Shoebat's Message
Ex-PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat brought his message to Milwaukee on the evening of December 4 at UWM
The Audience: About 750 people attended (1). There were many Jews and Muslims, but the vast majority of the audience were apparently white Christian Milwaukeeans. The goal of bringing a pro-Israel message to a non-Jewish audience in a major public university setting was achieved.
Security: If JFK had such security, LBJ would never have become president. We all had to go through airport-style metal detectors, and the room was crawling with cops.
The Moderator: UWM Political Science Professor Shale Horowitz introduced Mr Shoebat and conducted the Q&A session after the speech. The mild-mannered academic was far too accomodating to the often raucous and militant questioners. We needed a Fred Thompson in this role, and got Woody Allen.
The Speaker: Walid Shoebat has an unusual background. The son of a Muslim Arab father and Christian American mother, Shoebat was raised in a suburb of Bethlehem and later emigrated to the United States. Although raised as a Muslim, he converted to Protestant Christianity in 1993. While living in the West Bank, he bombed an Israeli bank and participated in other intifada activities. Later, he led the Palestinian Student Association at Loop College in downtown Chicago.
The Message: Shoebat sees the Middle East conflict as primarily a religious, rather than nationalistic clash. His speech was loaded with quotations from the Quran about hating and someday killing Jews . Although he was careful to point out that there are good and bad people in every racial and religious group, Shoebat emphasized that Islam itself was inherently hostile to Jews, and he considered this (not a dispute over land) to be the source of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Unlike a dispute between two nations over territory, a conflict of religious ideology cannot be settled through diplomacy.(2)
Walid Shoebat told us what it was like to grow up as an Arab under Israeli occupation, and the attitudes he was expected to adopt. This view, which American audiences hear very rarely, was the most valuable part of his message.
He made clear that he is not a politician or diplomat, and could not offer any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than indefinite Israeli occupation of the West Bank. He also urged that Hamas be "crushed." Shoebat said his family was better off when Israel ruled all the West Bank than when the Palestinian Authority was given limited autonomy in the region, and that other Palestinians felt the same way, but were afraid to say so openly.
Shoebat is opposed to a Palestinian state, and so is out of step with the entire world, including the current government of Israel. A poker-player would describes Shoebat's position as a "weak hand."
Q&A Period: Although the audience was pretty quiet during the hour that Walid Shoebat spoke, noisy conflict soon began when anyone present was given the opportunity to ask the speaker a question from one of two microphones. (3) Most of the "questioners" were actually angry Muslims who used the opportunity to advertize a Muslim Student Association program about to start in the Union Ballroom or to condemn Shoebat and his message. Shoebat lambasted his critics with a booming voice; he seemed to relish the confrontations. Perhaps that is why members of the audience were permitted to ask questions out loud, rather than in writing
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(1) Estimate by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
(2) Former Ambassador Dennis Ross made the same point at his talk on November 18. However, Ross believes that by empowering moderate Palestinian leaders like Mahmoud Abbas, a durable settlement can be made.
(3) When Nonie Darwish, another Arab-American who supports Israel, spoke at Cardinal Stritch University, only written questions were permitted, to prevent exactly the type of outbursts that Shoebat faced.
I think that format should have been used this time, but apparently the speaker preferred vocal confrontation.
The Audience: About 750 people attended (1). There were many Jews and Muslims, but the vast majority of the audience were apparently white Christian Milwaukeeans. The goal of bringing a pro-Israel message to a non-Jewish audience in a major public university setting was achieved.
Security: If JFK had such security, LBJ would never have become president. We all had to go through airport-style metal detectors, and the room was crawling with cops.
The Moderator: UWM Political Science Professor Shale Horowitz introduced Mr Shoebat and conducted the Q&A session after the speech. The mild-mannered academic was far too accomodating to the often raucous and militant questioners. We needed a Fred Thompson in this role, and got Woody Allen.
The Speaker: Walid Shoebat has an unusual background. The son of a Muslim Arab father and Christian American mother, Shoebat was raised in a suburb of Bethlehem and later emigrated to the United States. Although raised as a Muslim, he converted to Protestant Christianity in 1993. While living in the West Bank, he bombed an Israeli bank and participated in other intifada activities. Later, he led the Palestinian Student Association at Loop College in downtown Chicago.
The Message: Shoebat sees the Middle East conflict as primarily a religious, rather than nationalistic clash. His speech was loaded with quotations from the Quran about hating and someday killing Jews . Although he was careful to point out that there are good and bad people in every racial and religious group, Shoebat emphasized that Islam itself was inherently hostile to Jews, and he considered this (not a dispute over land) to be the source of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Unlike a dispute between two nations over territory, a conflict of religious ideology cannot be settled through diplomacy.(2)
Walid Shoebat told us what it was like to grow up as an Arab under Israeli occupation, and the attitudes he was expected to adopt. This view, which American audiences hear very rarely, was the most valuable part of his message.
He made clear that he is not a politician or diplomat, and could not offer any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict other than indefinite Israeli occupation of the West Bank. He also urged that Hamas be "crushed." Shoebat said his family was better off when Israel ruled all the West Bank than when the Palestinian Authority was given limited autonomy in the region, and that other Palestinians felt the same way, but were afraid to say so openly.
Shoebat is opposed to a Palestinian state, and so is out of step with the entire world, including the current government of Israel. A poker-player would describes Shoebat's position as a "weak hand."
Q&A Period: Although the audience was pretty quiet during the hour that Walid Shoebat spoke, noisy conflict soon began when anyone present was given the opportunity to ask the speaker a question from one of two microphones. (3) Most of the "questioners" were actually angry Muslims who used the opportunity to advertize a Muslim Student Association program about to start in the Union Ballroom or to condemn Shoebat and his message. Shoebat lambasted his critics with a booming voice; he seemed to relish the confrontations. Perhaps that is why members of the audience were permitted to ask questions out loud, rather than in writing
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Estimate by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
(2) Former Ambassador Dennis Ross made the same point at his talk on November 18. However, Ross believes that by empowering moderate Palestinian leaders like Mahmoud Abbas, a durable settlement can be made.
(3) When Nonie Darwish, another Arab-American who supports Israel, spoke at Cardinal Stritch University, only written questions were permitted, to prevent exactly the type of outbursts that Shoebat faced.
I think that format should have been used this time, but apparently the speaker preferred vocal confrontation.
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 9:04 AM
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