Former terrorist Shoebat polarizes UWM audience
Outspoken critic of Islam meets resistance in speech
By Adam Barndt
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“The idea of destroying Israel never left our minds in school.”- Walid Shoebat
Former Palestine Liberation Organization member and self-described terrorist Walid Shoebat spoke to a polarized crowd of nearly 750 people on the dangers of Islamic extremism in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union on Dec. 4.
The event, which was sponsored by the Conservative Union at UWM, lasted just over two hours and provoked heated reactions and debate from audience members.
Security was greatly enhanced for this event, requiring that every attendee pass though two metal detectors upon entering the event. No bags were allowed and multiple police officers and security guards were stationed at every entrance and exit.
Shoebat was born in Israel to a Christian mother, who was American, and a Muslim father. He attended a Christian school in his early years because his family recognized the need for him to learn the English language.
From fifth grade through high school he attended a state-run school where he felt the Muslim educators preached lies and fabrications that convinced him and his peers to support hatred of Jews and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“The idea of destroying Israel never left our minds in school,” Shoebat said.
Shoebat’s career as a terrorist began in his teen years as a graffiti artist tagging every wall in sight with anti-Israeli messages. His involvement with the PLO culminated in getting offered the opportunity to destroy a bank in Bethlehem using a bomb.
He gladly accepted the offer, citing that the bombs were few and the desire to be responsible for the deaths of Israeli’s was great. No one was killed in the detonation, according to Shoebat.
In 1993 he converted to Christianity after researching different points of view, and he felt his Muslim mentors and educators had forced lies upon him. He stressed the importance of critical thinking, a practice he says is all but forbidden and not taught in Muslim society.
Shoebat said he now feels that the conflict over holy land in the Middle East is not an issue of territorial dispute but an issue of racism. He said he believes the conflict arises from the Arabs' refusal to be governed by a Jewish body while simultaneously occupying the same land. Shoebat said he thinks the only solution to the problem is to not allow anyone to return to any ancestral lands.
“No one (Arab or Jew) has a right of return. Jews who fled Arab persecution from 1948 to 1956 should have no right of return to Arab lands, and Arabs who ran away in 1948 and 1967 should have no right of return either,” Shoebat said.
Over an hour into the speech the floor was opened up to a question and answer session. People from all religious backgrounds took the microphone, some Muslim, some Jewish and some Christian.
Many failed to ask an actual question and challenged the validity of Shoebat’s speech, with many getting their microphones cut off, often in response to “cut off” hand gestures made by members of the Conservative Union at UWM. Several people were later forcibly removed from the discussion by the security staff when they refused to vacate the microphone.
UWM’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) hosted a panel forum in the Union Ballroom entitled “Why I Chose Islam” immediately following the speech to educate the public on the Muslim faith and to react to Shoebat’s speech.
The MSA said it questions Shoebat’s background and distributed literature prior to the event, calling Shoebat a “phony purveyor of hate, fear and violence.”
The organization also said it takes offense to Shoebat’s sweeping portrayal of the Muslim faith.
"Islam is a faith of peace and humanity. We can't allow people to turn words (that) we know mean peace into hate," said Robert Miranda, a panelist and columnist for the Milwaukee Spanish Journal.
Shoebat did not attend the forum.
> Comments
Benjamin Clark on Dec 10, 2007 at 02:11 PM:
Walid Shoebat left one form of religious hatred - fundamentalism Islam - to join another form of religious hatred - fundamentalist Christianity. Sure he may not be wanting to strap a bomb to his chest today, but he still believes that non-Christians will suffer eternity in hell, and he only supports Israel so God can destroy it in the end of the world. There are elements of Islam that do deserve to be criticized, but not the likes of Walid Shoebat.
Aaron Jeske on Dec 11, 2007 at 08:12 AM:
Fundamentalist Christianity? Walid discussed that at the event. If you are a Fundamentalist Christian all you believe is that Jesus will come and fight a defensive war to save Israel from its enemies. He is not a Fundamentalist
On the other hand, Fundamental Islam, or Islamo-fascism, promotes violence in the here and now. It encourages you to kill people that are different from you because they are infidels and your inferiors.
Lastly I am tired of everybody whining about his speech. I did not detect one bit of hatred in the room at all, well except for the MSA that is. Walid does not speak against Islam, just those who take it to the extreme to justify mass murder.
Dagher on Dec 11, 2007 at 10:11 AM:
It looks to me that this man did not really prcatice islam. he might have been living in a community of muslims where originally did not belong, got invovled in a cause not of his own interest but just because of his peers, and yet, he could not continue. a real muslim, christian or jew would not easily convert, just because he learned he was preached wrong. then what terrorism he's talking about? the palestinian struggle under occupation, trying to get their freedom, and their statehood, is terrorism, ... but the israeli soldier, who's occupaying their land, building the wall of racism, killing the women and children is civilized ? which foolish dictionary say that? trying to fool us ? check out this link : your choice of 301 israeli massacres, pick one.
Dagher on Dec 11, 2007 at 10:12 AM:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=israeli+massacre
Benjamin Clark on Dec 11, 2007 at 05:41 PM:
Aaron, Shoebat is not a fundamentalist? The earth is flat, ya know?
Middle East Scholar on Dec 12, 2007 at 10:16 AM:
Dagher, Unfortunately you are misguided. Palestine is not occupied because it does not exist. The land of Pre-WWII Palestine is exactly what it is: Pre-WWII Palestine.
You can claim British imperialism to any extent you can imagine, but without that, the Maghrib would still be lead by the Turkish "imperialists" that chose to fight WWI on horseback.
Dagher on Dec 13, 2007 at 11:30 AM:
from Wiki [ An article on Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian website, describes him as a member of a "fanatic" sect (referring to his particular Evangelical Christian church) who makes "blatantly racist declarations against Islam" and believes that adherents to most Christian denominations are "false Christians"[3].
Sheila Musaji said of Shoebat that "This is an extremist Christian terrorist. This is not a former terrorist. This is a man who used to hate Jews and now hates Muslims, who used to commit violence against Jews and now justifies violence against Muslims."[4] In an article published in far-left Internet magazine CounterPunch in 2004, Will Youmans noted that Shoebat had never come under criminal investigation in the US for his alleged terrorist activities, nor had he been threatened with deportation, although two other Palestinians in the US had faced deportation proceedings because of their alleged involvement with terrorist groups. Youmans suggests that Shoebat is effectively immune from prosecution or deportation because of his pro-Israel views. He also argues that Shoebat's religious convictions, including the belief that Jews will be forced to "accept Christ or perish in hell" when the Rapture comes, are intrinsically anti-Semitic. Furthermore, Youmans contends that Shoebat's beliefs are incompatible with efforts towards peace, because of the premillennial, dispensational doctrine that the Second Coming of Christ will be hastened by conflict in the Middle East.[5] Shoebat, in response, claims to believe that Jesus will descend from the heavens and lead a defensive battle to protect Israel from its enemies. [6]
dagher on Dec 13, 2007 at 11:47 AM:
Middle east scholar: if there was not a state called palestine, after the british occupation most of the arabic states declared independence, jordan, iraq, etc... but the british, before they leave, supported jewish immigration to palestine, gave the promise of "belvor" of a jewish state, a land they do not own, is given to who do not deserve. if you want to tell me about the history of jews in palestine, i will tell you i know it. and i know the history of romans in palestine, and even persians. jews existed all over the middle east, but this does not mean they come back in 1990s on top of a british tank to claim a right of a state that existed here and ended thousands of years ago. what about the pepole who's been living here for all these thousands of years ? the fact of the matter is: britin, germany, france and the rest of the clans did feel the guilt after the WW II, wanted to compensate the jews for being terrified, so offered them palestine. Hertzel and weisamn though of palestine as the place where they can claim a historical right. an alternative plan was drawn for a place in africa was there but they did not go that far, because england made it easier for them that they thought. at the end, they kicked the english outa there, and terrified the armless locals, demolished 62 villages to establish the state of israel. congratulations to the modern civilization, now we have a newborn democracy, and skrew history, human rights, or even a population that is waking up and trying to correct the world's mess in there land. at the end, they are nothing but unfortunate nation who is falling from occupation to another, under alot of names of god's wellings. god names it holly land, and named the local "the victims" of its holliness.
AJ Piwarun on Jan 02, 2008 at 07:56 AM:
FYI audience members were warned about the Q&A session. Over 800 people came to the Wisconsin room to hear good debate, not scripture. Also, nobody was "forcefully removed". They were simply escorted out.
Doog on Jan 15, 2008 at 10:33 PM:
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=palestinian+terrorists
Oh, so you like YouTube? Your choice of over 700 terrorist videos.
What is the point of citing a pro-Palestinian website? Isn't it patently obvious that "Electronic Intifada" would have a biased and self-serving entry on Shoebat?
Dagher: The Arabs who lived in Israel/Palestine had Centuries to rid themselves of Ottoman occupation. Further: the Ottomans allowed Jews from Europe to re-settle in the area. When the Occupation was ended by the British, Jews had been emigrating to the region for nearly 4 decades. It was logical to partition the land between Arabs and Jews. The UN gave the Arabs a sweetheart deal (the best of the arable land), but in 1947 they turned it all down. After the 1949 Armistice, the Jordanians controlled the West Bank for 18 years; they could have supported a Palestinian state, but Jordan simply annexed the land.
Tell us: if Mecca and Medina were conquered by new Crusaders, and occupied for even 2 Millennia, do you think that Muslims would ever abide that. If given the chance to regain control, don't you think that you would? It's no different for the Jews and the Holy Land.
It's too bad that the Palestinian Arabs have to suffor the loss of Ancestral land, but their Ancestors usurped or outright conquered the Jewish lands in the first place.