DENVER—A Muslim advocacy group is decrying the Air Force Academy’s decision to invite three former “terrorists” who the group said slam the religion with “hate-filled” rhetoric.
The D.C.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said one of the speakers, Walid Shoebat, has said that “Islam is the devil.”
Shoebat, along with Kamal Saleem and Zachariah Anani spoke Wednesday at the 50th Annual Academy Assembly in Colorado Springs, where the topic of the four-day event is “Dismantling Terrorism.”
Maj. Brett Ashworth, an Air Force Academy spokesman, said the purpose of the event was “to educate future officers and delegates from 50 colleges on the ideology and methodology of terrorists.”
Ashworth said the men are former terrorists and provide valuable insight to the discussion.
But Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for CAIR, said in speaking about terrorism the men also denounce the Muslim faith.
“Islam is the devil? I mean c’mon!” Hooper said. “And these people are going to talk as experts to cadets who may possibly serve in parts of the Muslim world?”
Saleem, a former Muslim, said in a phone interview that the event at the academy went well.
Saleem, who said he quit the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1985 after converting to Christianity, said there are always people who disagree with his view on Islam.
“Some areas are hostile,” he said. “They throw things and cuss at me.”
Others, he said, tell him, “Thank you for enlightening us.”
He’s been speaking about his experiences for 10 years.
Hooper said the three speakers trigger protests to their speaking engagements throughout the country. He said he told Air Force academy officials that inviting the men to speak about terrorism would be like “inviting David Duke to speak about race relations.”
He said CAIR offered to connect the Air Force with Muslims in Colorado who could also speak at the event to balance the discussion. However, he said he was told the topic was terrorism, not religion.
“The academy assembly has nothing to do with religion or evangelical Christianity for that matter,” Ashworth said. “This is not going to be a discussion on Islam. It’s a discussion on terrorism.”
Religion has been a sensitive topic at the Air Force Academy in the past. A group of cadet graduates had claimed the academy violated their rights, saying evangelical Christian values were forced onto them. They filed a lawsuit, which was dismissed in 2006 after a judge said they couldn’t claim their rights were violated because they no longer attended the academy.
An Air Force task force also concluded there was no religious discrimination at the Academy but noted some cadets and staff were insensitive. In February 2006, the Air Force adopted new guidelines cautioning top officers about promoting their religious views.
