- Jihad Watch
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Jihad Watch 
URL JihadWatch.org Commercial? No Type of site News and commentary Registration 501(c)(3), non-profit organization Available language(s) English Owner Robert Spencer Created by Robert Spencer and Hugh Fitzgerald Launched September 23, 2003 Revenue Donations Current status Active Jihad Watch is a blog affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which is run independently by American author Robert Spencer.[1][2][3][4][5] It is considered an important platform for the counterjihad movement.[6][7]
According to the website, a theology of violent jihad, which denies non Muslims equality, human rights, and dignity, has been present throughout the history of Islam. Jihad Watch says that it is "dedicated to bringing public attention to the role that jihad theology and ideology plays in the modern world, and to correcting popular misconceptions about the role of jihad and religion in modern-day conflicts."[8] It has been called "Islamophobic" by opponents who say it portrays Islam and it followers in a negative light.[9] Spencer has rebutted that criticism.[10]
Contents
Contributors, surveillance work, and positions
The site features commentary from among others Spencer and contributor Hugh Fitzgerald, Vice President of Jihad Watch.[11]
Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in chief of the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote that
Most of the effective surveillance work tracking jihadi sites is being done not by the FBI or MI6, but by private groups. The best-known and most successful of those are Haganah ... SITE ... and Jihad Watch.[12]
Jihad Watch (or Spencer, as director of Jihad Watch) has been quoted in, among other publications, The New York Times,[13][14] The New York Daily News,[15] The Christian Science Monitor,[16] USA Today,[17] The Daily Mail,[18] and the Toronto Sun.[19]
Jihad Watch has also said that the English Defence League (EDL) "deserve the support of all free people" and described its opponents in Unite Against Fascism as "fascist."[20] Jihad Watch is promoted on the EDL homepage.[21]
Various attempts to block the site based on allegations of "hate speech" have been mostly unsuccessful.[22][23]
Dhimmi Watch
Dhimmi Watch was a blog on the Jihad Watch site, also maintained by Spencer. Articles posted to Dhimmi Watch were archived by several news-gathering agencies and advocacy groups tracking these issues.[24][25][26] As of March 2009, Dhimmi Watch was merged into Jihad Watch.
Criticism
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called Jihad Watch an "Internet hate site" and claimed it is "notorious for its depiction of Islam as an inherently violent faith that is a threat to world peace."[27] Guardian writer Brian Whitaker described Jihad Watch as a "notoriously Islamophobic website",[9] while other critics such as Dinesh D'Souza,[28] Karen Armstrong,[29] and Cathy Young,[30] pointed to what they see as "deliberate mischaracterizations" of Islam and Muslims by Spencer as inherently violent and therefore prone to terrorism.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in her book Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West, wrote that Spencer uses Jihad Watch to spread misinformation and hatred of Islam. She added that he presents a skewed, one-sided, and inflammatory story that only helps to sow the seed of civilizational conflict.[31] The websites Spencer Watch[32] and Loon Watch[33] were founded in reaction to Spencer and the Jihad Watch website and critique the cogency of Spencer's criticisms.
Response to criticism
Spencer has responded to accusations that Jihad Watch is Islamophobic by declaring the term "Islamophobe" a label, "a tool used by Islamic apologists to silence criticism."[10] He says that his work is
dedicated to identifying the causes of jihad terrorism, which of course lead straight back into the Islamic texts. I have therefore called for reform of those texts... I have dedicated Jihad Watch to defending equality of rights and freedom of conscience for all people. That's Islamophobic? Then is the fault in the phobe, or in the Islam?[10]
Funding
Jihad watch has been funded by a variety of individuals and foundations, like Bradley Foundation and Joyce Chernick, wife of Aubrey Chernick.[34] Ken Vogel of Politico wrote that
Though it was not listed on the public tax reports filed by Horowitz's Freedom Center, POLITICO has confirmed that the lion's share of the $920,000 it provided over the past three years to Jihad Watch came from Chernick, whose husband, Aubrey Chernick, has a net worth of $750 million,[35] as a result of his 2004 sale to IBM of a software company he created, and a security consulting firm he now owns.[34] The David Horowitz Freedom Center had a budget of $4.5 million last year, according to its tax filings,[36] of which $290,000 came from the conservative Bradley Foundation, which also gave $75,000 to the Center for Security Policy last year. Horowitz has received an average of $461,000 a year in salary and benefits over the past three years, while Spencer has pulled in an average of $140,000, according to the center's IRS filings.[34][37]
See also
- Dhimmitude
- Faith Freedom International
- Criticism of Islam
- Criticism of Islamism
- Internet Haganah
- The Jawa Report
- The NEFA Foundation
References
- ^ Robert Spencer Joins the David Horowitz Freedom Center, FrontPage Magazine, September 6, 2006
- ^ ROBERT SPENCER Page at Jihadwatch.
- ^ Glenn Beck Transcript, CNN, August 10, 2006
- ^ Glenn Beck Transcript, CNN, October 23, 2006
- ^ Invitation to author upsets Muslims[dead link], Indianapolis Star, March 18, 2007
- ^ Hegghammer, Thomas (24 July 2011). "The Rise of the Macro-Nationalists". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/opinion/sunday/the-rise-of-the-macro-nationalists.html?_r=1. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ "Norway killings put U.S. extremists in spotlight: Report". Associated Press of Pakistan (New York). 25 July 2011. http://ftpapp.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145872&Itemid=39. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ "Jihad Watch". Jihad Watch. March 28, 2010. http://www.jihadwatch.org/why-jihad-watch.html. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ a b Drawn conclusions, The Guardian, February 7, 2006
- ^ a b c "Wikipedia and Robert Spencer". http://www.jihadwatch.org/2008/03/wikipedia-and-robert-spencer.html. Retrieved March 25, 2008.
- ^ "Hugh Fitzgerald: Ten Things to Think When Thinking of Muslim "Moderates"". Jihad Watch. http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/004034.php. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ "The secret history of al Qaeda – Google Books". Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=1jjLvDE5Fy8C&pg=PA137&dq=%22Jihad+Watch%22&lr=lang_en&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a&cd=12#v=onepage&q=%22Jihad%20Watch%22&f=false. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ Lichtblau, Eric (April 2, 2009). "After Attacks, Supporters Rally Around Choice for Top Administration Legal Job". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/us/politics/02koh.html?ref=us.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "ECHOES OF '04. Blasts recall 3–11 train carnage in Madrid". New York: Nydailynews.com. July 8, 2005. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/2005/07/08/2005-07-08_echoes_of__04___blasts_recal.html. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ "Shooting of two soldiers in Little Rock puts focus on 'lone wolf' Islamic extremists / The Christian Science Monitor". CSMonitor.com. June 11, 2009. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2009/0611/p02s01-usju.html/%28page%29/2. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ By Oren DorellUSA TODAY (November 30, 2009). "Usatoday.Com". Usatoday.Com. http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20091130/honorkillings30_st.art.htm. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ "The surprising truth about Rage Boy, America's hated poster-boy of Islamic radicalism | Mail Online". London: Dailymail.co.uk. November 11, 2007. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-492864/The-surprising-truth-Rage-Boy-Americas-hated-poster-boy-Islamic-radicalism.html. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ By Lee-Anne Goodman, THE CANADIAN PRESS (November 5, 2009). "Muslims brace for backlash after gunman ID'ed | World | News". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2009/11/05/11651891-cp.html. Retrieved April 1, 2010.[dead link]
- ^ UK: Fascist "anti-fascists" attack anti-jihad demonstrators. "UK: Fascist "anti-fascists" attack anti-jihad demonstrators". Jihadwatch.org. http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/03/uk-fascist-anti-fascists-attack-anti-jihad-demonstrators.html. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ "EDL". English Defence League. http://www.englishdefenceleague.org/. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
- ^ Unblock Jihad Watch!. "Unblock Jihad Watch!". Jihadwatch.org. http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/017331.php. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ "Banning Jihad Watch". Humanevents.com. http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21439. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ "Monitoring Middle East Studies on Campus". Campus Watch. http://www.campus-watch.org/docs/publication/Dhimmi+Watch. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ "Watch: Covering the War on Terror". Ss790.fusionbot.com. http://ss790.fusionbot.com/cgi-bin/ss_query?keys=dhimmi&sitenbr=81638526&ct=0. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ "Hindu Voice". Hindu Voice. http://www.hinduvoice.net/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi?flavor=archive&id=20070519122337&list=nll. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
- ^ CA Synagogue That Hosted Islamophobe Urged to Invite Muslim Speaker, November 8, 2005 archived version retrieved May 15, 2008
- ^ Dinesh D'Souza (March 2, 2007). "Letting Bin Laden Define Islam". http://newsbloggers.aol.com/2007/03/02/letting-bin-laden-define-islam/.
- ^ "Balancing the Prophet". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/4a05a4a4-f134-11db-838b-000b5df10621.html.
- ^ "The Jihad Against Muslims". http://www.reason.com/news/show/36677.html.
- ^ Benazir Bhutto, Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West, Harper, 2008, p.245-6
- ^ "Robert Spencer Watch". Spencerwatch.com. http://spencerwatch.com/.
- ^ FCW Editorial (August 27, 2009). "Robert Spencer". loonwatch.com. http://www.loonwatch.com/tag/robert-spencer/.
- ^ a b c "Latest mosque issue: The money trail - Kenneth P. Vogel and Giovanni Russonello". Politico.Com. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/41767.html. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "The 50 Wealthiest Angelenos: Aubrey Chernick - #42 | Los Angeles Business Journal". Labusinessjournal.com. 2010-05-24. http://www.labusinessjournal.com/news/2010/may/24/50-wealthiest-angelenos-aubrey-chernick/. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ http://www.politico.com/static/PPM170_100823_horowitzcenter.html
- ^ Sunday (2010-09-05). "Documenting anti Muslim bigotry - Who funds the Islamophobes?". Islamophobia Watch. http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2010/9/5/who-funds-the-islamophobes.html. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
External links
Categories:- Jihad
- Blogs critical of Islam
- Anti-Islam
- Internet properties established in 2003
- 2003 establishments in the United States
- Islamic terrorism
- Opposition to Islam in North America
- American political blogs
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