Yesterday I went to an event sponsored by the University of California Irvine College Republican. As my ticket said, to hear the confessions of three former terrorists. The three speakers were Walid Shoebat, Zak Anani, and Kamal Saleem. They talked about their experiences growing up as Muslims in the Middle East and the hatred that was engendered in them against Jews and America.

A local newspaper The Daily Pilot covered the event. The article reports a response to the speakers.

Marya Bangee, the spokeswoman of UCI’s Muslim Student Union, didn’t attend the 3 Ex-Terrorists’ appearance but said she was dismayed that the College Republicans had invited them to campus.

“I think it’s a disturbing event,” she said. “The College Republicans should know better. From what I hear, the Ex-Terrorists are against Islam, and they try to equate Islam with terrorism.”

While the speakers did equate their experiences as Muslims to militant hatred toward Jews and often America, I think it would be more disturbing if the event was cancelled due to fear of people getting upset.

It was an interesting event. I hope we can get some similar speakers at Berkeley next year. A debate between the three speakers and opposing people would be even better, but I don’t think that would happen.

In another way I was disappointed. From what I had heard about the happenings at UCI I expected to see some kind of disagreement about the event. I did not see any protesters, only one random guy holding an anti-Bush and Cheney sign. Outside the Bren Center security wanded and patted everyone down before entering.

Yesterday there was an interview (linked here) on Fox News with Walid Shoebat and UCI student Reut Cohen. It lets you see Shoebat in action speaking and talks about other activities at UCI. I would also recommend Reut Cohen’s blog for a firsthand account of the continuing controversies in Irvine.