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Debbie Schlussel

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Debbie Schlussel (born April 9, 1969) is an American (Detroit, Michigan) attorney, film critic, political commentator, and a blogger who focuses particularly on political Islam. Her writing frequently targets the largely Muslim population of Detroit suburb, Dearborn, Michigan, which she refers to as "Dearbornistan". Her columns are often controversial, specifically those detailing what she considers the unsavory elements of Islam and objectionable activities of prominent American Muslims.

Early life and political career

Schlussel was born in 1969 to a family of Polish Jewish descent. Her maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors 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. 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.

Schlussel received a 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. 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.

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.

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. Her film reviews are posted on Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood website. She was host of The Debbie Schlussel Show between 2002 and 2003 and makes regular television and radio appearances.

A main focus of Schlussel's journalism is exposing 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'.

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. Spurlock did not respond to the article.

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.

  • When suspects in both the Virginia Tech massacre and the Binghamton shootings were initially identified as "Asian," Schlussel claimed that the shooters were "Muslim Pakis," even though Seung-Hui Cho was Korean and Jiverly Wong was Vietnamese.
  • The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee criticized her work in its 2002 Hate Crime report, citing Schlussel's criticism of Darrell Issa after he met with Hezbollah in Syria.
  • 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. When objection was raised, she attacked her critics as well, deriding them as "blind worshippers of Jill Carroll" in need of "LASIK."
  • 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.
  • Schlussel has been cited by progressive media watchdog Media Matters seven times regarding accusations of Schlussel spreading misinformation. Schlussel has responded by calling Media Matters "nazi-collaborators".
  • In her review of Waltz with Bashir Schlussel defended the Sabra and Shatila massacre as justified, denying any Israeli involvement including the findings of the Kahan commission that Ariel Sharon "bears personal responsibility".

Death threats

Schlussel has reported receiving several 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. Another man, Wasil Burki, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. In 2008, Mohamad Fouad "Mike" Abdallah pled guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. § 3553, "Interference with Federally Protected Activities," in connection with two emails he sent to Schlussel threatening to rape and murder her.

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. The accusation against Elzein was reported and commented on by Robert Spencer and other bloggers. The accusation was repeated in FrontPage Magazine and in a letter to U.S. Congressman Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-Mich. 11th), which was published on Capitol Advantage's Congress.org website. Elzein has never been indicted and has not publicly responded to Schlussel's assertions.

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
  3. Gizzi, John "Back from a one-vote loss". Human Events. Jul 31, 1998
  4. "Jayson Blair in a Skirt: Detroit Free Press "Reporter" Fabricates Story", December 12, 2005
  5. "Chutzpah, Inc.: Michigan GOP Recruits Fieger Associate, Trial Lawyer for Supreme Court; Promises Appt. After He Loses", August 24, 2006.
  6. "Endorsements: If You Vote in Michigan, Remember... ", November 6, 2006.
  7. "Schlussel Endorsements Help Decide Michigan Elections", November 8, 2006.
  8. Schlussel, Debbie (2001-10-08). "Radical Islam's Phony Patriotism". Debbie Schlussel. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
  9. Schlussel, Debbie (2005-06-24). "Unreal for 30 Days: A "documentary" on Islam tells a preconceived story". Opinion Journal. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
  10. Balko, Radley (2005-08-16). "Spurlock Food Scare a Super Size Scam". Fox News. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
  11. 2002 Hate Crime report, see "Media Bias and Defamation: Hostile Commentary in Print"
  12. Schlussel, Debbie (2006-01-18). "SICK: Jordan Times on Jill Carroll & Who Deserves Beheading". debbieschlussel.com. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
  13. Schlussel, Debbie (2006-03-30). "So, Anti-American Jill Carroll was Freed..." debbieschlussel.com. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
  14. Jacoby, Jeff (2006-04-05). "Hold that opinion". op-ed. Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
  15. Schlussel, Debbie (2006-04-02). "Premature Articulation: The REAL Jill Carroll for Jimmy Carter Geraghty and Others w/Reading Comprehension Deficiencies". debbieschlussel.com. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
  16. Christensen, Kayte (June 21, 2005). "Want models? Role models? WNBA embodies female athlete". Arizona Republic. Retrieved August 26, 2007.
  17. Debbie Schlussel - Media Matters
  18. Mein Fuhrer, Media Matters: Thanks, Keith Olbermann and Nazi George Soros
  19. http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2009/02/waltz_with_bash.html
  20. Schiff, Ze'ev; Ya'ari, Ehud (1984). Israel's Lebanon War. New York: Simon and Schuster. pp. 283–4. ISBN 0-671-47991-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  21. United States of America v. Robert Mustaq John, Cr. No. 06-854 (E.D.N.Y. December 27, 2006)
  22. "'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)
  23. United States v. Mohamad Fouad Abdallah, No. 2:08-CV-20223 (E.D. Mich. Jun. 26, 2008).
  24. "Lola Elzein: Muslim 'Arab American PAC' Officer Threatens My Life/Family; ICE Official Linked?", June 01, 2006.
  25. "Did a Detroit-area Muslim leader threaten Debbie Schlussel?" Jihad Watch, June 2, 2006.
  26. "So Long Church/State Separation", FrontPage Magazine.com, June 6, 2007.
  27. Letter to Thaddeus G. McCotter (R-Mich. 11th), Congress.org, June 20, 2007.

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