A man raised in the violence of Palestinian terrorism is now speaking out against the life he used to live.
Walid Shoebat is a former Palestinian terrorist who believes that the truth about Islam is widely misunderstood and misleadingly presented throughout the world.
In his youth, Shoebat joined the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). As a member he was involved in attacks against Israel and was later imprisoned in the Russian Compound.
“I planted a bomb in a bank in Bethlehem called Bank Leumi, I got involved in many of the riots in the Palestinian areas, in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, I nearly beat an Israeli soldier to death, and stonings. So from bombing to stoning and fundraising for terrorism, I did it all,” said Shoebat.
Shoebat was trained by Jamal Said, who is a colleague of Sayyed Imam Al-Sharif, the Godfather of Al’Quida. After his training Shoebat was involved with the Muslim Brotherhood in Chicago, Illinois.
“The main goal of the Muslim Brotherhood is to destroy the West from within, take over the American government, and replace it with Shariah Law, otherwise known as Islamic Law,” said Shoebat.
After coming to the United States Shoebat became a counselor for the Arab Student Organization in Chicago and continued his anti-Israel activities.
While in the U.S Shoebat met a Christian woman named Maria and they fell in love. He attempted to convert her to Islam and she attempted to convert him to Christianity. They compromised by exchanging challenges. She would read the entire Quran and he would read the whole Bible. After studying the Bible for six months Shoebat converted from extremist Islam to Christianity in 1993.
“I have challenged everything in the bible, I have hated God’s people, I have persecuted the Jewish people, and by reading the bible, I have found that it is an amazing manuscript,” said Shoebat.
In the middle east, questioning Islam can be punishable by death. Because Shoebat has chosen to speak out against terrorism, his family is constantly faced with security issues.
“The question I always ask myself is why are the Muslim Movement and the terrorists able to give their names and the Islamist movement in the West has no problem giving their addresses, but I have to be in hiding? It is because Christians don’t kill the Muslims, it is the Islamists who kill the Christians,” said Shoebat.
Since his conversion Shoebat has spoken at universities across the country. He has appeared on FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and has been interviewed on countless radio stations. Many of his views are controversial. He even claims that deception is a regular tool of Muslims.
“When I was disseminating Islamic dogma and revolutionary causes for the PLO in Chicago, I would invite Americans to come to a ‘cultural party’ when indeed it had nothing to do with a cultural party, it had something to do with collecting donations for the PLO for the cause of Islam,” said Shoebat.
Shoebat warns westerners to observe things said in Arabic rather than English. For example, the invitations to the ‘cultural party’ were pamphlets which stated in Arabic, “We are conducting a Jihad expedition against Israel in the west. Bring your friends so we can raise the funds.” In English it was an invitation to attend a cultural party.
Shoebat surmised, “During my terror days, I lied to the westerners and they believed me. Now that I am telling the truth, I am called a liar.”
Shoebat believes part of the reason for America’s denial is the news they are fed.
“The reason you are denying this is because the media that you have. It is not building the American’s confidence, it is building the enemies confidence,” said Shoebat, “We have a War on Terrorism, but terrorism is working.”
While Shoebat speaks to a majority of the media, there is a minority that agrees with him. A member of this minority, conservative talk show host Ben Barrack, has done extensive research on Walid’s story. Barrack opposes accusations of fraud made by Christopher Hedges of the New York Times and Jorg Luyken of the Jerusalem Post.
Through his research Barrack has corroborated the identity of Shoebat’s mentor, Shoebat’s bombing of Bank Leumi, and the fact that Shoebat beat an Israeli soldier.
Barrack says“He knows what he is talking about, so maybe people should start listening.”
