Muslims Protest Air Force Academy Guest

[darrels joy]

Muslims Protest Air Force Academy Guest
Associated Press | February 08, 2008
DENVER - A Muslim advocacy group is decrying the U.S. Air Force Academy's decision to invite three self-described former terrorists who the group said slam Islam with "hate-filled" rhetoric.


The D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said one of the speakers, Walid Shoebat, has said that "Islam is the devil."

Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani are scheduled to speak Wednesday at the 50th Annual Academy Assembly in Colorado Springs, where the topic of the four-day event is "Dismantling Terrorism."

Shoebat has published an online autobiography describing his journey from membership in the Palestine Liberation Organization to Israeli sympathizer.

Saleem also is a former member of the PLO, and Zak Anani describes himself as a former member of several Lebanese terrorist groups. The three appear together regularly.

Maj. Brett Ashworth, an Air Force Academy spokesman, defended the decision, saying the purpose of the event is "to educate future officers and delegates from 50 colleges on the ideology and methodology of terrorists" and the three men could provide valuable insight.

But Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, said the men also denounce the Muslim faith.

"Islam is the devil? I mean c'mon!" Hooper said. "And these people are going to talk as experts to cadets who may possibly serve in parts of the Muslim world?"

Saleem, who said he quit the PLO in 1985 after converting to Christianity, said in a telephone interview there are always people who disagree with his views about Islam.

Others, he said, tell him, "Thank you for enlightening us."

Hooper said the three speakers have triggered protests at speaking engagements throughout the country, and he told Air Force academy officials that inviting the men to speak about terrorism would be like "inviting David Duke to speak about race relations."

He said CAIR offered to connect the Air Force with Muslims in Colorado who also could speak at the event to balance the discussion. However, he said he was told the topic was terrorism, not religion.

"The academy assembly has nothing to do with religion or evangelical Christianity for that matter," Ashworth said. "This is not going to be a discussion on Islam. It's a discussion on terrorism."

[SuperScout]

Go pound sand where the sun doesn't shine.

We need to encourage the USAF Academy not to crater to the politically correct crowd, and change the invitation.

[darrels joy]

Jordanian student to ex-Muslim speaker: "You are an enemy of Islam and you must die" He is under investigation, which is good. But what will they find? If he believes in Islam, and in Islam’s death penalty for apostates, what will they do then?
"Muslim Student Threatens Former Terrorist’s Life at Air Force Academy Even," from Mass Media Distribution Newswire (thanks to Hot Air):

Former terrorists Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zak Anani addressed cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, during their annual political forum. They shared their experiences as terrorists and helped cadets understand the Islamic fundamentalist mind set.
During the event a Jordanian college student, identified as Omar Khalifa of Metro International, approached Kamal Saleem and spoke to him in Arabic, "you are an enemy of Islam and you must die." The incident was reported to Military Police, who investigated Khalifa’s threat.

"The men receive threats of this nature all of time and we take each one very seriously," said Keith Davies, Executive Director of the Shoebat Foundation. "That is why each of the men live in seclusion."

Numerous media outlets (New York Times, the Associated Press, The Colorado Springs Gazette, the Rocky Mountain News) did not report on the former terrorists’ message, but instead focused on the [inaccurate] media statements distributed by CAIR (Council for American Islamic Relations), in an all-out campaign to discredit the speakers credentials and background.

"We have all been told that Islam has been hijacked by extremists,” said Walid Shoebat. "Yet CAIR, who professes to be ‘Moderate Muslims’ are the Three Ex Terrorists biggest critics, and pull out all stops to try and keep out voices from being heard. I beg to ask the question; if CAIR is indeed moderate as they claim, then WHY are they not supporting our campaign against ‘extremists? If they are sincerely against the Fundamentalist Muslim agenda why do they appose us?"

According to the Air Force Academy’s public affairs office CAIR spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, contacted them numerous times criticizing the scheduling of the three men, and requesting an opportunity to have a CAIR representative share with cadets information about the Islamic faith. The Academy informed Hooper that the event was not about religion, but about terrorism, and he denied CAIR’s request.

Score one for the Air Force Academy.

[darrels joy]

‘Former terrorists’ describe bloody pasts at U.S. Air Force Academy





Security was raised Wednesday at the Air Force Academy during a presentation by three “former terrorists.” Bomb-sniffing dogs and military police patrolled.










Three Arabs told an audience at the Air Force Academy on Wednesday they left a life of terrorism and sectarian hatred after converting to Christianity.

The speakers — Walid Shoebat, Zak Anani and Kamal Saleem — spoke as part of a three-day conference on terrorism hosted by cadets in concert with New York’s Columbia University.

They described bloody pasts as members of terrorist groups in the Middle East and upbringings in which they were radicalized and taught to kill in the name of Allah.

Critics familiar with the men’s presentations in other cities accuse the speakers of relying on distortion and fear-mongering in their depictions of Muslim beliefs, but the men offered few apologies.

Shoebat — defiant during a question-and-answer session — urged his audience to resist “political correctness” and not to fear being labeled a “xenophobe, Islamophobe (or) American bigot.”

“The problem with Islam is if you speak out against Islam, you are a racist,” Shoebat told a group of about 250 cadets and students at Fairchild Hall.

Anani called it a mistake to limit discussion about terrorism to “radical Islam.”

“There is no radical Islam; there is Islam itself,” he said in an interview.
Saleem, who praised moderate Muslims and directed his comments at religious extremists, said Americans should welcome Muslims — while keeping an eye on those who seek to insinuate themselves here, then take over.

“If America is taken down and Sharia laws take over, there is no hope,” he said during a spirited talk, in which he shouted and stomped in driving home his points.

Ernest Jedrzejewski, a law student at Columbia University, said the fiery rhetoric Wednesday was a “mirror image” of the talks given by radical imams in areas where anti-Americanism is rampant.

“What we just saw was a brainwashing session, not a brainstorming session,” he said.

Ghalib Aljibara, an Iraqi student at New York University, said a useful examination of terrorism should begin with a more constructive principle: “What do you think is the best way to create peace all around the world?”

Organizers say the men were invited to provide an insider’s view of terrorism. They are part of a bill that includes academics and historians, such as Lawrence Wright, a former writer for The New Yorker and author of “The Looming Tower: al-Qaida and the Road to 9/11.”

“What we’re trying to draw out of it is to pick what is usable from their stories to drive our policy recommendations,” said cadet Zach Tindall, a senior who helped select the speakers.

“We have people from 50 different universities from the states and 16 countries. We’re going to get a lot of different perspectives, and that’s exactly what we want in trying to develop actionable policy.”

A report on the conference titled, “Dismantling Terrorism: Developing Actionable Solutions for Today’s Plague of Violence,” will be sent to Congress, the Pentagon, the CIA and other federal agencies.

Critics have also questioned whether the self-described former terrorists have fabricated parts of their biographies.

Saleem, who claims he joined the Palestinian Liberation Organization at age 7 and tallied his first kill soon after, dismissed the allegations.

“They try to discredit you — why?” he said, referring to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washingtonbased national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group. “It’s their job; they used to be your comrades.”
CAIR accused the men of spreading anti-Muslim rhetoric in a recent news release and called for the academy to offer a “balancing perspective.”

The academy said that it checked out each of the speaker’s backgrounds, and that it heightened security for their talk.

Bomb-sniffing dogs went through the lecture hall before the audience entered and military police officers toting M-16s stood guard throughout the lecture.

“With these particular speakers and their backgrounds and the potential for controversy, it was a prudent, safe thing to do,” said Maj. Brett Ashworth, director of public affairs.

Similar precautions are taken during visits by dignitaries.

According to one participant, a roundtable discussion that followed the presentation offered moderating views of Islam, with people citing counter examples to passages quoted by the three men.

“We got to talk to Muslims in discussion group,” said Josh Lospinoso, a junior at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. “They pointed out passages that made it clear that Muslims can co-exist with Christians and Jews.”

[Jerry D]

“We got to talk to Muslims in discussion group,” said Josh Lospinoso, a junior at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. “They pointed out passages that made it clear that Muslims can co-exist with Christians and Jews.”

Yea, Only if you agree to be subjugated to Sharia LAW and their religious police. And agree to pay a tribute to the Iman for your protection ,sort of like the mafia protection money but at least the Mafia didn't care how you lived as long as you payed your tribute ....

I've come to a decision that infidels like US are only safe in Countries with Pork on the menu

[Robert Ryan]

agree go put it where the sun don't shine.