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Debbie Schlussel (born April 9, 1969) is an American attorney, a political commentator, and a blogger critical towards the what she perceives to be militant Islamist groups in the United States on her website. Her columns are often controversial, specifically regarding elements of Islam and prominent American Muslims.
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Early life and political career
Schlussel was born in 1969 to a family of Polish Jewish descent. Her maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivorscitation needed Her father, H.L. Schlussel, was also the son of immigrants. An ophthalmologist who also served in the army, he has been a major influence in his daughter's life.1 She became active in politics at an early age, joining the National Teenage Republicans and being named the 1987 Outstanding Teenage Republican. She was a Jack Kemp delegate at the 1988 Republican National Convention and has worked on numerous political campaigns.2
Schlussel received her BA from the University of Michigan and later earned a JD and MBA from the University of Wisconsin. While at the University of Michigan, she once appeared on an episode of The Morton Downey, Jr Show that was filmed in Detroit, Mich. In 1990, Schlussel ran for the Republican nomination for the 4th District (Oakland County) of the Michigan House of Representatives. She was defeated by Barbara Dobb by a single vote from around 8500 cast.3 Schlussel has since claimed that voter fraud led to her defeat, making allegations of impropriety against the family of her opponent and the judge who ruled on the issue.4
In 1998, she stood for nomination to the same district (now renamed the 39th) against Marc Shulman. Schlussel has continued to attack Shulman, in particular when he received the Republican nomination for the Michigan Supreme Court and was defeated.567
Professional life and views
Schlussel's columns have been published in the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Jerusalem Post, amongst others. She was host of "The Debbie Schlussel Show" between 2002 and 2003 and makes regular television and radio appearances.
The main focus of Schlussel's journalism is exposing what she considers to be militant segments of American Islamic society. In 1998, she reported undercover from the Islamic Center of America for The Detroit News. According to her account, invited speaker Louis Farrakhan made an incendiary and anti-American speech at the mosque and was greeted by 'frenzied applause and wild cheering'.8
Schlussel achieved some notoriety because of an editorial in the Wall Street Journal accusing Morgan Spurlock (who produced the documentary series "30 Days" and film Super Size Me) of unbalanced and faulty methods in achieving the results for the television show, mirroring many criticisms that some people have of his movie.910 Spurlock did not respond to the article.
Controversy and criticism
Schlussel is often at the center of controversy from a variety of areas, partly because she is highly critical of some American Muslim groups and partly because of her rhetorical style.
- Schlussel often discusses Muslims in her political columns. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee considers her work "racist hate speech" and has a section on her in its 2002 Hate Crime report.11
- During and following the captivity of American journalist Jill Carroll, Schlussel attacked Carroll, alleging that Carroll hated Israel and America, and implying that she sympathized with her captors.1213 When objection was raised,14 she attacked her critics as well, deriding them as "blind worshippers of Jill Carroll" in need of "LASIK." 15
- Schlussel's claim that WNBA player Anna DeForge is a bad role model because she is a lesbian drew criticism from player Kayte Christensen in an Arizona Republic column.16
- Schlussel has been cited by progressive media watchdog Media Matters seven times regarding accusations of Schlussel spreading misinformation17. Schlussel has responded by calling Media Matters "nazi-collaborators"18.
Death threats
Schlussel has reported receiving death threats during her career, and frequently posts them to her website. In January 2007, Robert Mustaq John pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to sending a threatening e-mail message with the caption "Kill all Kikes" and photos of the murder of Daniel Pearl.19 Another man, Wasil Burki, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.20 In 2008 Mohamad Fouad "Mike" Abdallah pled guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. ยง 3553, "Interference with Federally Protected Activities," in connection with two emails he sent to Schlussel threatening to rape and murder her.21
Schlussel has accused Lola Elzein, an officer of the Arab American Political Action Committee, of sending emails threatening to rape and murder members of Schlussel's family. According to Schlussel, the emails were traced back to Elzein's America Online email account.22 The accusation against Elzein was reported and commented on by Robert Spencer and other bloggers.23 The accusation was repeated in FrontPage Magazine24 and in a letter to U.S. Congressman Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-Mich. 11th), which was published on Capitol Advantage's Congress.org website.25 Elzein has never been indicted and has not publicly responded to Schlussel's assertions.
External links
References
- ^ [1] Schlussel, H.L., "One Little Lamb & 3+ Bad Wolves: A Short History of the Mid-East Peace Process", 21 March 2006
- ^ [2] Schlussel, Debbie, "Confessions of an Orthodox Jew", Jewish World Review, 11 August 2000
- ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3827/is_199807/ai_n8822322 Gizzi, John "Back from a one-vote loss". Human Events. Jul 31, 1998
- ^ "Jayson Blair in a Skirt: Detroit Free Press "Reporter" Fabricates Story", December 12, 2005
- ^ http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/08/chutzpah_inc_mi.html "Chutzpah, Inc.: Michigan GOP Recruits Fieger Associate, Trial Lawyer for Supreme Court; Promises Appt. After He Loses", August 24, 2006.
- ^ http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/11/endorsements_if.html "Endorsements: If You Vote in Michigan, Remember... ", November 6, 2006.
- ^ http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/11/schlussel_endor.html "Schlussel Endorsements Help Decide Michigan Elections", November 8, 2006.
- ^ Schlussel, Debbie (2001-10-08). "Radical Islam's Phony Patriotism". Debbie Schlussel. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
- ^ Schlussel, Debbie (2005-06-24). "Unreal for 30 Days: A "documentary" on Islam tells a preconceived story.". Opinion Journal. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
- ^ Balko, Radley (2005-08-16). "Spurlock Food Scare a Super Size Scam". Fox News. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
- ^ 2002 Hate Crime report, see "Media Bias and Defamation: Hostile Commentary in Print"
- ^ Schlussel, Debbie (2006-01-18). "SICK: Jordan Times on Jill Carroll & Who Deserves Beheading". debbieschlussel.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
- ^ Schlussel, Debbie (2006-03-30). "So, Anti-American Jill Carroll was Freed...". debbieschlussel.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
- ^ Jacoby, Jeff (2006-04-05). "Hold that opinion". op-ed. Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
- ^ Schlussel, Debbie (2006-04-02). "Premature Articulation: The REAL Jill Carroll for Jimmy Carter Geraghty and Others w/Reading Comprehension Deficiencies". debbieschlussel.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-19.
- ^ Christensen, Kayte (June 21, 2005). "Want models? Role models? WNBA embodies female athlete". Arizona Republic. Retrieved on August 26, 2007.
- ^ http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/tags/debbie_schlussel
- ^ http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/04/thanks_keith_an.html
- ^ United States of America v. Robert Mustaq John, Cr. No. 06-854 (E.D.N.Y. December 27, 2006)
- ^ http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2007/01/muslim_indicted.html "'Religion of Peace': Muslim Indicted, Another Guilty for Death Threats Against Schlussel", Jan. 27, 2007; United States of America v. Wasil Burki, Case 2:07-cr-20015 (E.D. Mich. 2007)
- ^ United States v. Mohamad Fouad Abdallah, No. 2:08-CV-20223 (E.D. Mich. Jun. 26, 2008).
- ^ http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/06/lola_elzein_ice.html "Lola Elzein: Muslim 'Arab American PAC' Officer Threatens My Life/Family; ICE Official Linked?", June 01, 2006.
- ^ http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/011641.php "Did a Detroit-area Muslim leader threaten Debbie Schlussel?"] Jihad Watch, June 2, 2006.
- ^ "So Long Church/State Separation", FrontPage Magazine.com, June 6, 2007.
- ^ Letter to Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-Mich. 11th), Congress.org, June 20, 2007.
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