Three former Islamic militants from the Middle East, Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem, and Zachariah Anani, now reformed and warning the West of the danger of radical Islam, were to speak at the University of Michigan yesterday (30th January) in a public forum, billed as "The 3 Ex-Terrorists." They have fought for the militant wing of PLO in Palestine and had participated in acts of violence and terrorism against Israel. Shoebat is reported to have had bombed an Israeli Bank as a teenager. Anani was a teen militia fighter, where he was trained to kill Jews and claims to have killed 223 people, according to 3xterrorists.com.
As usual, the proposed forum offended the Muslims. Digital50.com reports that Anani is under death threat for his plan to participate in the event.
According to a Detroit Free Press report, speaking about the danger of radical Islam is also a form of hate to Muslims in general. The head of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Imad Hamad, said "this is another form of hate... in the name of fighting terrorism."'
Hamad met today with university officials to express the community's concern about the event.
Keith Davies, organizer of the program, however, disregarded Mr. Hamad’s concerns asserting: "It has nothing to do with hatred of any certain people, but there's a certain ideology we have a problem with, and that's what we need to expose."
ADC also questioned whether it's possible to reform a terrorist. "If they were once terrorists," the ADC said, "they should always be treated as terrorists" as reported in DetNews.com.
The strangest fact is that ADC head Imad Hamad is reported to have "been promoting the terrorist cause by supporting Hamas and Hezbollah in media interviews." The same ADC had earlier sponsored a Hamas/Hezbollah conference targeted against Israel in the same campus.
Hamad was also a suspected member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Communist faction of Palestinian terrorism, responsible for countless homicide bombings and the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in October, 2001.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - wdufkin
The enemy within is a giant, poised to crush the sleeping workaday citizens of this once great nation.
2 - Nancy
Hmmm...the ADC is just like quite a few other "minority" representation groups: any criticism whatsoever, no matter how justified, is discrimination. Question arises: why aren't Western governments who discover these asshole Imams who preach violence rounding them up & deporting them back to the pissholes they came from?
3 - Martin Lav
Because they supposedly live in free countries, where free speech prevails?
You wouldn't want everyone to adopt BushCo.'s "new and improved" civil rights now would you?
4 - Nancy
No, but there must be a happy medium, like f'r
instance it being criminal to yell "fire!" as a joke in a crowded theatre. My dim little brain cells seem to remember something about it being criminal to preach or plot insurrection/murder or something...no?
5 - Martin Lav
I agree, but I say we error on the side of liberalism and not let BushCo. and the rightwingers take all of us with them on their witch-hunt.
I don't think we can effectively fight the radicals in Islam by restricting too much of what they say as it would only appear as Christians imposing their will on NON's and thus sways sympathies of the vast majority of moderate Muslims.
Imagine if we started busting some of the Christian Fundamentalists Churchs (ie...Waco) it only helps to ignite the paranoia of more moderate Christians to sympathize with their brethren.
IMO
6 - Nancy
That's true, and I do bear in mind the poem about allowing gov't to act against others until some day it comes for me. It just galls me that foreigners who have been given every amenity here are such ingrates, to say the least.
7 - Martin Lav
Yep, but the higher road should ours be traveled while our government with BushCo. at the wheel heads for the ditch.
8 - Zedd
This whole episode clearly points to how the familiar scenes of the Islamic countries in religiously sensitive issues are being cloned by the Muslims in the heart of the Western world.
There are scenes all over the US where people protest and stage walk outs during political and religious events. I am not sure why you think that Muslim Americans should fall under a different category.
Also, there are horrible people all over the globe. There are millions of really horrible Christians. I do not feel compelled or responsible for them, as a christian. There are millions of hate mongers, white supremacists, skin head types, yet we don't see whites storming the globe exposing them, in droves; yet there are millions more who whine daily about reverse racism. Why do we hold Muslims up to an unrealistic standard.
We always get carried away. It was the communists now its Muslims.
Listen we were attacked by a few guys with box cutters. Lets stop the drama.
9 - Dave Nalle
Martin, Bush is a moderate Republican. You haven't even begun to know fear yet.
Dave
10 - Alamgir Hussain
Zedd,
I agree that all types of people do all kinds of things. Yet, Muslims would virtually vacate the Islamic world within days if the West dismantles its borders, despite the white supremacists, skin-heads or whatsoever. But hardly anyone from the West would move to the Muslim world even if they dismantle their borders. If the Americans & Europeans have to vacate their countries for any emergency; given a choice - Westerners will move to China and India in preference to Saudi, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan or whatsoever.
How about you? Probably you will be one of the exceptions.
So why the grudge? Overwhelming majority of the Westerners aren't probably aobve anti-Islam racism. Yet, we live in democracy & democracy prevails.
Let the Muslim population grow to 20% in the US & witness what the scene would be in cases like M-U talks by the ex-terrorists.
11 - RJ Elliott
"Question arises: why aren't Western governments who discover these asshole Imams who preach violence rounding them up & deporting them back to the pissholes they came from?"
Well, that would be "racism" !!!
And we can't have any of that! After all, "racists" are worse than blood-thirsty fifth-column terrorists!
12 - MCH
"Martin, Bush is a moderate Republican. You haven't even begun to know fear yet."
- Dave Nalle
Didn't Vox Populi say that very same thing?
13 - Clavos
Listen we were attacked by a few guys with box cutters. Lets stop the drama.
According to moonraven, it was George Bush and the CIA.
14 - STM
A few guys with box cutters and who were quite fervent followers of a particular religious belief that is often practised by people wearing a particular type of headgear and who tend to be quite swarthy in appearance and come from a certain area of the middle-east closely associated with a very valuable, black, foul smelling liquied that is used to power motor vehicles many of which are made by a certain other country that we can't mention.
One thing I do know is, they weren't Iraqis.
15 - STM
PS, the use of the Fox News term homicide bombers and the general tone of this an previous articles lead me to suspect that the writer is probably not who or what he would want us to believe ...
16 - Mohjho
"..Bush is a moderate Republican."
Na, he is a moderately stupid, compassionate conservative Republican.
17 - Zedd
RJ
Racists ARE terrorists.
18 - Zedd
Alamgir
Westerners have already trampled all over the world. We are in the US because Westerners TERRORISED the native Americans, butchered them, 10million, and stole their land.
Extremist Muslims are doing what Europeans have already done and have gotten comfy with as if it was sanctioned by God. They are lording their world view over everyone... I think that is why we are in Baghdad today (forcing our way on them... 600,000 dead by the way).
Lets stop the drama. If we look at the West we will discover a great deal more atrocities all over the globe.
THAT is the truth.
19 - RJ Elliott
"Racists ARE terrorists."
As much as I'd like to see Al Sharpton wearing a suicide-bomber vest, that's not always the case...
20 - Winky
Zedd:
"There are millions of hate mongers, white supremacists, skin head types, yet we don't see whites storming the globe exposing them, in droves."
Well, hot damn! When was the last time I saw a pro-KKK movie being made? I believe it was way back in the silent era. What about white supremacists being a bad guy in a movie? Dude, I think there was a Tom Clancy movie made a few years ago that originally had Islamic extremists as villians but then changed to Neo-nazi type Europeans.
You want real examples though and not Hollywood stuff, I am sure. How about the Southern Poverty Law Center founded by Morris Dees and Joe Levin (two white guys)? Not only have they exposed racists, they broke the back of the KKK by bankrupting them.
I'd bring up other examples however I won't since I think you already made up your mind on the subject.
21 - Winky again
Zedd:
Yes, it's me again.
You seem to have a bent view of history. The 10 million Native Americans that died because of colonization is not the number killed by Americans but by Europeans on both continents, North and South America.
"Extremist Muslims are doing what Europeans have already done and have gotten comfy with as if it was sanctioned by God."
Correct me, but I seem to remember Muslims originated as Arabs who expanded to Northern Africa, Spain, Persia, India and several other locations before the Crusades began. It wasn't through peace and understanding; it was conquest. In fact, the Battle of Tours deterred the Muslims from advancing any further in Western Europe and the Crusades originally was to help the Byzantine empire from falling to the hordes of Islamic armies taking over their land.
But those things are in the past and should not be sins on Muslims today (much like your "butchering of Native Americans" example should not be an albatross for Americans today). However, the "God is on our side" mentality is not coming from Americans or their allies; it's coming from the extremists like Bin Laden. You doubt me? Read some of his speechs, just pick one at random because they all say it.
BTW the 600,000 dead number has been proven false. Lancet's study has been totally debunked. More creditable reports of casualities are between 35,000 to 70,000.
So can we stop the drama(tisation)? Look West for more atrocities all over the globe? Let's look East for some grusome events in the last century. Mao Tse-tung killed 38 million. Maybe I should move a bit closer to Mecca. Yahya Khan, a Muslim, killed 1.5 million. The Armenian Genocides include over 80,000 dead. Saddam killed between 50,000 and 100,000. All genocides.
22 - Alamgir Hussain
Islam's foot-soldiers are there everuwhere. We have them in good quantity amongst our communits, left-liberals & now KKKs & neo-Nazis have joined in.
Colonization art of modern understanding was spread by the Muslims first from whom the West took it up although after suffering terribly themslves. Islam's foot-soldiers of the Western variety would always ignore this vital fact and many more.
23 - Zedd
Winky
600,000 Iraqis dead TODAY because of us spreading "freedom", our new religion.
Stop the drama. The West agitates, supports atrocities and dictators all over the globe and has been doing it for hundreds of years.
Its quite comfy to look at others and demonize them. You have no idea that to others the West has been THE evil and still are.
Lets work on human rights instead of demonizing a people. Its foolish, especially for Westerners.
24 - Zedd
RJAs much as I'd like to see Al Sharpton wearing a suicide-bomber vest, that's not always the case...
You can spend the rest of your life partially understanding your world and holding on to ideas in order to make yourself feel comfortable OR you can really examine your life and confront the reality of your world and LIVE.
We in this country fail to understand race matters because of fear. Your statement demonstrates an unexamined aproach towards this issue. Its a very juvinille way of coping with a painful situation, tit for tat (of the highly unbalanced variety). What you truly know is that what you have stated has no weight or even relevancy to the significance of the racial issues of this land. Is simply smoke and mirrors, denial and a sheild against facing this obviously frightening issue for you.
25 - Zedd
Winky
You missed the point. The article WAS about an Islamic man who is revealing the ills of the Islamic world. He is not the only one by the way.
You named a few men who do the same thing about racism.
My point was in response to the FACT that we are no different. There are not DROVES (meaning multitudes) of people who stand up against the evils within our society. There aren't! We should expect Muslims to do what we DONT do.
BTW I am a female.