UWM's Muslim Student Association and Walid Shoebat

Charlie points out that some students at UWM don't want former PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat to speak on campus.

This, of course, is the same university that opened its arms to 9/11 conspiracy nuts Kevin Barrett and James H. Fetzer.

But when someone like Shoebat is invited to deliver a lecture detailing the REALITY of his experiences and his transformation from a terrorist to a supporter of Israel, that's a problem. That presents a danger to students.

Charlie has the relevant MSA e-mails here.

To the UWM administration:

[I]t has been brought to our attention that an event entitled "Why I Left Jihad" is scheduled to take place at UWM on December 4th at 7:30PM in the Union Wisconsin Room. The speaker of the event is Walid Shoebat, a well known addict of hate-speech. His writing and speeches have deliberately rotated around inciting Americans with fear of Muslims and Arabs, associating them with terrorism. The
ramifications of allowing such hate-mongers to spread hate has been clearly driven in the physical attacks on Muslims, Arabs, or anyone with Middle-Eastern appearance following the events of September 11 th.

The Muslims at UWM feel that their safety will be in danger if the above mentioned event takes place on the UWM campus. We ask the UWM Administration to cancel the event due to these circumstances for the safety and comfort of the students. We take such an event as a direct attack on us and will hope the university will ask the sponsoring organizations to discontinue the program.

Nice try, but I assume that UWM will not bend on this one.

I think Muslims at UWM may have reason to fear for their safety on and around campus, but no more so than anyone else.

There's a disturbing increase in crime in the area. That's been documented. Be afraid, but not of Shoebat.

The idea that Walid Shoebat poses a threat to their safety is ludicrous.

Walid has spoken all over America and the world including Chile, Mexico, Canada, UK and South Africa. He has appeared on national television also all over the world including CNN, CNN International, FOX News, ITN, RTE, NBC, CBS, and ABC. He has also been featured on BBC radio 4 and 5.

Speaking Highlights:

Harvard Law School lecture

Special forum on Capital Hill Washington DC

Columbia Unversity lecture

Concordia University

UCLA, USC, University of Georgia, Washington University, Penn State, San Diego State and many others.

Keynote address to more than 700 Jewish leaders and rabbis from all over the world and North America at its Partners Conference in Stamford, CT, which is the highlight of Aish's calendar, and again in New York later in November.

Encounter conference, largest gathering of orthodox Jews in UK.

Jewish communities of St Petersburg, Memphis, St Louis, Scranton, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Albany, Dallas, Tampa, W. Palm Beach, Seattle, Cincinnati, Toronto, Motreal, Winnepeg, Calgary, Vancouver, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Rockville MD, Atlanta, St Louis, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and soon Las Vegas and Cleveland.

Look at that lengthy list.

After Shoebat's many, many appearances, have there been incidents of violence against Muslims that have been directly tied to Shoebat? Has a clear pattern emerged?

Of course not.

It's unreasonable for the MSA to demand that UWM cancel Shoebat's lecture.

I think it's extremely narrow-minded for these students to believe that non-Muslims at UWM are incapable of making the distinction between radical Muslims using Islam as an excuse to engage in terrorism and peaceful, law-abiding Muslims.

The MSA has the right to protest the event, but shutting it down would be a violation of free speech rights.