Walid Shoebat

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Walid Shoebat (Arabic: وليد شويبات) is an American citizen, born to a Palestinian father and American mother. Shoebat claims to be a former PLO terrorist.[1] Shoebat came to public attention by becoming an ardent critic of Islam and supporter of Israel. He describes himself as a former member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation who took part in terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. Shoebat has been criticized for alleged falsehoods and inconsistencies in his self-representation.

He is the founder of the Walid Shoebat Foundation, an organization that claims to combat anti-semitism.

Contents

[edit] Life

Many of the biological details of Shoebat's life have been disputed (see below). According to the biography on his official website, Shoebat was born in Bethlehem. He was the grandson of the Mukhtar of Beit Sahour, whom Shoebat describes as an associate of Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammad Amin al-Husayni. Shoebat's great grandfather, Abdullah Ali Awad-Allah, was also a fighter and close associate of both Abdul Qader and Haj Amin Al-Husseini.[citation needed] Shoebat claims to have joined the Palestine Liberation Organization in his youth and to have been involved in terrorist attacks against Israel.

His website claims that he was caught by the Israelis during a botched bombing attempt and was sent to prison. In interviews, however, he claimed to have been involved in a bombing at Bank Leumi in Bethlehem.[citation needed]

Upon his release, Shoebat continued his anti-Israeli activism until he migrated to the US, where he became involved with the Arab Student Organization at Loop College[citation needed] in Chicago. Shortly afterwards Walid worked as a software engineer and became a US citizen. In 1993, Walid converted to Christianity after intensely studying the Jewish Bible for 6 months in response to a challenge from his wife,[citation needed] initially trying to persuade her into converting to Islam.[citation needed] He has since studied various historical documents relating to Jewish and Middle East history.[citation needed]

[edit] Activism

After the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Shoebat became an active advocate against Islamism and a fervent supporter of the State of Israel. He has appeared on mainstream media around the world and has been portrayed as an expert witness on a number of documentaries on Islamism[2].

Shoebat argues that parallels exist between radical Islam and Nazism. He says, "Secular dogma like Nazism is less dangerous than Islamofascism that we see today ... because Islamofascism has a religious twist to it; it says 'God the Almighty ordered you to do this'.... It is trying to grow itself in fifty-five Muslim states. So potentially, you could have a success rate of several Nazi Germanys, if these people get their way."[3]

Shoebat believes that Jesus will descend from the heavens and lead a defensive battle to protect Israel from attacking enemies. [4]

[edit] Controversy and criticism

Many of Shoebat's public claims have come under scrutiny of falsehood.

A Mar 30, 2008 Jersualem Post report [1] raised several significant questions about Shoebat's claims about his past as well as his current activities:

1) Shoebat claims to have carried out a terrorist bomb attack against an Israeli bank before emigrating to the US. The Jerusalem Post, after interviewing Shoebat for details about the bombing, concluded that there is no evidence of any such attack.

2) Bank Leumi in Bethlehem, the target of Shoebat's alleged attack, has no record of an attack ever occuring.

3) Shoebat claims to use an assumed name for his personal safety. The Jerusalem Post located members of the Shoebat family in Beit Sahur, where he was raised, who remember him and recognize him with the name Walid Shoebat.

4) Shoebat has claimed to be descended from the "Grand Wizir of Islam" - however no such historical figure or title is known to exist.

5) Shoebat claims to operate a non-profit foundation in his own name, registered in the State of Pennsylvania. The Jerusalem Post was unable to verify that the foundation is indeed non-profit (the State of Pennsylvania has no records of a charitable organization with this name), and noted that all donations made through his website are sent to a private company called "Top Executive Greetings", raising the question of what use is made of funds donated to this alleged foundation.

The report concludes: "If the Bank Leumi bombing claim is unfounded, it is unclear why Shoebat would have wanted to manufacture a terrorist past. True or not, however, it has plainly brought him some prominence and provided him with a means to speak in favor of Israel and be paid for doing so." It should be noted that the Jerusalem Post is a politically right-leaning Israeli newspaper which has reported positively on Shoebat many times prior to the publication of this article.

An article on Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian website, describes him as a member of a "fanatic" sect (referring to his particular Evangelical Christian church) who makes "blatantly racist declarations against Islam" and believes that adherents to most Christian denominations are "false Christians"[5].[dead link]

Sheila Musaji said of Shoebat that "This is an extremist Christian terrorist. This is not a former terrorist. This is a man who used to hate Jews and now hates Muslims, who used to commit violence against Jews and now justifies violence against Muslims."[6]

In an article published in Internet magazine CounterPunch in 2004, Will Youmans noted that Shoebat had never come under criminal investigation in the US for his alleged terrorist activities, nor had he been threatened with deportation, although two other Palestinians in the US had faced deportation proceedings because of their alleged involvement with terrorist groups.

Youmans claims that Shoebat is effectively immune from prosecution or deportation because of his pro-Israel views. He also argues that Shoebat's religious convictions, including the belief that Jews will be forced to "accept Christ or perish in hell" when the Rapture comes, are intrinsically anti-Semitic.

Furthermore, Youmans contends that Shoebat's beliefs are incompatible with efforts towards peace, because of the premillennial, dispensational doctrine that the Second Coming of Christ will be hastened by conflict in the Middle East.[7]

[edit] Shoebat's Response

On April 9, 2008, Shoebat responded to the Jerusalem Post's skepticism with an op-ed defending his story. In it, he claims that the Jerusalem Post was duped and that the libelous remarks were made by his relatives who are who presently involved in aiding and abetting terrorism, including financial terrorism and bombings in Israel, and want to see him discredited. [8]

He also said that it was a shame that the Post published the article when he allegedly told the reporter that his witnesses are linked to terror and are wanted by the United States for major fraud and contraband. He also cited this as the reason as to why he didn't disclose their names in the article. He also claims that reporter did not interview reputable witnesses offered to him who would confirm the bombing operation of Bank Leumi. [8]

He states that the accusation that he never planted the bomb at Bank Leumi-Bethlehem Branch is merely the latest false allegation to be charged against him after previous claims that he was a Lebanese Phalangist and that he was never imprisoned in Jerusalem., both of which were subsequently disproved. [8]

In the op-ed, Shoebat offers his version of the story. He claims that one of his relatives and his sons illegally funneled millions from the US by defrauding the Social Security system and credit card companies. They used illegally obtained Israeli passports to smuggle themselves in and out of Israel. [8]

Shoebat further claims that the reported failed to mention the following important facts:

  • The prominent Jordanian lawyer Jawad Younis, who was deported by Israel for involvement in a terror ring and openly supports Hizbullah, is his relative. [8]
  • Another source had been part of a suicide bombing operation in Rishon Lezion in which a terrorist blew himself up and killed innocent Jews. [8]
  • And yet another source had been sentenced to life in prison for making bombs and attempting to kill Jews, then released by Israel through an international deal who Shoebat claims, is now free, willing and ready to testify against his that he was never a terrorist while denying he ever was one himself. [8]

He noted that the reporter attempts to discredit him by using a New York Times article which itself relied on CAIR, a pro-Islamic agency as experts. [8]He further states that this article was fully refuted and exposed by counter terrorism expert, Steve Emerson.[9]

He also noted that the reporter did not include confirmation presented by Daniel Pipes of Middle East Forum, a well respected and reputable expert who he says, examined many of his records - confiscated land deeds, birth certificates, newspaper reports on family connection to terror. [8] This claim is corroborated by Daniel Pipes who in May 18, 2006 stated in his forum that "Walid Shoebat took the time to visit me in my office today and to show me proofs that his life story is a true one. I accept that it is." [10]

[edit] Bibliography

  • Shoebat has written several online books including "Dear Muslim, Let Me Tell You Why I Believed" and "Israel, And The World's Mock Trial”, where he exposes anti-Semitism and the hatred of Jews in both the Islamic Countries and the secular western countries.[11]
  • Why I Left Jihad: The Root of Terrorism and the Return of Radical Islam
  • The Culture of Death: Coverage of testimony given by Shoebat.
  • From Hate to Love: Discusses the anti-semitic indoctrination of Palestinian children.
  • Walid Shoebat: A Testimony of Faith to Redemption
  • Why we want to kill you
  • In Satan’s Footsteps
  • The Forgotten Ally
  • Arabs Speak Frankly
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[edit] See also

[edit] Documentaries

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Palestinian 'terrorist' turned Zionist | Jerusalem Post
  2. ^ Walid Shoebat - Biography
  3. ^ Wayne Kopping & Raphael Shore. (2005). Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.
  4. ^ Marquette Warrior Blog, Live Blogging Walid Shoebat.
  5. ^ Fadi Kiblawi, Pro-Israel students host racist Islamophobe to speak for Israel, Electronic Intifada, 15 April 2004
  6. ^ Obsession: Radical Islam's War With the West?
  7. ^ Will Youmans, "A Deal with the Devil: A Palestinian Zionist and the End of the World," Counterpunch, May 5, 2004.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Walid Shoebat, "I was a terrorist," The Jerusalem Post April 9, 2008
  9. ^ CAIR’s Spin Doctor
  10. ^ Shoebat's response to Moshe Katz
  11. ^ Books by Walid Shoebat

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