Muslim reformer Maajid Nawaz is right to sue the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), America’s leading hate group, for defamation. However, he is not opening up his suit to all those similarly defamed by the SPLC, because as he has made clear in the past, he thinks some of the people listed do deserve to be on it; in his view they’re racist, bigoted Islamophobes, you see, while he is a legitimate critic of Islam.

Nawaz has never bothered to explain why his criticism of Islam and jihad is good and right, while mine is racist and bigoted, but it appears clear that the answer lies more in the realm of politics than religion. Nawaz supports Muslim Brotherhood-linked Congressman Keith Ellison and other hard Leftists; he opposes Trump and all other politicians who actually propose to do something effective about the jihad threat that he acknowledges. Apparently, if you’re not on the Left but recognize the problems involved with jihad and Sharia, Nawaz thinks you’re a racist, bigoted Islamophobe, while if you’re a Leftist who see those problems, you’re a sober and careful critic of Islam.

Besides this nonsense, Nawaz is also a towering hypocrite. He is suing the SPLC for defamation? Great idea. Julia Ebner of Nawaz’s Quilliam Foundation smeared Pamela Geller and me as “alt-right leaders” — Leftist dog-whistle for racist and anti-Semitic. Nawaz, Ebner, and everyone else at Quilliam ignored my repeated requests for a retraction.

So Nawaz is angry about the SPLC’s defamation while his organization knowingly and unapologetically engages in a very similar kind of defamation itself. He is suing SPLC? Great. If I had the time and resources to devote to this, I would sue Maajid Nawaz, in exactly the same way.

“Maajid Nawaz: I’m Suing the SPLC for Defamation for Putting Me on Anti-Muslim Extremist List,” by Ian Hanchett, Breitbart, June 23, 2017: