Walid Shoebat and Kamal Saleem
May 1, 2008
Walid Shoebat and Kamal Saleem, self-described (former) Palestinian terrorists, spoke at the University of Colorado here in Boulder the other night. I had the opportunity to attend.
It was interesting timing. On Sunday, after a couple of days of web surfing, I had ordered Walid Shoebat’s book “Why I Left Jihad.” On Monday, I happened to open the local paper while waiting for an oil change on my car (no irony intended). The front page article was about Walid Shoebat. I discovered he would be speaking at the University that evening.
All (free) tickets were gone, but they did have about 200 tickets available at the door. I arrived early, anticipating quite a turn out.
Indeed, the hall was full, and security was tight.
Kamal Saleem spoke first. He described his life growing up in Palestine. It was a mostly unsurprising account: the education his family and school gave him about how the Jews were the enemy, the Holocaust was a hoax, America was the ‘Great Satan,’ Israel was the ’small Satan,’ and one day Islam would be the one true religion displacing all the others, worldwide. At that time, he became resolute for jihad. Obviously, at a very early age. I found particularly humorous how, given the education he had at the time (which, again, said the Holocaust had been a hoax), he asked his teachers in his school “how did they get the Jews to be so skinny? What diet were they on?”
Walid Shoebat was next. I might call him “the headliner.”
His descriptions of his childhood were similar. He emphasized the impact it had on him at a very early age. He held and fired an AK47 at the age of 6. At 7, he ran his first bomb supply mission from Syria through the Golan Heights. Like Saleem, he was instilled with the desire to fulfill jihad; to become a martyr.
“In my right hand, I had the Koran. In my left, the AK47″
Walid Shoebat is a darling of conservatives, particularly among Christians (since, of course, he converted to Christianity).
He is a self-described member of the “far right.” A quick search on YouTube will turn up many of his appearances in prophecy-oriented Christian discussions. I haven’t bothered to watch all of those (I pretty much know what to expect). But I know he is often a speaker in such arenas.
Walid Shoebat is also a focal point of controversy. Some say his story of being a (former) terrorist is unverified, even perhaps fabricated. Some say he is simply a mouthpiece for the Christian Right. He is never a critic of the current administration. From him I found not the slightest criticism of the invasion of Iraq.
Boulder being “liberal” (albeit mostly “limousine liberal”), and this being a presentation at a university, you can imagine the reception.
Actually, it was somewhat mixed. The members of the Arab Student Association were none too pleased. He was heckled a few times, and during the Q&A session the discomfort of Arabs in the room was palpable. A few people were escorted out by rather well-armed police.
On the other hand, he received a huge applause for describing what he wanted to see from American Muslims if, indeed, they loved America: “I want to see you with headbands in Arabic and with signs in English: ‘Allah bless America.’” There were other points in his presentation where he aroused substantial emotional support. Again, please keep in mind I’m referring to the notoriously “libral” Boulder, Colorado.
Mr. Shoebat invoked many of the well-known passages in the Koran that support what we today call terrorism. “What part of ‘kill’ do you in the West not understand?” he said.
Koran: 9:5
But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the unbelievers wherever ye find them, an seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.
This Sura in the Koran is oft quoted by both critics of Islam and terrorists themselves. In fact, Muslim terrorists cite it to justify their violent jihad. Critics of Islam claim that it commands Muslims to act with aggression towards the non-Muslims (polytheists) of that period, and contributes to Islam’s final theological doctrine of aggression towards all non-Muslims of all times. Apologists for Islam claim that this passage is purely defensive.
Personally, I find the apologists’ argument to be simply ludicrous. Of course, when I say that, I find more than one Muslim telling me that, since I can’t read Arabic, I have read a mis-translation. Also, it seems, even if I had a proper translation, I wouldn’t understand the context.
Y’know … I have to say….I don’t read German. But I don’t think I need to be fluent in German and German history to get the overall gist of “Mein Kampf.”
I had the opportunity to chat with Mr. Shoebat (briefly) after the event, before he was whisked off by his handlers. I pointed out to him that, during his presentation, he had mis-quoted Mr. Richard Dawkins. He invited me to engage in a discussion with him over email. I have started that discussion — we will see where that leads.
To be honest, I am not expecting much. He has a great gig going, and he doesn’t need some pinko like me confusing him with the facts. On the other hand, he apparently admires Christopher Hitchens, which I found quite ironic.
If you would like a taste of Mr. Shoebat’s lecture, this series on YouTube is pretty much the script he followed at CU Boulder.
Enjoy.
Infidel
April 24, 2008
One November morning in 2004, Theo van Gogh got up to go to work at his film production company in Amsterdam. He took out his old black bicycle and headed down a main road. Waiting in a doorway was a Moroccan man with a handgun and two butcher knives.
As Theo cycled down the Linnaeusstraat, Muhammad Bouyeri approached. He pulled out his gun and shot Theo several times. Theo fell off his bike and lurched across the road, then collapsed. Bouyeri followed. Theo begged, “Can’t we talk about this?” but Bouyeris shot him four more times. Then he took out one of his butcher knives and sawed into Theo’s throat. With the other knife, he stabbed a five-page letter onto Theo’s chest.
The letter was addressed to me.
Whether you a re a person of faith, an agnostic, or an atheist, I highly recommend Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali grew up in Africa (born Somali), the product of a Muslim upbringing, ultimately bravely abandoning her roots and becoming a controversial member of the Dutch parliament. Her story is one of incredibly bravery and an amazing capacity to overcome all obstacles. At the same time, it is a painfully clear indictment of Islamic misogyny, absolutism, intolerance, and the price we all pay for religious beliefs that contribute to insane actions.
Some of her criticisms could just as easily be leveled at any other organized religion, but her critique is certainly most scathing of Islam. But she holds back no punches against the West for failing to address the fundamental conflict between Islam and the West. For example, she faults multiculturalism:
“We in the west would be wrong to prolong the pain [of the transition of Islam to the modern world] by elevating cultures full of bigotry and hatred toward women to the stature of respectable alternative ways of life.
This is not just a critique, however. This is her personal story. It is filled with vivid detail, personal trials, the charming and beautiful moments of adolescence, the tragedy of war and her conflict between faith and reason. It is both tragic and uplifting
I found this book so compelling I am reading it all over again even though I just finished it. This is one of those books which, when you close the final chapter, you ask yourself “what exactly do I have to complain about? Wow …”
I also recommend looking her up on YouTube.
Why Hate Religious People?
April 16, 2008
Sometimes, as someone who is an “unbeliever,” I am asked why I hate believers; why am I so against their beliefs?
It’s a funny question. Maybe I come off arrogant and intolerant. That’s entirely possible (I’ve been known to be so), and if that is the case I must apologize both to people of faith, and atheists. I apologize to the people of faith because I really don’t mean to project hate. I apologize to the atheists because I don’t want to contribute to the stereotype “angry atheist” that is often portrayed.
Let me be perfectly clear: I don’t hate “believers.” I hate their beliefs.
What people of faith are probably picking up from me is impatience and my discomfort with an absolute certainty on their part, and a double standard.
Somehow, it is okay to question and debate someone’s beliefs about physics, astrology, medicine, politics, psychology, parapsychology and astrophysics. Yet it is (as far as I can tell) not acceptable to debate someone’s religious beliefs.
Here I am simply re-phrasing Sam Harris. None of this is new to atheists, though I am sure it is new to some people of faith. For them, I would suggest reading Mr. Harris, or at least spending twenty minutes watching him here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=J3YOIImOoYM
He’s not perfect, and I don’t agree with everything he says.
But I do think he makes quite a few good points.
Let me be clear: I don’t hate religious people. I just hate their religion. I’m not entirely sure how different this is from “love the sinner, hate the sin.”
I hate what religion does to people. I hate the evil that has been committed in this world in the name of God/Allah/Jehovah — whatever.
To be honest, that’s kind of a funny thing because I don’t believe in evil. Let me quote Robert Jay Lifton of Harvard (visiting professor of psychiatry):
“…one has to be aware of any claim to absolute virtue, because it’s absolute virtue that you call forth to kill large numbers of people. It may be impossible to do that without that claim.”
I’m hard-pressed to come up with a more apt description of the horrors of history.
Most of the evils of the world can probably be traced back to such sentiments. It is the adherence to absolute virtue, the belief one is serving God, that provides us with the means to commit unspeakable horrors. Some evils can be traced to selfishness, competition for resources, exploitation, racism, untreated mental illness and just plain stupidity. But I still believe the majority of the atrocities that have taken place on our planet were done in the name of “absolute virtue.”
I’m posting this on an atheist site, obviously. I suppose I am posting this to ask all of you atheists to recognize that we don’t hate people, we just hate what their beliefs have contributed to.
In a future post, I’ll address the popular belief that atheism has given us the dictators of the world. What makes that ludicrous is the belief that atheism is a philosophy that has adherents.
But for now, let’s agree that people of faith are not people to be hated, and we (atheists) don’t hate them. We just don’t like the bi-product.
I’m new here. But ….. Is that a fair start?
Middle East earthquakes: It’s the gays what did it
February 24, 2008
SIX earthquakes have struck Israel and neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan in recent months, with two coming last week alone – and what is to blame? Homosexuality.
That’s the view of imbecile Shlomo Benizri, MP, of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas party, who, according to the Telegraph, believes that the tremors could be stopped by repealing various liberalising laws on homosexuality that have been passed by the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, in recent years.
Since decriminalising homosexuality in 1988, Israel has passed several laws favouring gay Israelis , including decisions to recognise same-sex marriages carried out abroad, and granting inheritance rights and other benefits held by married couples to gay partnerships.
Last Sunday, to the outrage of the religious Right, the country’s attorney general, Meni Mazuz, ruled that same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children.
In what Mr Benizri clearly believes is no coincidence, the first of last week’s quakes hit the country just two days later.
Why do earthquakes happen? One of the reasons is the things to which the Knesset gives legitimacy, to sodomy. God says that if you shake your genitals where you are not supposed to he will shake the world in order to wake you up.
In 1999 this crazy god-botherer caused controversy by saying homosexuals were mentally ill. Quoted in the Israeli newspaper Maariv, he said he was “ready to fund the creation of special closed sections for them in psychiatric hospitals.”
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