Pamela Geller Announces Contest for the Best Cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad
The anti-Muslim movement is full of publicity hounds and self-described experts on Islam, many of whom try to conceal their bigotry behind a veneer of measured thought.
And then there is Pamela Geller, the Manhattan socialite turned indignant expert on the subject of Islam and jihad. From sponsoring billboards on the side of New York City buses that bordered on called Muslims savages, to her catastrophic warnings regarding the proposed building of a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center towers, Geller has historically been in a league of her own.
And now she’s just outdone herself.
Geller, who runs the website Atlas Shruggs, plans to hold a contest for the best cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. The purpose of the contest is to “defend free speech and not give in to violent [Muslim] intimidation," Geller said in an article posted on Breitbart. According to Jihad Watch, which is run by Geller’s fellow Islamophobe Robert Spencer, the contest has received over 350 submissions.
Under Islamic law, it is expressly forbidden to depict the prophet visually, and Muslims have historically reacted with violence when newspapers or magazines have done so.
Justifying her event, Geller said, “After the Charlie Hebdo massacre — and after the violent Muhammad cartoon riots a few years ago — there should have been cartoon exhibits all over the free world, to show jihadists and their stealth groups … that we will not kowtow to violent intimidation.”
The “winning” submission will be revealed on May 3 and the artist will win $10,000. Geller will also give a$2,500 “People’s Choice Award” during an event at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, where Dutch politician Geert Wilders, best know for his criticism of Islam, will deliver the keynote address.
