By Arye Green/TPS • 24 October, 2019
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an American civil rights organization, recently decided to list Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN), a pro-Israel evangelical organization, as a hate group.
PJTN primarily combats anti-Semitism, encouraging state legislators to act against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. However, the SPLC designated the Tennessee-based organization as an “anti-Muslim” hate group.
The SPLC provided no further explanation for the blacklisting of the pro-Israel organization.
According to the PJTN website, the non-profit focuses its efforts on education and advocacy to “build a global community of action and prayer in support of Jews and Israel.”
In response to the listing of PJTN, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, president and founder of the organization, said she is proud to support Israel and plans to continue fighting anti-Semitism.
“If being pro-Israel and against anti-Semitism is now considered a hate crime, I will wear the SPLC listing as a badge of honor,” she declared.
“Placing Proclaiming Justice to The Nations alongside bigots and Nazis minimizes the true meaning of hate. In reality, PJTN is on the front lines fighting against anti-Semitism on a daily basis. We will continue to fight hate through our thousands of PJTN Watchmen around the globe,” she added.
She accused the SPLC list of becoming “nothing short of a witch hunt against organizations that don’t share their extremist liberal worldview. Sadly, many institutions still look to the once credible SPLC for advice on hate groups.”
“We hope that being blacklisted will not impede upon our ability to continue defending the Jewish people and Israel against global anti-Semitism,” she concluded.