Jihad Watch
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Type of site
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Online Journal |
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| Available in | English |
| Owner | Robert Spencer |
| Created by | Robert Spencer and Hugh Fitzgerald |
| Revenue | Donations |
| Website | jihadwatch |
| Alexa rank |
 28,734 (September 2015[update]) |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | 501(c)(3), non-profit organization |
| Launched | September 23, 2003 |
| Current status | Active |
Jihad Watch is a blog affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, run by blogger Robert Spencer, it has been described as one of the main homes of the Counter-jihad movement on the internet.
According to the website, a theology of violent jihad, which denies non-Muslims and women equality, human rights, and dignity has been present throughout the history of Islam. Jihad Watch says that it is "dedicated to bringing public attention to the role that jihad theology and ideology plays in the modern world, and to correct popular misconceptions about the role of jihad and religion in modern-day conflicts."
It has been repeatedly criticised by numerous academics who believe that it promotes an Islamophobic worldview and conspiracy theories.
The site features commentary by multiple editors, although its most notable and frequent publisher of content is Robert Spencer. It has been affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, as a subsidiary project.Dhimmi Watch was a blog on the Jihad Watch site, also maintained by Spencer, focusing on allegations of acts by non-Muslims in defence of the Muslim world.
Legal actions have been proposed against the site based on allegations of hate speech; however most of these actions have proven to be unsuccessful.
The Horowitz Freedom Center has paid Spencer, as Jihad Watch's director, a $132,000 salary (2010). Jihad Watch has also received funding from donors supporting the Israeli right, and a variety of individuals and foundations, like Bradley Foundation and Joyce Chernick, wife of Aubrey Chernick.
Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, wrote that:
Most of the effective surveillance work tracking jihadi sites is being done not by the FBI or MI6, but by private groups. The best-known and most successful of those are [Internet] Haganah ... SITE [Institute] ... and Jihad Watch.
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