Crying Islamophobia
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By Bill Maher
The Southern Poverty Law Center has done some great work monitoring hate groups over the years. I certainly wouldn’t want that job. But they also pissed me off when they defamed Maajid Nawaz, who I’ve had as a guest on my show. Maajid works within Islam as a counter-extremist, also a job I wouldn’t want. Because it’s dangerous work and he should be applauded for his efforts. But last time he was on the show, he was fighting the SPLC, which had somehow designated he and his group, the Quilliam Foundation, as “Anti-Muslim Extremists.”
Well, Maajid just won a $3.375 million settlement against the SLPC, which released a statement admitting they had it wrong:
“Mr. Nawaz and Quilliam have made valuable and important contributions to public discourse, including by promoting pluralism and condemning both anti-Muslim bigotry and Islamist extremism.”
“We were able to fight back against the Regressive Left and show them that moderate Muslims will not be silenced.”
I think we all learned something from this: that there's a difference between criticism and bigotry.
