Also, I wanted to shed some light on the article from
Pajamas Media that chef posted back in May and its author:
Pajamas Media Ground Zero Imam: ‘I Don’t Believe in Religious Dialogue’
Exclusive new translations from Arabic websites reveal Imam Faisel Abdul Rauf seriously misleads New Yorkers about his intention to infiltrate Shariah law through his Ground Zero mosque.
May 27, 2010- by Walid Shoebat
From Wikepedia:
Walid Shoebat (Arabic: وليد شويبات) is a Palestinian immigrant to the United States. He was born to a Palestinian father and American mother, and is a former PLO militant.[1] This description has been questioned by some Middle East scholars.[2] Shoebat came to public attention by becoming an ardent critic of Islam, and supporter of Israel.
Shoebat's account of his life
According to the biography on his official website (
WalidShoebat.com), Shoebat was born in Bethlehem, 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 joined the Palestine Liberation Organization in his youth, and was involved in attacks against Israel.[citation needed] Upon his release, Shoebat continued his anti-Israeli activism until he emigrated to the United States, where he became involved with the Arab Student Organization at Loop College in Chicago.[citation needed] Shortly afterwards Walid worked as a software engineer and became a US citizen. In 1993, Walid converted to Christianity after studying the Jewish Bible for 6 months in response to a challenge from his wife, initially trying to persuade her into converting to Islam.
Supposed bombing of Bank Leumi
Shoebat claimed that he threw a bomb at Bank Leumi, an Israeli bank, in Bethlehem.[1] However, the bank has no record of the incident. Also, Israeli newspapers at that time did not report any such incident.[3] The authenticity of Shoebat's account has been disputed by many sources.
The Jerusalem Post also disputed the authenticity of Shoebat's account of his terrorist history. The paper stated that Shoebat claimed bombing has been rejected both by Bank Leumi, which claims no such attack took place, and by Shoebat's own relatives. The Post said that Shoebat had contradicted himself on this matter. When, in 2008, the Jerusalem Post asked him if there were news reports about the bombing, he said,[1]
I don't know. I didn't read the papers because I was in hiding for the next three days.
But, in 2004, he had told Britain's Sunday Telegraph,
I was terribly relieved when I heard on the news later that evening that no one had been hurt or killed by my bomb.
During a telephone interview with the Post, Shoebat was unable to recall the date, or the time of year, of the attack. While Shoebat says he was pressured by teachers to adopt an extreme Islamic philosophy. The Jerusalem Post article reported that his uncle, who still lives in Bethlehem said that religion did not play a major role in his education, and that he had actually left Bethlehem by age 16.[1]
On April 9, 2008, Shoebat responded to the Jerusalem Post's skepticism on that paper's op-ed page. He wrote that the Jerusalem Post had been duped and that the sources they interviewed who disputed his own account of his upbringing, including his relatives, were themselves involved in terrorism, and want to see him discredited. He also claims that reporter did not interview reputable witnesses offered to him who would confirm the bombing operation of Bank Leumi.[4] He also posted a response on his website.
Views
After the September 11 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.[6]
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."[7]
He is the founder of the Walid Shoebat Foundation, an organization that claims to "work to fight for Israel in the Media [sic]." [8]
Shoebat believes Israel should retake the Gaza Strip, as it is Jewish by right. He says, "if a Jew has no right to Gaza, then he has no right to Jaffa or Haifa either." He advocates that Israel deport anyone who denies its right to exist, "even if they were born there."
Criticism
Critics, such as Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations have questioned Shoebat's story as well as those of other alleged converts from Islamic terrorism, saying they are fundamental Christians falsely claiming to be former Muslim terrorists.[9] Academic professors and others who have heard Shoebat and the two other evangelists he sometimes lectures with (Zachariah Anani and Kamal Saleem), complain they are too old to have been recruited for Islamic terror as teenagers since the ideology of Islamic jihad attacks "only became prevalent in the late 1980s," and the men are all middle age. Skeptics question as to why Shoebat has been able to retain his US citizenship, if it is true that he was involved in acts of terror.[10]
The Jerusalem Post, states that Shoebat has profited from his story that he was formerly a Muslim terrorist, but has rejected Islam for Christianity.[1]
When the Post asked Shoebat, whether the Walid Shoebat Foundation is a registered charity, he said that it was registered in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania State Attorney's office said it had no record of such a charity. When asked again, Shoebat claimed it was registered under a different name, but that he was not aware of the Foundation's registered name, nor any other details, which were known only to his manager. Dr. Joel Fishman, of the Allegany County Law Library in Pennsylvania, expressed doubts Walid Shoebat Foundation's donation process. He noted that if the money were being given to a registered charity, the charity would have to make annual reports to the state and federal government.[1]
Shoebat says that Daniel Pipes has supported him and his claims.
...... what can I tell ya .... 
