3Xterrorists

Dear Editor, The letter below is in regards to a recent event at the King Center in Melbourne called "The confessions of 3 Ex-terrorists." I know there was a great deal of controversy surrounding this event, but for different reasons than mine below. I hope you will publish my letter in your newspaper. Thank you! Dana Humphrey

As the Director of Volusia PeaceCenter, I went to the King Center on Feb 25th to hear what the “3 ex-terrorists” had to say, and I found their on-stage ranting and fear mongering to be extremely disturbing and very detrimental to the peace efforts between Christians, Jews and Muslims. I'm not really sure how Walid Shoebat and Kamal Saleem can say that they are truly Christians and speak with such violent hatred towards another group of people. They stereotyped and demonized all Muslims and were very clear, that according to them, there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim. They bashed Islam while making money off their books and DVDs by playing to people’s fears after 9-11. The final speaker, a former CIA agent was the one bright spot of the evening; he spoke rationally and intelligently about the conflict in the Middle East. I hope that as Americans we will build bridges between people not walls. This last December, I stood at the foot of the 30-foot “Wall” in the little town of Bethlehem and cried for the people of Palestine. There are ways to peace, Jesus taught us "The Way" and this is not it.

Sarah Lund's Comments: The message of Walid Shoebat seriously jepardizes efforts for security, peace and understanding between Christians, Jews and Muslims. His presentation includes many references to violence and seemed to be a rally cry for "patriotic Americans" to respond with equal force as the terrorists. At one point during his talk, I wondered, " does he want me to burn down a mosque?" He also made a comment that seemed to justify killing innocent Muslim civilian women and children since the women will carry "the seed" of future terrorists and children become terrorists. He made alarming comments about the existence of Muslim student groups on University campuses, suggesting that these organizations should be viewed as terrorist cells. Unfortunately, my gut sense as I approached the King Center was that I was attending a KKK rally, and while in the auditorium listening to Walid, his hate-filled speech, generalizing the evil nature of Islam, confirmed my hunch. Why does he ignore the existence of major efforts by the international Islamic Community for peace, such as the Oct 2007 publication of a document where 138 Muslim clerics, scholars, and intellectuals from all the major sects signed a letter calling for peace between Muslims and Christians. The letter entitled, " A common word between Us and You," urging followers of the two faiths to find "common ground." "If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace," stated the letter. "with the terrible weaponry of the modern world, with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before, no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half the world's inhabitants.

On Feb 25th there was an event billed as "Confessions of 3 Ex-terrorists" at the King Center in Melbourne. Prior to this event, we had seen the announcement and decided to send a letter from our group to ministers in the Melbourne area. Four members of Volusia PeaceCenter attended the event and we have made comments regarding the event. See Letter here.

We hope that all of our members will stand with us against all types of prejudice and will help us build bridges not walls. We continue to strive to engage the community in open dialogue on a variety of issues.