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Template:Muslims and controversies Walid Shoebat (Arabic: وليد شويبات) is an American citizen, born to a Palestinian father and American mother, and 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 radical Islam and supporter of Israel.

Shoebat's account of his life

According to the biography on his official website, 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.

In interviews, he confessed to being involved in a bombing at Bank Leumi in Bethlehem.^[1]

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.^{[citation needed]}

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^[3].

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."^[4]

He is the founder of the Walid Shoebat Foundation, an organization that claims to "work to fight for Israel in the Media [sic]." ^[5]

Controversy

Critics^[who?] have questioned Shoebat's story as well as those of other alleged converts from Islamic terrorism, saying they are evangelical Christians falsely claiming to be former Muslim terrorists. 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.^{[citation needed]}

The Jerusalem Post also disputed the authenticity of Shoebat's account of his terrorist history. According to the article, Shoebat claimed to have bombed the Bank Leumi, but that statement has been rejected both by Bank Leumi, which claims no such attack took place, and by Shoebat's own relatives. The Post also claimed that Shoebat was unable to pinpoint the date on which he had committed the attack. The article repeatedly refers to Shoebat's financial benefit from his role of being a former terrorist, of having been Muslim, and now having rejected Islam for Christianity. While Shoebat recalled having been pressured by teachers to adopt an extreme Islamic philosophy, and he and his classmates had been "indoctrinated as children to believe that the fires of hell were an ever-present reality" and that his only salvation was to "die in a martyrdom operation - to die for Islam", the Jerusalem Post article reported that his uncle, who still lives in Bethlehem and has terrorist ties, said that he received an ideologically "mild" education in which religion played little part. The article also reports that Shoebat's relatives share the name "Shoebat" despite unverified reports that he claimed that it is an assumed name, that Shoebat has contradicted himself (telling the Post that he didn't know whether the Bank Leumi bombing was reported in the media despite stating four years earlier that it had been), that the Walid Shobat Foundation is not registered as a charity in Pennsylvania, as Shobat claimed he thought it was (Shobat countered that it "was registered under a different name, but that he was not aware of the details, which are handled by his manager"), etc.^[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.^[6]

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 intimates the presence of anti-Semitism in Islamic and secular, Western countries.^[7]
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

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Luyken, Jorg (2008-03-30). "The Palestinian 'terrorist' turned Zionist". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2008-07-10. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ MacFarquhar, Neil (2008-02-07). "Speakers at Academy Said to Make False Claims". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-10. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Shoebat's autobiography on Shoebat.com
^ Wayne Kopping & Raphael Shore (2005). Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.
^ [1]
^ Shoebat, Walid (2008-04-09). "Right of Reply: I was a terrorist". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2008-07-10. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Books by Walid Shoebat

External links

Videos

[luyken-1] Luyken, Jorg (2008-03-30). "The Palestinian 'terrorist' turned Zionist". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2008-07-10. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[speakerneil-2] MacFarquhar, Neil (2008-02-07). "Speakers at Academy Said to Make False Claims". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-07-10. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[shoebatbio-3] Shoebat's autobiography on Shoebat.com

[4] Wayne Kopping & Raphael Shore (2005). Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West.

[5] [1]

[WS-6] Shoebat, Walid (2008-04-09). "Right of Reply: I was a terrorist". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2008-07-10. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

[7] Books by Walid Shoebat

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 {{Muslims and controversies}}
-'''Walid Shoebat''' ({{lang-ar|وليد شويبات}}) is an American citizen, born to a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] father and [[United States|American]] mother, and a former [[PLO]] terrorist <ref name="luyken"/>. This description has been questioned by some [[Middle East]] scholars.<ref name="speakerneil">{{cite news   | last = MacFarquhar  | first = Neil  | coauthors =   | title = Speakers at Academy Said to Make False Claims  | work =   | pages =   | language =   | publisher = [[New York Times]]  | date = 2008-02-07  | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/07muslim.html?_r=1&sq=Walid%20Shoebat&st=nyt&oref=slogin&scp=1&pagewanted=print   | accessdate = 2008-07-10}}</ref>  Shoebat came to public attention by becoming an ardent critic of radical [[Islam]] and supporter of [[Israel]].
+'''Walid Shoebat''' ({{lang-ar|وليد شويبات}}) is an American citizen, born to a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] father and [[United States|American]] mother, and a former [[PLO]] militant <ref name="luyken"/>. This description has been questioned by some [[Middle East]] scholars.<ref name="speakerneil">{{cite news   | last = MacFarquhar  | first = Neil  | coauthors =   | title = Speakers at Academy Said to Make False Claims  | work =   | pages =   | language =   | publisher = [[New York Times]]  | date = 2008-02-07  | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/07muslim.html?_r=1&sq=Walid%20Shoebat&st=nyt&oref=slogin&scp=1&pagewanted=print   | accessdate = 2008-07-10}}</ref>  Shoebat came to public attention by becoming an ardent critic of radical [[Islam]] and supporter of [[Israel]].
 ==Shoebat's account of his life==