Stop Islamization of America
Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), also known as the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), is an anti-Muslim, pro-Israel American counter-jihad organization known primarily for its controversial, Islamophobic advertising campaigns. The group has been described as extremist and far-right. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) lists SIOA as an anti-Muslim hate group.
Abbreviation | SIOA |
---|---|
Formation | 2010 |
27-2518993 | |
President | Pamela Geller |
Co-founder | Robert Spencer |
Website | freedomdefense |
Formerly called | American Freedom Defense Initiative |
SIOA was founded in 2010 by its current leaders, Pamela Geller and author Robert Spencer, at the request of Anders Gravers Pedersen, the leader of Stop Islamisation of Europe, of which it is the American affiliate. It has launched ad campaigns in urban public transit systems, including one in New York City opposing Park51, a Muslim community center that had been proposed for Lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center site in 2010. In 2016, they have run public transit advertisements in San Francisco calling for the end of United States security assistance to the Palestinian National Authority.