Ann Corcoran (activist)

Last updated

Ann Corcoran (born 1950or1951) is an American blogger and political activist known for the anti-refugee and anti-Muslim blogs Refugee Resettlement Watch and Fraud, Crooks, and Criminals. [1] She has worked with several far-right organizations and publications. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Corcoran had her upbringing as a Democrat in a small town in central New Jersey,[ specify ] with an Irish father and a German mother. [2] She has a BS in wildlife biology from Rutgers University and an MS in environmental studies from Yale University. [2] She worked in Washington, D.C., as a lobbyist for the National Audubon Society from 1975 to 1980. [2] With her husband, she had two children of her own, and two adopted children from Vietnam. [2] In 1985, the family bought and moved to a farm near Hagerstown, Maryland. [2]

Views and activities

Corcoran's focus on Muslim immigration was sparked by plans to resettle refugees in her rural county in western Maryland, and she started her blog in 2007. [1] She has maintained that the Muslim concept of hijrah (migration) is a form of jihad to take over the Western world, and warned that the greatest threat to the United States is legal Muslim immigration. [1] She has stated that "Mohammed told his followers to migrate and spread Islam, in order to dominate all the lands of the world ... and that's exactly what they're doing now." [3]

In 2017, a YouTube video of her produced by the Center for Security Policy (CSP) went viral, receiving nearly 3 million views, in which she claimed that refugees are a Muslim plot to colonize the United States, asserting that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is "under the influence of a powerful Muslim supremacist group", the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). [3]

Corcoran has collaborated with Frank Gaffney and the CSP, [1] and ACT for America, [4] and been considered a part of the counter-jihad movement. [3] She has also been associated with white nationalist publications such as VDARE, Social Contract Press [1] and American Renaissance . [4] In 2015, she was cited as an "expert" by Donald Trump, [5] who was given a copy of her book [6] at a CSP national security summit in Iowa where the two briefly met. [2]

She has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League and others of promoting anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. [7] [8] [9] Her description of hijrah as an Islamic doctrine of immigration has previously been seen in the book Modern Day Trojan Horse: The Islamic Doctrine of Immigration by Sam Solomon and Elias Al Maqdisi. [10]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Gaffney</span> American defense policy analyst (born 1953)

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. is an American defense policy analyst who founded the far-right anti-Muslim group, Center for Security Policy (CSP), serving as its first president, and a former presidential appointee under President Ronald Reagan. He has been described as an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist. In the 1970s and 1980s, he worked for the federal government in multiple posts, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy from 1983 to 1987, and seven months as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan administration. He founded the CSP in 1988, serving as its president until 2023 and thereafter as executive chairman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert B. Spencer</span> American anti-Muslim writer and blogger

Robert Bruce Spencer is an American anti-Muslim author and blogger, and one of the key figures of the counter-jihad movement. Spencer founded and has directed the blog Jihad Watch since 2003. In 2010 he co-founded the organization Stop Islamization of America with Pamela Geller.

FrontPage Magazine, also known as FrontPageMag.com, is an American right-wing, anti-Islam political website edited by David Horowitz and published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The site has also been described by scholars and writers as far-right and Islamophobic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for Security Policy</span> US security policy think tank

The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is a US far-right, anti-Muslim, Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The founder and former president of the organization was Frank J. Gaffney Jr.. The current president since January 1, 2023 is Tommy Waller, a former US Marine. CSP sometimes operates under its DBA name Secure Freedom. The organization also operates a public counter-jihad campaign and the website counterjihad.com.

Jihad Watch is an American far-right Islamophobic blog operated by Robert Spencer. A project of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Jihad Watch is the most popular blog within the counter-jihad movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Horowitz Freedom Center</span> Non-profit organisation in the USA

The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a conservative anti-Islam foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time collaborator Peter Collier. It was established with funding from groups including the John M. Olin Foundation, the Bradley Foundation and the Scaife Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop Islamization of America</span> Political advocacy organization

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ACT for America</span> American anti-Muslim advocacy group

ACT for America, also referred to as ACT! for America, founded in 2007, is a US based advocacy group that stands against what it perceives as "the threat of radical Islam" to Americans. The group has been characterized by some media outlets as anti-Muslim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Geller</span> American activist, blogger, commentator

Pamela Geller is an American anti-Muslim, far-right political activist, blogger and commentator. Geller promoted birther conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama, saying that he was born in Kenya and that he is a Muslim.

Refugees of the Syrian civil war are citizens and permanent residents of Syria who have fled the country throughout the Syrian civil war. The pre-war population of the Syrian Arab Republic was estimated at 22 million (2017), including permanent residents. Of that number, the United Nations (UN) identified 13.5 million (2016) as displaced persons, requiring humanitarian assistance. Of these, since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 more than six million (2016) were internally displaced, and around five million (2016) had crossed into other countries, seeking asylum or placed in Syrian refugee camps worldwide. It is often described as one of the largest refugee crises in history.

Counter-jihad, also known as the counter-jihad movement, is a self-titled political current loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, street movements and so on linked by beliefs that view Islam not as a religion but as an ideology that constitutes an existential threat to Western civilization. Consequently, counter-jihadists consider all Muslims as a potential threat, especially when they are already living within Western boundaries. Western Muslims accordingly are portrayed as a "fifth column", collectively seeking to destabilize Western nations' identity and values for the benefit of an international Islamic movement intent on the establishment of a caliphate in Western countries. The counter-jihad movement has been variously described as anti-Islamic, Islamophobic, inciting hatred against Muslims, and far-right. Influential figures in the movement include the bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer in the US, and Geert Wilders and Tommy Robinson in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gatestone Institute</span> American think tank focused on Islamic radicalism.

Gatestone Institute is an American conservative think tank based in New York City, known for publishing articles pertaining to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, specifically with regard to Islamic extremism. It was founded in 2012 by Nina Rosenwald, who serves as its president. John R. Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and former National Security Advisor, was its chairman from 2013 until March 2018. Its current chairman is Amir Taheri. The organization has attracted attention for publishing false or inaccurate articles, some of which were shared widely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Sarsour</span> American Muslim feminist activist

Linda Sarsour is an American political activist. She was co-chair of the 2017 Women's March, the 2017 Day Without a Woman, and the 2019 Women's March. She is also a former executive director of the Arab American Association of New York. She and her Women's March co-chairs were profiled in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Executive Order 13769</span> United States Executive Order limiting refugees from Muslim-majority countries

Executive Order 13769, titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States, labeled the "Muslim ban" by Donald Trump and his supporters and critics alike, and commonly known as such, or commonly referred to as the Muslim travel ban, Trump travel ban, the Trump Muslim travel ban, or the Trump Muslim Immigration Ban, was an executive order by President Trump. Except for the extent to which it was blocked by various courts, it was in effect from January 27, 2017, until March 6, 2017, when it was superseded by Executive Order 13780, a second order sharing the title "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States".

A Muslim immigration ban is a ban, either absolute or from specific nations, on the immigration of Muslims to a specific nation.

Many organizations reacted to the enactment of Executive Order 13769, titled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States," which was an executive order issued by United States President Donald Trump. Domestically, the order was criticized by Democratic and Republican members of Congress, universities, business leaders, major corporations, Catholic bishops, and Jewish organizations. Some 1,000 U.S. diplomats signed a dissent cable opposing the order, setting a record. Public opinion was divided, with initial national polls yielding inconsistent results. Protests against the order erupted in airports and cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff</span> Austrian diplomat and activist

Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff is an Austrian counter-jihad activist, and human rights and free speech advocate. She was the applicant of the hate speech appeal E.S. v. Austria, brought before the European Court of Human Rights, after having been convicted of "disparaging religious doctrines". Before she became involved in the counter-jihad movement, she held positions at the Austrian embassies in Kuwait and Libya, and in the Austrian ministry of foreign affairs.

The International Civil Liberties Alliance (ICLA) is an international counter-jihad organization that was originally founded in 2006, and which has spanned over twenty countries. Central to the organization has been Edward S. May of the Gates of Vienna blog, Alain Wagner and Christine Brim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clare M. Lopez</span> Former CIA officer

Clare M. Lopez is an American former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer who has served as Vice President for Research and Analysis at the Center for Security Policy. She has been described as an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist by HuffPost and other media outlets.

<i>Shariah: The Threat To America</i> 2010 book published by the Center for Security Policy

Shariah: The Threat To America: An Exercise In Competitive Analysis is a 2010 book published by the Center for Security Policy. The report, written by "Team B II", is co-authored by William G. Boykin, Harry Edward Soyster, Henry Cooper, Stephen C. Coughlin, Michael Del Rosso, Frank J. Gaffney Jr., John Guandolo, Clare M. Lopez, Andrew C. McCarthy, Patrick Poole, Joseph E. Schmitz, Tom Trento, J. Michael Waller, R. James Woolsey, Brian Kennedy, James "Ace" Lyons, Christine Brim, David Yerushalmi and Diana West.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Factsheet: Ann Corcoran". Bridge Initiative. Georgetown University. February 16, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Goyette, Jared (April 1, 2016). "How an environmental lobbyist became an influential anti-refugee blogger". The World.
  3. 1 2 3 Beauchamp, Zack (February 2, 2017). "A video claiming refugees are a Muslim plot to colonize America has nearly 3 million views". Vox.
  4. 1 2 "Lauded by Racist Groups, Refugee Resettlement Watch Founder Ann Corcoran Moves Further Right". Southern Poverty Law Center. July 13, 2015.
  5. ↑ Beinart, Peter (November 29, 2017). "Trump's Anti-Muslim Political Strategy". The Atlantic.
  6. ↑ Griswold, Eliza (January 20, 2016). "Why Is It So Difficult for Syrian Refugees to Get Into the U.S.?". The New York Times Magazine.
  7. ↑ Dickrell, Stephanie (April 23, 2015). "Rhetoric professor analyzes refugee speaker". SC Times.
  8. ↑ Hoffman, Meredith (July 13, 2015). "Why Are Republicans So Scared of Syrian Refugees?". Vice.
  9. ↑ "Anti-Immigrant Groups Target Aid for Unaccompanied Minors". Anti-Defamation League. October 21, 2014.
  10. ↑ Dickrell, Stephanie (April 23, 2015). "Fact-checking refugee resettlement activist". SC Times.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.