Monday, January 29, 2007

Protest 1/30: Walid Shoebat--From "Terrorist" to Terrorist Supporter

The pseudonymous Walid Shoebat and friends are coming to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor on Tuesday, January 30, 2007. They will be in the Rackham Auditorium courtesy of Young Americans for Freedom. If their stories are to be believed they have gone from being terrorists to supporting Israeli state terrorism.

Shoebat's name isn't the only thing that rings false. Shoebat and his companions bill themselves as "THE 3 EX-TERRORISTS." One of them, Zachariah Anani, claims to have killed 223 people. Shoebat was refused entry into Canada last month and Anani may be facing criminal charges in Canada where he now lives. Inquiring minds (but not at the Detroit News) would like to know how Shoebat, Anani, and the third Zionist musketeer--Kamal Saleem--travel so freely to and within the United States even as they claim to have committed numerous terrorist acts.

By contrast, although the US government never filed criminal charges against him, former Ann Arborite Rabih Haddad was accused of "raising funds for terrorist acts," jailed for 19 months, and eventually deported. Then there's the case of Ibrahim Parlak, a West Michigan restaurateur who has lived in the US for 15 years without incident. The Department of Homeland Security is trying to have Parlak deported on terrorism and related charges--charges Parlak denies. So, maybe some intrepid reporter at the Michigan Daily, Ann Arbor News, or Detroit Free Press will ask the three ex-terrorists AND the Department of Homeland Security about this obvious disparity of treatment.

It would be nice if they also asked Shoebat and his buddies about their links to Pat Robertson. I tried to ask Shoebat's gal pal Brigitte Gabriel about her ties to Robertson last month but the question screeners rejected that question. Like Gabriel, Shoebat is an ardent Christian Zionist and, apparently, well-paid for his services to Israel and Jewish supremacy in Palestine. The two made a film together called "From Hate to Love - Two Arabs' Journeys." My own theory is that the Robertson connection is taboo because it would hurt the standing and finances of Gabriel and et al. with the Jewish Zionist community. You see, the Apocalyptic eschatology and reactionary theology of most Christian Zionists is disturbing to more than a few Jews--Zionist or not.

I had thought about encouraging Muslims, Arabs, and their friends and allies to give the three "ex-terrorists" a proper welcome but the last time I did something like that it sent Brigitte Gabriel and the lemmings of the right-wing blogosphere into a frenzy of paranoia and hate. We wouldn't want that to happen again. So, I just refer you to the protest call below that I received from Shimaa Abdelfadeel.

See also:
###

"WEAR YELLOW.WALK OUT"
Take a stance with numerous progressive groups on campus this Tuesday, January 30th as we WALK OUT of the Young Americans for Freedom event titled: "The Three Ex-terrorists" at Rackham Auditorium at 7pm. Wear YELLOW and be SEEN. Seats are extremely limited - get there at 6!

YAF's discriminatory views will not be tolerated on this campus. YAF has continuously advocated for intolerance towards numerous organizations on campus. This event specifically advocates for racism and intolerance towards the Arab and Muslim communities. Join hundreds of students as we Walk Out of the event and reconvene to speak out against YAF and the discriminatory views they stand for. The event starts at 7 and we will be walking out shortly after the speakers begin.

  • YAF sponsored and put on the infamous "Catch an illegal immigrant Day" here at the University where they asked students to walk around campus searching for "an illegal immigrant".
  • According to the City Pulse, "YAF is likely to get 'hate group' status by the Southern Poverty Law Center and members held protest signs that read 'Straight Power!' and ' End Faggotry!' at a Lansing City Council meeting where a civil rights ordinances to protects Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender people." http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=683&Itemid=99999999
  • MSU's YAF leader on MCRI: "Pretty sad that all these groups exist to advocate different groups of people based on their ethnicity or skin color… Personally I would like to see all these groups go away."
SHOW UP AT 6:00. WEAR YELLOW. AND WALK OUT IN SOLIDARITY.

Labels: , , , ,


Comments:
I wanted to make an observation that I hope is helpful. And I mainly wanted to do this because I have been disturbed for a long time about how this issue is “debated” here in Ann Arbor, with open hostility on both sides, which is not conducive to either side really listening to the other. The observation I want to make is to juxtapose two items from your blog entry that you reference below. The fist item is a quotation on the top of the page, the second is the title of your blog entry:

To defeat the aggressors is not enough to make peace durable. The main thing is to discard the ideology that generates war. —Ludwig von Mises, Human Action (4th ed.), p. 832.


Protest 1/30: Walid Shoebat--From "Terrorist" to Terrorist Supporter


Herein lies a subtle, but vital, contradiction. When I compare the phrase “ideology that generates war” with the way the title of the blog entry is worded (with the word terrorist in quotes when it refers to what Walid Shoebat referred to himself in the past, and the words terrorist supporter not in quotes when it refers to Walid Shoebat in the present), I see that within this very title is an open display of anger, judgment, and perhaps even aggression, as you imply that the Israelis are the real “terrorists.” This is not to say that anger is not justified...I think it clearly is, in light of all of the horrible actions of the Israeli state over the generations. But, to really “discard the ideology that generates war,” I believe is to truly love your enemies, to hold absolutely no resentment (in the true Nietzschean sense), and to say: “I hear you...I disagree with you....and I love you.”



I hope this observation helps...it’s truly meant to make the Palestinian supporters more philosophically and spiritually legitimate, by encouraging the side of justice to also be the side of unconditional love.



Thanks,



-Joel
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?