Shoebat, Saleem, and Anani - Three Arab Villages Are Missing Their Idiots

by Sheila Musaji

In 2006 I wrote an article about an event I attended in Saint Louis at which the film Obsession was shown and the speaker who was invited to prove the film’s point was Walid Shoebat.  As I said in the article,  “The speaker at this film was billed as a “former” PLO terrorist turned Christian/Zionist.  Walid Shoebat claims to live in California under an assumed name with protection from the Islamic radicals who have declared a “fatwa” to kill him.  He made many undocumented claims, and most shockingly said that it was time to stop working for peace - it is time to start taking real action. .  A review of his radio interview before the St. Louis presentation, as well as a review of statements at other showings of this film, and of his website http://www.abrahamic-faith.com is very revealing.  He has said “Please take back the holy Temple Mount.” He has said “We need to choose war.” He has sanctioned the use of extrajudicial assassinations.  This is a man who wants to hurry Armageddon and the rapture along, at which time the Messiah will come and the Jews, Muslims, and everyone who does not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God will be killed and sent to hell.  This is anti-Semitic and Islamophobic.  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.”

Shoebat is now a part of a three man road show - Walid Shoebat, Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani, billed as the “3 ex-terrorists” who go around the country villifying Islam.  They were even invited to appear recently at the U.S. Air Force Academy to enlighten the students.  And, they have a “3 ex-terrorists” website. 

I certainly doubt the veracity of the Islamophobic statements made by this group, as do most sane people, and am more than a little concerned about the effects this concerted propoganda effort will have in poisoning people’s minds and sidelining people from serious consideration of real issues and solutions.

Chris Hedges writes about these three in “The War Against Tolerance”,  “These three con artists are not the problem. There is enough scum out there to take their place. Rather, they offer a window into a worldview that is destroying the United States. It has corrupted the Republican Party. It has colored the news media. It has entered into the everyday clichés we use to explain ourselves to ourselves. It is ignorant and racist, but it is also deadly. It grossly perverts the Christian religion. It asks us to kill to purify the Earth. It leaves us threatened not only by the terrorists who may come from abroad but the ones who are rising from within our midst.”

I question the veracity of their statements, and also questioned Shoebat’s story about his past.  It would seem that my doubts about Shoebat’s credentials were accurate.  There have now been a number of articles written questioning almost every aspect of the biographies of these individuals.

Chris Rodda reports Walid Shoebat, Zachariah Anani, and and Kamal Saleem. Shoebat, who appears in Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West and sells the film on his website, has also spoken at Tim LaHaye’s Pre-Trib (Pre-Tribulation) Research Center conferences and John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel (CUFI) events. Zachariah Anani is a Lebanese-born Canadian citizen who claims to have killed 223 people while a Muslim terrorist. Kamal Saleem, under his real name, Khodor Shami, worked for Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network for sixteen years, was hired by James Dobson’s Focus on the Family in 2003, and founded Koome Ministries in 2006 to “expose the true agenda of [Muslims] who would deceive our nation and the free nations of the world.”

Israel E News ran an article “Credentials of USAF paid “3 ex-Terrorists” including Shoebat Challenged” 

A Canadian paper notes in an article “Doubt cast on Anani’s terrorist claims “Tom Quiggin, Canada’s only court-qualified expert on global jihadism and a former RCMP intelligence and national security expert, said Anani’s tales of terror and murder just don’t jibe with the time and place he claims to have been killing.”

Eileen Fleming wrote an article questioning Shoebat’s biography to which Shoebat issued a rebuttal entitled “I Was a Terrorist; In Defense of My Identity, Story and Credentials”.  His insistence on his terrorist credentials leads to the next topic.

Not only are the specifics of their supposed past histories being questioned, but a very interesting question is coming from many - If these individuals are openly admitting having been terrorists (one of them claims more than 200 kills), then why are they not being deported or arrested, and why would the U.S. Air Force Academy invite such criminals to speak?  This is a good question.  Even if they have now “gone straight”, just like any criminal, they should first pay their debt to society before being allowed to live among the rest of us. 

When Shoebat recently spoke at UC Davis, the Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV) “called on campus police at the University of California - Davis (UC Davis) to detain a speaker who openly states that he has committed acts of terror.”

“The question is if the three were actually terrorists then why they weren’t jailed or deported? Robert Birach, an immigration law attorney in Detroit, says the men would have had to have disclosed their affiliation with the PLO on their applications to become U.S. citizens if what they claim is true. “Failure to list the affiliation on the citizenship application is enough to go back and open the file and charge them with fraud and perjury,” Birach said. “And now they are admitting to being former terrorists. So under the Real ID Act, that’s enough for their removal from the United States.”  Abdus Sattar Ghazali 

A NY Times article - Speakers at Academy Said to Make False Claims  notes that “Arab-American civil rights organizations question why, at a time when the United States government has vigorously moved to jail or at least deport anyone with a known terrorist connection, the three men, if they are telling the truth, are allowed to circulate freely. A spokesman for the F.B.I. said there were no warrants for their arrest.”

Canada certainly has some questions about this issue as it denied Shoebat entry into the country because of his supposed past terrorist activities

Liddy guest Walid Shoebat falsely claimed that Obama is “definitely a Muslim”.

Shoebat told a Missouri newspaper that he sees “many parallels between the Antichrist and Islam” and “Islam is not the religion of God — Islam is the devil.”

Chris Hedges notes Shoebat, who has written a book called “Why We Want to Kill You,” promises in his lectures to explain the numerous similarities between radical Muslims and the Nazis, how “Muslim terrorists” invaded America 30 years ago and how “perseverance, recruitment and hate” have fueled attacks by Muslims.

Kamal Saleem is no more trustworthy.  As Doug Howard noted in a review of Saleem’s book The Blood of the Lambs:  The signature of his deception was his statement that “in my family was the Grand Wazir of Islam.” The term is ridiculous, a spurious title meant to mislead the innocent with an aura of authority.”  Howard goes into a great deal of detail about the book and Saleem’s claims, but this is enough to tarnish his truth telling credentials.

I’m not certain that their original villages would want them back, but we don’t need them here.

UPDATE 12/7/2010

Shoebat has insinuated himself into the Cordoba House/Park 51 controversy.  He falsely claims that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf wrote of a “Judenrein” Israel.  He also made false claims about Imam Abdul Rauf saying one thing in English and another in Arabic.

Chip Berlet reports that The official Fort Hood anniversary memorial event was held on November 5, 2010.  The upcoming competing event is titled “Reclaiming America at Fort Hood,” and one website promoting the event states “America had enough of diversity, liberalism, appeasement, and silence. Diversity starts with the truth.” According to advertisements, the event will take place November 21st 2010 at the Killeen, Texas Conference Center. The event is being organized by the Forum For Middle East Understanding. Among the key speakers announced are Robert Spencer, Walid Shoebat, retired General William Boykin, and Kamal Saleem.    On Shoebat’s website the event is described as “About Honor over Dishonor, Truth over Lies, and Facts over Self Delusion.” It goes on to state that a “primary sponsor of the event is the ICTOA (International Counter Terrorism Officers Association). 

These idiots just can’t resist a chance to make a dollar off the misery of others.

UPDATE 3/17/2011

Missouri has joined the rash of states proposing anti-Sharia legislation, and of course at least one of the village idiots had to show up at the Missouri House of Representatives - by telephone - to testify to a legislative committee on behalf of passing the bill.  In this case it was Kamal Saleem. 

“Freedom of speech, pursuit of happiness, freedom of thought — these are illegal in Islam because they are death. Those who practice those things, they are commanded to die by the sword of Islam because they are anti-Sharia law,” Saleem said. “In Islam, you cannot think or have your own freedom.”  AP

Rudy Keller reports that Missouri State Rep. Don Wells, R-Cabool, said his measure, which has more than 100 co-sponsors, is like a vaccine.  “Did you get a polio vaccine?” Wells asked during an exchange with Rep. Jason Kander, D-Kansas City.  “So Shariah law is like polio; it is a terminal disease?” Kander asked.  “Absolutely,” Wells said.

Obviously Wells has been listening carefully to the Islamophobes.

UPDATE 6/20/2011

Shoebat just can’t restrain himself from getting involved in every Islamophobic conspiracy theory out there.  He has inserted his own special take on the Anthony Weiner/ Huma Abedin marriage.

UPDATE 7/14/2011

CNN’s Anderson Cooper has aired Part I of a two part series which debunks Walid Shoebat’s message and credentials.  The first segment was titled “Terror training fraud?”.  They investigated many of his claims and found no evidence that they are true.

CNN has now broadcast the second part of its investigation into into Walid Shoebat this time focusing on Shoebat’s finances and accountability.  Richard Bartholomew discusses this segment here.

FURTHER READING

700 Club Features Story Of Phony Ex-Terrorist Kamal Saleem http://www.loonwatch.com/2011/11/700-club-features-story-of-phony-ex-terrorist/
Air Force Grants Equal Time to Critics of ‘Ex-Terrorists’ http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?mid1=674&&ArticleID=24331&&name=n&&currPage=1
Anti-Islam Air Force Academy Speaker a ‘Fraud’  http://www.muslimmilitarymembers.org/article.php?story=20080207030741376
Fanatics Defame Murdered U.S. Soldiers, Chip Berlet http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2010/11/21/chip-berlet-fanatics-defame-murdered-u-s-soldiers/
Brigitte Gabriel and ACT for America, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/brigitte_gabriel_and_act_for_america1/
History of Obsession: Radical Islam’s War With the West, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/history_of_obsession_radical_islams_war_with_the_west/
Islamic Sharia and Jewish Halakha Arbitration Courts , Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/islamic_sharia_and_jewish_halakha_arbitration_courts/
Mixed Message: The testimony of Kamal Saleem, a self-described former terrorist, Doug Howard http://www.booksandculture.com/site/utilities/print.html?id=87522
The Palestinian Terrorist Turned Zionist http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1206632362598&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A Palestinian Zionist and the End of the World http://www.counterpunch.org/youmans05052004.html
Kamal Saleem, the Fraud!, http://mujtahed.wordpress.com/2010/10/17/kamal-saleem-the-fraud/
Kamal Saleem’s Fanciful Conversion Figures http://thefactsaboutislam.blogspot.com/2010/10/abnsat-hoax-kamal-saleems-fanciful.html
Shoebat says we need to choose war ‘We Need to Choose War!’  http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/7/27/174342.shtml
Shoebat omits instances of kindness http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=13205
The Three Stooges Coming to a Campus Near You!  http://www.loonwatch.com/2009/04/the-three-stooges-coming-to-a-campus-near-you/
USAF Pays Fake “Terrorism Experts” Speakers To Bash Islam ? http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/02/08/452610/-USAF-Pays-Fake-Terrorism-Experts-Speakers-To-Bash-Islam-
War against tolerance, Chris Hedges http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080211_the_war_against_tolerance/
Weekend of Anti-Islam Events in Texas, Richard Bartholomew http://barthsnotes.wordpress.com/2010/11/23/weekend-of-anti-islam-events-in-texas/
Would three former terrorists be invited by the U.S. Air Force Academy to speak?  http://www.mmdnewswire.com/three-former-terrorists-2871.html

SOME OTHER MEMBERS OF THE LARGER ANTI-ISLAM ARAB P.R. TEAM

The Islamophobic Industrial Complex: What are the Quasi Muslims Really Selling? ( Nonie Darwish, Brigitte Gabriel et al )  “A grave consequence of legitimizing these polarizing and obscurantist personalities is that it takes away from the scholars, academics, and lay people that are engaged in real reform and criticism. Voices such as those of Tariq Ramadan, Khaled Abu Fadl, Heba Ezzat, Suhaib Webb and others are voices that have a pulse on the Muslim community and are much more deserving of a hearing from the wider public.”  http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/44416

Islamophobia and self-hating Arabs http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/islamophobia_and_self_hating_arabs/

Trends and Flaws in Some Anti-Muslim Writing as Exemplified by Ibn Warraq http://www.islamawareness.net/FAQ/warraq1a.html

Ed Husain: The ‘Islamist’ bogeyman http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/taji_mustafa/2007/05/the_islamist_bogeyman.html

A Muslim Response to Dennis Prager’s Five Questions http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/a_muslim_response_to_dennis_pragers_five_questions/

Wafa Sultan’s Lost opportunity http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/a_lost_opportunity_response_to_dr_wafa_sultan/

Wafa Sultan: Reformist or Opportunist? http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/4009/135/

Many responses to the claims of particular individuals and organizations http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/responses_to_claims_made_by_specific_individuals_and_organizations_article_/

originally posted 2/19/2008