An open letter to Pamela Geller

A group of anti-jihad bloggers from Europe and America have written an open letter to Pamela Geller in which they denounce her evidence-free accusation (here at her site, here at Robert Spencer’s site, posted with his “wholehearted” agreement) that the EDL has become a neo-fascist organization; they lament the fact that the left has already picked up on her baseless charges in order to isolate the EDL further; and, finally, they demand that she publicly withdraw her irresponsible and damaging accusation.

It looks as though Pamela, or rather the team of Robert & Pamela, Inc., since in this as in other matters the two have acted as one, have finally gone over the line with their knee-jerk liberalism. But the demand for a withdrawal of the statement is a good and sensible move. Robert & Pamela, Inc. can admit they were wrong and withdraw the statement, and peace be restored. But if they don’t admit they were wrong, that will mean a more-or-less formal split between Robert & Pamela, Inc. and most of the anti-jihad community.

- end of initial entry -

July 1

Rick L. writes:

I want to thank you for adding you name to the letter at Gates of Vienna.

What Geller and Spencer have done is sad and regrettable and does the counter-jihad movement no good.

This is very reminiscent of what happened with the ORIGINAL group of Stop Islamization Of America a couple years ago with Geller and Spencer. I am good friends with the couple who started the Original SIOA and am party to what really happened there. I quit doing much on Geller or Spencer’s sites after this happened with SIOA.

I know Ned and Dymphna at Gates Of Vienna. Stand up honest, ethical and fair folks. A rare find these days. G of V is one of the best sites out there.

I have added your site to my blogroll at Patriot’s Corner and am pleased to find what you have up here.

Most respectfully,
Rick L.

LA replies:

Thank you.

I agree with and support the letter, but I didn’t add my name to it. It would not be appropriate for me to belong to the group of signers. I am a controversial person, who has in effect been expelled from the “respectable” anti-jihad movement, including by some names on the list of signers, particularly, and ironically, for my past criticisms of Pamela Geller’s anti-jihad partner, Robert Spencer. Also, wherever my name crops up in the anti-jihad blogosphere, especially at GoV, personal attacks on me very frequently occur, so it would be both inappropriate and a distraction from the important business at hand for my name to be formally included in the list of signers, though I support their position here.

LA continues:

Also, given my long history of being a critic of Spencer and (less so, but still significantly) of Geller, my presence on the list could be seen as being the expression of my supposed personal agenda against Spencer, and thus be a distraction from the letter’s purpose in that sense as well.

UPDATE, July 1, 2:35 p.m.:

LA writes:

My personal absence from the list of signers has not done the signers any good, at least in Robert Spencer’s eyes. Geller and he have responded—again as a corporate pair—to the open letter, and Spencer dismisses it as nothing but the effusions of jealous people who are willing to tear the anti-jihad movement apart for the pettiest reasons of pure ego—the sort of response Spencer would make to me, and really, with variations, to everyone who has ever criticized him. I can’t think of a single instance in which Spencer has acknowledged that a criticism of himself was made reasonably and in good faith.

Rick L. replies:

I understand your position . I am a rather smallish site (growing) and I am sure I will catch some flak over this at some point. Been there before and will be again.

That said, I am first and foremost a counter-jihadist, anti-Islam and sharia law, and have been since 1979. The threat of this issue becoming a wedge in the counter-jihad movement on a global scale is why I jumped in. I have been on this side before and as I mentioned about SIOA, I just cannot stand to see this happen again on any level. By their letter slamming the EDL, this has now occurred again but it is a different set of circumstances and a different group.

The EDL is the only group standing up to Islam, rampant Muslim immigration and the establishment of sharia law and finance inside England, at least that I know of. The EDL is far from perfect, but what organization is?

Thanks again and what you have up here is quite well done.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 30, 2011 11:34 PM | Send