the Arab American community, we have listed each hate group in America that is either blatantly anti-Arab or anti-Muslim. These groups do not represent American values; nor do they represent our community.
Bear in mind that there are groups missing from this list whose messages are not specifically anti-Arab, such as white supremacist and televangelist groups, but are still capable of targeting Arab Americans. This list also only includes those hate groups that officially existed in 2015. There are many groups not mentioned here because they have been stopped by law enforcement or disappeared.
Below is a list of 30 hate groups that are either anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, or both, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. A full map of all hate groups across America can be found at the SPLC website.
California
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 68
1. Jihad Watch is both anti-Arab and anti-Muslim. It targets Arabs and Muslims online, harasses students at schools, and tracks “Islamic terrorism.”
2. David Horowitz Freedom Center is both anti-Arab and anti-Muslim. The foundation blames slavery on “dark-skinned Arabs” and serves to free the Arab world from Islam and “immoral” culture.
3. Islamthreat.com is very anti-Muslim. It exists to prevent the spread of Sharia law in the U.S., the teaching of Islam in schools, and warn readers of the world’s pending doom when Islam comes to “dominate” everyone by force.
4. Bare Naked Islam is also very anti-Muslim. It’s tagline reads: “It isn’t Islamophobia if they really ARE trying to kill you.”
5. Christian Guardians are another anti-Muslim hate group that takes it upon themselves to report on instances of violence that occur in the Arab world. They tell readers to “love your neighbors, but keep an eye on your Muslim neighbors.”
6. European-American Evangelical Crusades are a proselytizing group that concerns itself with the conversion of non-white Christians to their clan. They pretend to regard Christianity with respect, but without any care for Arab and other non-European Christians.
7. What would Muhammad Do? is another group that keeps track of all “Islamic terrorism” in the Muslim world. The group’s website makes a mockery of the Qur’an by claiming that every story in there is true and applicable to all Muslims, regardless of the fact that all the same examples can be found in the bibles, too.
Florida
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 58
8. The Straight Way is another Christian group that attempts to proselytize Muslims and expose the “truth” about Islam to fellow Christians. It’s website boasts many resources that can “help Muslims come to know the true Lord, Jesus Christ.”
9. The United West is an anti-Arab and anti-Muslim group that aims to protect Western civilization from the barbaric non-Christian East.
10. Citizens for National Security disguises itself as an information website that tells the full story about Islam and extremism in the Muslim world. It offers extremely anti-Muslim national security policy proposals that include combatting Sharia law in America.
Georgia
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 39
11. Islam: the Religion of Peace (and a big stack of dead bodies) is an anti-Arab and anti-Muslim group that “keeps track” of deadly terror attacks and the amount of people killed by Muslims and Arabs on their website.
Michigan
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 19
12. American Freedom Law Center is both anti-Arab and anti-Muslim. Its senior counsel is David Yerushalmi, who often defends people accused of discriminating against Arab Americans.
Missouri
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 22
13. Prophet of Doom is anti-Muslim that posted a book on their site full of “information and facts” regarding Islam’s “terrorist dogma, in Muhammad’s own words.”
New York
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 44
14. American Freedom Defense Initiative is an anti-Arab and anti-Muslim group that aims to recruit more “Republican followers” to help with their cause of educating Americans about the imminent threat of “jihad.”
15. Atlas Shrugs is founded and led by Pamela Gellar, who is an anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigot. The purpose of this group was to stop the proposed construction of an Islamic Community Center near the site of the fallen World Trade Center. They campaign against what Gellar terms “creeping Sharia” in the country.
16. Sultan Knish: a Blog by Daniel Greenfield is an anti-Muslim blog that promotes discriminatory articles full of inflammatory rhetoric, all while praising Israel and Zionism.
17. American Defence League is an anti-Muslim group whose mission statement is to “Work to pass legislation to head off all future pro-Islam legislation to head off all future attempts at Islamic law adjudication.”
18. Jewish Political Action Committee (JPAC) is a Hassidic Jewish group that’s anti-Arab and anti-Muslim. It urges community members to protest against advocate for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.
19. Jewish Task Force is a pro-Israeli, anti-Muslim group that only reports negatively on Muslims and Arabs, while labeling anyone who criticizes Israel as “anti-Semitic”.
20.Radio Jihad, also known as Global Patriot Radio, is an anti-Muslim group that strives to educate the world about jihad, Sharia law, and “American exceptionalism.”
Pennsylvania
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 40
21. Shoebat Foundation is extremely anti-Arab. Its founder and leader is Walid Shoebat who urges for America to make a public declaration that Israel has the right to “self-defense” against the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Tennessee
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 41
22. Tennessee Freedom Coalition is an anti-Arab group that “educates” members on the terrors of “Islamic Radicalization”, but states they work on a plethora of issues not related to Islam.
23. Political Islam is an anti-Muslim group that twists the meaning of “Islamophobe” by spreading the word about why it is “right” and “makes sense” to fear Islam.
24. Citizen Warrior is an anti-Muslim group that aims “to oppose Islamization by exposing, marginalizing, and disempowering orthodox Islam.” They post prejudiced pictures and cartoon on their social media pages.
Texas
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 84
25. Bureau on American Islamic Relations is an anti-Muslim group known for staging armed protests outside of mosques and publicly burning qur’ans. The group’s Facebook page is riddled with images of deadly weapons and Islamophobic propaganda.
26. Stop the Islamization of America is an anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian hate group founded by well-known bigots, Pamela Gellar and Robert Spencer. The group frequently petitions lawmakers to stop sending aid to the Palestinian Authority, while also asking them to sign anti-Sharia laws.
Virginia
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 32
27. Christian Action Network is a very anti-Muslim, fear mongering group that has published a book and movie titled “The United States: A Christian Nation”. They post many hate filled entries on their website that mocks Muslims.
28. ACT for America is both anti-Muslim and anti-Arab. The group recruits and trains small militias in each of their chapters to help “protect” against Arabs and Muslims, while also pushing for legislation aimed at keeping refugees out of the U.S.
Washington
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the state: 8
29. Faith Freedom is an extremely anti-Muslim hate group run by Eric Bell, who preaches his hatred of Islam by posting Quranic verses and twisting them into violent propaganda.
Washington, DC
Image Credit: Southern Poverty Law CenterTotal number of hate groups in the district: 18
30. Center for Security Policy is a think tank known for disemminating conspiracy theories about Muslims, Muslim groups, and liberal organizations. They believe that Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood are controlling many prominent members of American politics, which is false.