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Anti-Defamation League classifies OK sign as “Hate Symbol,” Islamic State one-finger salute still OK

Sep 28, 2019 1:00 pm By Robert Spencer

In the latest absurdity from the absurd Left, the Anti-Defamation League has classified the OK sign as a racist hate symbol.

This is achingly, howlingly, hair-pullingly, wrist-slittingly ridiculous. Millions of people have made this sign. Millions of them are not racist, and are not people the ADL would ever call racist, including Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama.

How stupid, totalitarian, vicious, and absurd is the ADL’s classification of the OK sign as a hate symbol? Consider this: in the photo accompanying this article, Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir, the principal of Maspeth High School in New York, is receiving a plaque; his school was named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School. As he gets the plaque, he is clearly making the sign of allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), the upraised index finger, isn’t he? If I or anyone else were to claim that, the condemnations would come as quickly as Democrats to impeachment hearings. “Spencer, you racist, bigoted Islamophobe,” I’d be told, “millions of people make that sign every day. It means ‘We’re Number One.’ That’s all Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir means. Just because he is a Muslim and raises one index finger doesn’t mean he is ISIS, you benighted, evil rabble rouser.”

Of course. But if the ADL were consistent, it would classify the one-finger salute as a hate symbol, based on the use of it by the Islamic State. This signal has been known to be a sign of allegiance to the Islamic State for almost as long as there has been an Islamic State. It has been described as the group’s “ubiquitous hand signal.” If it were consistent, the ADL would expect Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir to know this and to care, and would brush aside his likely explanation that he was just saying his school was “Number One.” It excoriate him as energetically as it would a high school principal who made the Nazi stiff-arm salute and then claimed he was only making an ancient Roman salute. If Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir were a non-Muslim, conservative, Trump-supporting school principal who made the OK sign as his school received the National Blue Ribbon School designation (which it probably wouldn’t get anyway, if he were known as a supporter of the President), would the ADL cut him any slack or would it smear him as a white supremacist? What do you think?

The ADL is not consistent. It classifies the OK sign as a racist symbol because it wants to smear conservatives who use it as white supremacists. Leftists who use it will be ignored. And it wouldn’t dream of classifying the upraised index finger as a hate symbol, because that would require it to charge some Muslims with allegiance to ISIS, including some who were entirely innocent. Nor would that classification fit the ADL’s narrative, that Muslims in the U.S. are wholly and solely innocent victims of “Islamophobia,” and that jihad terrorism is not nearly the terror threat that white supremacism is.

This entire episode is yet another illustration of how arbitrary, politically motivated and defamatory the “hate group” classifications of the ADL and its friend and ally, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), really are.

“Anti-Defamation League Declares OK Sign a ‘Hate Symbol,'” by Jim Treacher, PJ Media, September 26, 2019:

I want to try a little experiment, Dear Reader, and it requires your participation. No, no, don’t worry, it’s nothing weird. I just need you to follow these instructions: Hold your dominant hand in front of you with your palm outward, like you’re about to wave. Then, curl your thumb up and your forefinger down until the fingertips touch each other, without curling the other three fingers.

Congratulations. You’re now a racist!

Sara Sidner, CNN:

The “OK” hand gesture is now a hate symbol, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League.

The ADL added that symbol along with several others on Thursday to its long-standing database of slogans and symbols used by extremists…

The OK hand gesture and its link to white nationalism began as a hoax cooked up by users of the website 4chan, who falsely linked it to white supremacy, according to the ADL.

It was meant to bait the media or people with liberal ideals to overreact, ADL experts say, and therefore look ridiculous for condemning such an innocuous sign. But in 2019, the sign was adopted by some white nationalists.

Ahhh. See, it used to be a hoax. It was formerly a joke to make liberals look like big dummies for being scared of the OK sign. But then some really bad people started using that same gesture for real. That means you can’t use it now, or everybody will call you a racist. Sorry!…

“Maspeth High School’s secret to high pass rates is cheating: teachers,” by Susan Edelman, New York Post, September 14, 2019 (thanks to H):

At highly rated Maspeth High School in Queens, students know they can play hooky, skip course work, flunk tests — and still pass.

They call it the “Maspeth Minimum,” meaning everyone gets at least the minimum grade or score needed to pass or graduate, no matter what.

Whistleblowers call it fraud. The secret to the school’s 98% graduation and 90% Regents pass rate, they say, is simple: “Cheat!”…

Principal Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbi [sic], who founded the school in 2011, did not respond to an email seeking a response….

US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos named Maspeth a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the feds bestow upon schools…

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Filed Under: Featured, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), New York City Tagged With: Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir, Maspeth High School


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Comments

  1. Gork says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 1:10 pm

    I guess Divers are going to have to flash hate symbols at each other.

    • mortimer says

      Sep 28, 2019 at 7:54 pm

      Agree. Hand signals around the world include the OK sign. It is clearly a common way of signalling approval or agreement that is universally understood almost everywhere today.

      The ADL is clearly NOT OK to suggest this symbol is the excusive property of white supremacists. It clearly isn’t their exclusive property.

      Not in the way that the HATE GESTURE OF THE LEFT (the raised clenched fist) is the property of Leftards and authoritarian communists.

      • Joss says

        Sep 29, 2019 at 3:57 am

        The raised index finger sign has been stolen from Christians. I remember having just such a symbol on the back of my old Kombi in the 7os. It was a normal sign used to salute other Christians.

        • Kepha says

          Sep 29, 2019 at 4:30 pm

          I remember those days as well. It seems that those Muslims have nothing that’s original with them.

        • gravenimage says

          Sep 29, 2019 at 7:12 pm

          I remember Christian baseball pitcher Brian Wilson becoming famous for this gesture just a few years ago (he used it whenever he got a win to signal to his dad in heaven, who had died just a few years before his big league career). Very innocent–nothing like this vicious Islamic use.

          https://grubbyglove.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Brian-Wilsons-Game-Winning-Hand-Gesture1.jpg

      • J D S says

        Sep 29, 2019 at 9:02 am

        Ill just give the ADL special hand signal…stick the middle finger up while curling the other three fingers and thumb into the palm.

        • mortimer says

          Sep 29, 2019 at 9:49 am

          But, JDS, that salute belongs to the Leftists and Antifa.

        • Graham Bryant says

          Sep 29, 2019 at 10:07 am

          Wait till the Lord God gets hold of him in his wrath to come against ALL islam-and very soon now

    • Jule Bacal says

      Sep 29, 2019 at 4:56 am

      The one finger means Islam is the ONLY Religion allowed by ALLAH. It means one God-Allah whose ONE RELIGION is Islam. It does not mean number one but the ONLY one. Islam is Supremacist the same as nazigroups, KKKlan, white Supremacists and USA is a country for diversity and never Supremacy. I thought everyone knew that. Supremacists hate any kind of diversity. any and all diversity. That is UnAmerican and will kill our form of freedom. Freedom does not mean allowing Supremacy which is the OPPOSITE of what America is & ANTI what America is.

  2. FYI says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 1:21 pm

    Say,Lefty Jews of the….ADL/JVP etc?

    How..how about ..

    “Shabbat in the park with hamas,hizbollah and the nazis” while you are at it{“shabbat in the park with rashida” was ok for the JVP}?

    Enjoy a hot tasty Shabbos meal ….with self-hating Jews….who don’t get Irony.

    How about a virtue-signalling Leftard group hug and cuddly kisses afterwards?

    Lefty Jews don’t ever get Irony.Try reading the koran to see what it says about Jews {k9:30 for starters} and take a close look at sahih muslim #6985

    Ask your muslim friends to explain :”There is a Jew behind me..kill him”

    But of course you won’t…maybe that’s “islamophobic”.

    Do Lefty Jews think islamic teachings calling for Genocidal War against the Jews don’t apply to them?Sort of like the blind souls who wilfully ignored the warning signs in the 1930s Europe?

    The naivete of these fools!

    • mortimer says

      Sep 28, 2019 at 8:19 pm

      Agreeing with FYI … Leftish, self-hating Jews do not see the great irony in their own position of supporting leftist causes that undermine the interests of Jews. They are in effect saying about themselves that “ISLAM IS RIGHT ABOUT JEWS.” (Btw, I totally oppose that is a statement, because the Sira, Koran and hadiths endlessly slander Jews. There is more actual Jew hatred in those foundational Islamic texts than there is in MeinKampf.)

  3. Tama says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 1:34 pm

    Im sure there are still archives online from 4chan and others and the trolling to get the media thinking that about the on sign

    • Tama says

      Sep 28, 2019 at 1:35 pm

      ** ok sign keyboard autocorrect

      • mortimer says

        Sep 29, 2019 at 9:52 am

        EMOJI = OK Hand was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 under the name “OK Hand Sign” and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.

  4. somehistory says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 4:33 pm

    Well, doggone and confound are curse words to some people. Just because a group or a few people, or even one person, decides to use a common hand signal for another purpose, doesn’t mean that everyone else has to refrain from its use.
    I’m not going to allow this group to decide for me that I’m “racist” just because I might put my fingers together to say something is okay with me.

    Why don’t we all just begin using the word “racist” to mean someone who runs marathons? And/or those guys who drive in the Daytona and Indy and the Texas Speedway?

    And, the moslim school getting a ‘blue ribbon’ for cheating. What kind of message does that send to students and to other schools? Evidently crime does pay…at least in the society that is now…but not for those who have ethics and a moral compass.

  5. tgusa says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 6:53 pm

    What is causing this epidemic of crazy? Is it mental illness or substance abuse or both? My guess is mental illness. That seems to be a major problem these days.

    Whatever the nuts tell me they don’t like I vow to do more of.

  6. Infidel says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 7:05 pm

    The ADL is a JINO group, and pretty much out there w/ Antifa. I consider it a wonder that they’ve been critical of Ilhan and Rashida’s BDS campaign: give it another decade or 2, and they’ll be where Stanley Cohen is – calling for the destruction of Israel and its replacement by ‘Palestine’

  7. Infidel says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 7:08 pm

    Oh no, now Apple, Google and Microsoft will delete it from the emoji keyboard 😡

  8. gravenimage says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 7:17 pm

    Anti-Defamation League classifies OK sign as “Hate Symbol,” Islamic State one-finger salute still OK
    ……………………

    This is just insanity–as noted, even far leftists use this symbol. I is pretty close to universal, and just means “OK”. I’ve used it at times myself.

    There was a time when the Anti-Defamation League was pretty sane–that time is obviously long past.

  9. tgusa says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 7:21 pm

    Par for the course these days. Defamation coming from a group that calls themselves the anti defamation league. As with all leftist groups the name is a lie.

  10. mortimer says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 7:24 pm

    Doesn’t the clenched fist of the communists constitute a HATE SYMBOL? (Sure does.)

    Doesn’t the middle finger salute of Western Leftards constitute a HATE SYMBOL? (Definitely does.)

    Will those two HATE SALUTES be banned now? (crickets)

  11. tgusa says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    Cant be long now before the extended thumb and little finger signifying “hang loose” is labeled a hate symbol.

    • somehistory says

      Sep 28, 2019 at 8:19 pm

      That is Y in American Sign.

      • tgusa says

        Sep 28, 2019 at 8:34 pm

        Didn’t know that, thanks.

        • somehistory says

          Sep 28, 2019 at 10:49 pm

          You’re welcome.

  12. mortimer says

    Sep 28, 2019 at 8:32 pm

    New Rules from Bill Maher … White people must now make a disclaimer every time they speak.

    • gravenimage says

      Sep 29, 2019 at 7:22 pm

      Thanks for that link, Mortimer. Bill Maher is one of the only liberals talking about this.

  13. tgusa says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 12:30 am

    I have been thinking hard about this white supremacy issue and I have come to a conclusion. Lefties are right. We should begin conducting wars that are absent of that intolerable white supremacy From here on out we conduct wars according the those we have faced in the past as well as how countries of the world conduct wars today. That way we can do anything we want with no complaints.

  14. Ernie says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 2:57 am

    From now on , music conductors must be very careful……………………. I’ve seen conductors making this gesture using one hand , and occasionally even simultaneously using both hands ( double insult ! ) . How about holding a baton while making this gesture….. My goodness ……………………..ADL-MADNESS !

  15. UNCLE VLADDI says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 5:38 am

    Those cunning and inventive kids who punked the gullible leftist media by inventing this trolling meme over at 4CHAN must be laughing them selves into comas by now!

  16. Mark says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 6:19 am

    👌🏻

    • gravenimage says

      Sep 29, 2019 at 7:25 pm

      +1

  17. Lotus says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 8:17 am

    Satire is the only sane response to this nonsense.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/the-bee-explains-common-racist-hand-signals

    • gravenimage says

      Sep 29, 2019 at 7:26 pm

      Excellent. This deserves satire.

      • Lotus says

        Sep 30, 2019 at 12:16 am

        Yes, I particularly like the Handshake of Hate. Hilarious.

  18. No Muzzies Here says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 8:34 am

    A sign or symbol has no inherent meaning. The meaning is assigned by convention. People agree upon the meaning. Then it is said to symbolize something.

    If you bring in someone who is from another culture, that person will have no idea of the agreed-upon meaning.

    What they are doing is declaring anything and everything that a White does racist. There is no recourse from this!

    Do you remember the Ballantine Three Ring Sign? I certainly do! A Google search will show you if you were not around in the 60’s.

    No symbol has a meaning until it is assigned by the culture.

    PS. The sign in question means asshole in some cultures.

    • somehistory says

      Sep 29, 2019 at 9:36 am

      Adlai Stevenson ran for president several times. Once, during an interview, he crossed his legs and exposed the sole of his shoe. There was a hole in the sole.
      This meant that he either didn’t know there was a hole, didn’t care that there was a hole, had forgotten there was a hole, and wished to put one knee atop the other to be more comfortable. It might have also meant that he had no time to shop for shoes.

      And we all know how the arab world would react to seeing the sole of his shoe.

  19. Giacomo Latta says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 8:55 am

    No two ways about it, this OK sign has to go. Racism has just taken over NFL officials. The game doesn’t go by when you don’t have to witness some referee brazenly displaying it to coaches and players of both teams.

  20. Larry says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 9:22 am

    I have a one finger salute which involves the middle finger, for all of them.

  21. Kerry Wade says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 10:46 am

    Thank you Dr Spencer, your post made my day, screamingly funny! Another nail in Islams coffin.

  22. Jerome from Layton says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 10:59 am

    The “OK” sign was common among aviators including those flying out of North Africa during WWII. This non-verbal sign had a sexual connotation throughout the Mediterranean region. On the other hand, it is the unit symbol of a fighter training unit in Kwangju AB, ROK.

  23. CTTV15@Hotmail.com says

    Sep 29, 2019 at 11:48 am

    OK… I had to put my glasses up-side-down on my face to read about this one.. Really?

    Scuba divers all over the world are saying.. Huh? The ‘OK Sign’ is used globally as the universal signal to fellow divers under water that you (we) are OK!

    This is not a tough call.. This is just plain NUTS!

    Get therapy..

  24. Lotus says

    Oct 1, 2019 at 12:30 am

    We can only laugh. The alternative is to cry.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/adl-recommends-cutting-your-hands-off-to-prove-you-are-not-a-racist

  25. TattooedMan77 says

    Oct 1, 2019 at 6:19 am

    The Turner Diaries predicted this years ago. Just swap ZOG for Islam.

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