Few apologies for views on Islam

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.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazette.com