I APOLOGIZE TO PAMELA GELLER!

I am SORRY I never believed her when she warned of #CreeepingShariah and that #Muslims were taking over the world.

Even #SantaClaus was caught praying at a #mosque! :-)

All jokes aside:

I am tagging you hoping that you will help me to get the message out — please feel free to share. I am circulating this to debunk her lies about me (one of her supporters appears to have written to both the universities I teach at as well).

As some of you may know, Pamela Geller, who according to hate researchers is “the world’s top Islamophobe,” came to Canada, spoke to her fans and left last week.

I had written an article in the Toronto Star questioning whether we should be welcoming a hate monger to Canada. In response to my article, Pamela Geller published two hit pieces on me which I will not link here (I do not want to increase traffic to her hate-filled website).

She and her supporters claim that I support terrorism, sanction killing Christians and that I do not oppose anti-Semitism.

My record contradicting these outrageous accusations speaks for itself. A search of the archives, even online at The Toronto Star, Express Tribune, Middle East Eye or Al Jazeera, my academic page at SSRN and even my website www.TheMuslimLawyer.com will confirm that her statements about me are false.

I unequivocally deny her concocted claims. I have decided not to commence a defamation action (at this time) to ensure that I do not afford her legitimacy or credibility. Commencing an action against one of the world’s top Muslim haters will only turn her into a martyr with her own hateful followers.

In this instance, it may be preferable to abide by this statement from Turkish thinker Mehmet Murat ildan: “Let the dogs bark, the wolves howl, the lightnings flash and the crows caw, you continue doing your job!” That said I would like to set the record straight so that my quiescence is not construed as acquiescence to her lies and falsehoods. I reiterate here that I unequivocally condemn any and all forms of hate whether it be against Muslims or from Muslims against any other groups, including Christians and Jews.

Her articles against me are nothing more than:

1) passages and quotes extracted from articles and speaking engagements taken out of context or selectively highlighted;

2) accusations arising through guilt by association based on people I have quoted, conferences or events I have spoken at where other controversial figures have participated or speakers have made statements that I don’t agree with fully or partly;

3) Organizations or individuals I have represented or on whose behalf I have advocated for due process and the application of the rule of law;

4) Human rights and civil rights advocacy that I have engaged in over the past three decades;

Here are two clear examples of my position:

1) I have spoken out against anti-Semitism as far back as 1994, as general counsel of the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association, I joined the late Bert Raphael of the Jewish Civil Rights Educational Foundation of Canada (JCREFC) to call for the successful banning of the late Khalid Abdul Muhammad (adviser at the time to Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam) from Canada. I opposed his anti-Semitism. Interestingly, Bert Raphael and the JCREFC worked with the CMCLA and me on other issues of human rights as well.

2) I have also spoken out extensively against rights violations of non-Muslims in Muslim lands, including this piece in the Toronto Star on the lack of basic rights for minorities in Saudi Arabia https://www.thestar.com/…/its-time-to-help-saudi-arabia-res… Earlier this year, I also provided expert testimony to a United States Immigration Court in the case of a Christian who sought asylum in the United States on account of his persecution for his religious beliefs.