Biography of Walid Shoebat

For the record, my name is Walid Shoebat. I used to be a radicalized Muslim willing to die for the cause of Jihad until I converted to Christianity in 1994. As a member of the PLO I was involved in terror activity, and was imprisoned in Jerusalem for three weeks. In prison, I was recruited to plant a bomb in Bethlehem as a result of which, thank God, no one was injured. My mother was an American and my father a Palestinian Arab. My parents sent me in 1978 to the United States to study at Loop College in Chicago Illinois. There I was recruited at a hotel “Terror Conference” by Jamal Said, a founder of the IAP (Islamic Association of Palestine) and Imam at one of the largest mosques in Chicago. The IAP was a forerunner to today’s Hamas terror organization and also to the terror front group CAIR (Council for American Islamic relations). This was in the early 1980s when I was being trained for Jihad activities in the USA along with many other young foreigners as well as US citizens. The Imams were the prime recruiters for terrorism then as they are still today and terror conferences are held all over the USA to this day. Here is a link to a sample we have on video which was held in 1989, over twelve years before the 9/11 attacks.

Today, Jamal Said is still the Imam of the Bridgeview Mosque in Chicago. Based on my eye witness testimony, he supports terrorism and and is a major player in the operations of the Jihadi movements in the USA – yet he is still free at large. I state the above so you know, Congressman King, my background and firsthand knowledge of the issue. I speak to the American people to warn and educate them about the very great dangers which are very underplayed both by our media and our political leaders.

Now that you have brief details of my background, I would like to offer my expert opinion, if you can call me an expert – but perhaps an experienced former terrorist would be more appropriate.

We focus on Al-Qaeda, yet the danger is not only from Al-Qaeda but also other Islamic terror groups. Our administration, however, focuses on a narrow tunnel. Let’s look at some examples: Abu Mezer, during 2007, intended to blow up a subway system. He was a member of Hamas, not Al-Qaeda. Najibullah Zazi was a member of Al-Qaeda, Shahzad belonged to the Taliban and Abu-Mezer was a member of Hamas – which one is a greater threat? All of these terrorists were influenced in one way or another by the Muslim Brotherhood, the cartel and mother umbrella of all terror organizations.

Our policy which places Al-Qaeda as the number one threat is an incorrect premise. All Islamist organizations should be a priority beginning with CAIR and ISNA (Islamic Association of North America). These, along with the MSA (Muslim Students Association), promote the Jihad terror agenda and are responsible for spreading Radical Islam. The US University campuses are a major recruiting ground for terrorists.

All terrorists are radicalized through undue influence by Islamist organizations beginning with their local Mosque as well as from abroad. The US home grown terrorists Zazi and Shahzad traveled to Qatar and Pakistan in August 2008 in an attempt to reach Afghanistan. They intended to “conduct Jihad against America [the] Occupier,” they said.

We need to stop recognizing the legitimacy of Muslim pressure groups. We must understand that these so-called moderate Muslims have been proven as misrepresenting themselves to the media and the public. They are part and parcel of the Muslim Brotherhood apparatus to distract the public and mislead people on the issues of the Radical Muslim agenda.

Imam Rauf, who has been given a significant level of respect by our government, is a supporter of terrorism. He made the follwing statement in Arabic: “People asked me right after the 9/11 attacks as to why movements with political agendas carry [Islamic] religious names. Why call it ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ or ‘Hezbollah (Party of Allah)’ or ‘Hamas’ or ‘Islamic Resistance Movement’? I answer them this — that the trend towards Islamic Law and Justice begins in religious movements, because secularism has failed to deliver what the Muslim wants, which is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Imam Rauf also said, “The only law that the Muslim needs exists already in the Koran and the Hadith.” From an article titled “Sharing The Essence Of Our Beliefs” by Feisal Abdul Rauf, Al-Ghad Newspaper in Jordan, 5/9/2009 http://www.alghad.com/?article=12635.

While we can assume that Feisal Abdul Rauf will not participate in an explosive act, he sure supports organizations that trend towards what he calls “Islamic Law and Justice.” His words are more encouraging to the terrorists than they are to seeking a bridge to peace and harmony between Muslims and Non-Muslims in the US. The rhetoric of Islamic leaders in the Arabic language needs to be closely monitored, as it can identify them as fomenters of hate and terrorist recruiters.

Mainstream Muslim organizations that purport to act in the interests of our nation as loyal citizens are beyond a doubt, doing quite the opposite. Statements worse than those of Imam Rauf, including direct financial and moral support to Islamic terrorists, have been carried out by members of all the major Islamic organizations in America and are the purveyors of radicalism.

Ghassan Elashi of CAIR is serving 65-year prison sentence for funneling over 12 million dollars from the Holy Land Foundation to Hamas. Mousa Abu Marzook, a former CAIR official, was designated in 1995 by the U.S. government as a “terrorist and Hamas leader.” He now is a Hamas leader in Syria. Randall Royer, CAIR’s former civil rights coordinator, began serving a 20-year prison sentence in 2004 for aiding Al-Qaeda and the Taliban against American troops in Afghanistan as well as recruiting for Lashkar e-Taiba, the jihadist group responsible for the 2008 Jihad massacres in Mumbai. Bassem Khafagi, CAIR’s former community relations director, was arrested for involvement with the Islamic Assembly of North America, which was linked to Al-Qaeda. After pleading guilty to visa and bank fraud charges, Khafagi was deported. Rabih Haddad, a former CAIR fundraiser, was deported for his work with the Global Relief Foundation (which he co-founded), a terror-financing organization.

The number one radical Islamic organization in the USA is CAIR, which needs to be probed and shut down for sponsoring terror. Many peace-loving Muslims do support a probe of CAIR and the other major Islamic organizations. Those who don’t are likely supporting the radical agenda. While the terrorists’ goal is to spread Sharia, the Islamist political agenda creates radical Muslims, both of which have a goal to threaten our Constitution and replace it with Sharia law. Both act simultaneously to eradicate our way of life.

Congressman King:

Jihad, or what we define as Terrorism, comes in three forms – Jihad by the pen, Jihad by the sword and Jihad by finance. When one is not in a position of military strength he uses the pen, or propaganda. If one has military strength, he uses violence, including acts of terror. Jihad by finance comes in the form of money to fund both the propaganda and the terror. The major criticism of your hearing has come from CAIR and other major Muslim organizations, and the reason is simple – your efforts may threaten to expose their real agenda.

Engagements

Walid has spoken all over America and the world including Chile, Mexico,
Canada, the UK and South Africa. He has also appeared on national television stations all over the world including CNN, CNN International, FOX News,
ITN, RTE, NBC, CBS, and ABC. He has also been featured on BBC
radio 4 and 5.

Speaking Highlights

• Lecture at Harvard Law School
• Special Forum on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC
• Lecture at Columbia Unversity
• Lecture at Concordia University
• Lectures at UCLA, USC, University of Georgia, Washington University, Penn State, San Diego State and many others.
• Keynote Address to more than 700 Jewish leaders and rabbis from all over North America and the world at the Aish Partners Conference in Stamford, CT, the highlight of Aish’s calendar, and again in New York later in November.
• Encounter Conference, the largest gathering of Orthodox Jews in the UK.
• Jewish communities of St. Petersburg, Memphis, St. Louis, Scranton, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Albany, Dallas, Tampa, W. Palm Beach, Seattle, Cincinnati, Toronto, Montreal, Winnepeg, Calgary, Vancouver, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Rockville, MD, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and soon Las Vegas and Cleveland.

Press

• Walid’s story was published in the Irish Times, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Express UK (Front Page), and a multitude of papers in the USA.
• He has appeared on ITN news with Angela Rippon and BBC radio 4 and radio 5, Israel National News, the Janet Parshall Show, the Dennis Prager Show, Michael Medved, the Glen Beck Show, as well as QR77 Calgary, CHQR Winnipeg, America Tonight, WABC, WTIC, WKBN, the BBC News web site, the Jerusalem Post, World Net Daily, Arlene Peck’s cable TV show, and the Capitol Report, an affiliate of CNN in Albany. Walid has done more than 100 radio shows in the last six months alone.

Advocacy for Muslims

• Spoke to Muslims (including Palestinians) at Hayward State Univ. in California, featured on the video “A Palestinian’s Journey.”
• Appeared on the American Iranian TV (Muslim) satellite station, broadcast all over Iran.
• · Advocate for Afghan Muslims in Northern California — helped them save their businesses which were being threatened by closure from unscrupulous city council members – also fought against discrimination against Afghan Muslims

Other Notable Events

• Walid was a keynote speaker, along side Israeli Tourist
  Minister Benny Elon and Janet Parshall, at the National Radio Broadcasters Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• Conducted national press conference in Washington, DC
  on Capitol Hill and met with members of Congress,
  and another national press conference in Great Britain in May 2004.
• Keynote speaker for Asper Foundation, Winnipeg Canada, Americans Against Terrorism, Judeo-Christian Zionist Congress, Faith Bible Chapel, Resurrection Anglican Fellowship, North Creek Church, Netivot Shalom, Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, Jewish Business League, Temple Isaiah, Beth-Shalom.
• Met with leaders of major Jewish organizations including AJC, American Jewish Congress, Hadassah and Young Israel, with more planned.
• Walid’s brand new video, Redemption is now available for sale.
  Walid’s new book, Why I left Jihad, available in December,
  is fascinating reading for those who want to learn about prophecy
  in the Tanach.

Excerpts From Those Who Have Heard Him:

• The Jay Blog, The Falseness of Anti-Americanism, Tuesday,
  September 9, 2003:
  “So far, Fouad Ajami, Salman Rushdie, Ali Salem, “Newsweek”
  columnist Fareed Zakaria, Walid Shoebat, Irshad Manji are some of
  the vocal moderates from that part of the world who do not view everything
  through a veil of Islamic and xenophobic hatred.”
• Central Connecticut State University Professor Jay Bergman,
  President of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Association of
  Scholars:
  Shoebat’s talk was “a revelation, even for someone
  like myself,…an unequivocal and enthusiastic supporter of Israel
  and the democratic principles it practices.” That Shoebat had
  participated in violence gave “his testimony a special credence
  and credibility that it might otherwise lack. All those on the left
  and in America and Europe who turn a blind eye to the blatant and
  vicious anti-Semitism pervasive in the Middle East should be required
  to attend one of [his] lectures.”
• Frank Gaffney Jr, president of the Center for Security Policy:
  “In the 25 years I have been in Washington I have never
  heard anything so extraordinary and the truth be so eloquently spoken
  by someone like this.”
• Rabbi Paul Silton of Temple Israel, Albany:
  “Walid Shoebat’s commitment to the pursuit of
  truth and his courageous efforts to combat hatred are awe-inspiring.”
• Rabbi Brian Rubenstein from Aish Hatorah (UK):
  “I feel that your trip has been one of the highlights of the
  year for our organization.”
• Kol Israel Wesleyan University student Todd Stock:
  “The evening was a success; everyone I spoke with
  was impressed…. [Many] people…left with a newfound understanding.”
  For once, he said, the perpetrators of hatred were silenced.
• A Christian supporter of Israel after hearing him at Wesleyan
  University campus:
  “It’s about time such a message was heard.”