Frequent Muslim Speaker to Kids in New York Schools Supports Hamas, Hezbollah
In communicating with Hassan Shibly, it’s hard to see why this frequent guest speaker at schools in New York would be embroiled in a controversy. He’s easy to converse with and kind. He passionately condemns terrorism (including the 9/11 attacks) and sings the praises of America. But shortly after January 10, when he gave nine presentations during his fourth visit to Clarence High School, he became part of a controversy when a mother of a student that listened to Shibly reported that he blamed the 9/11 attacks on U.S. foreign policy, specifically support for Israel. The mother later found out that he doesn’t consider Hezbollah to be a terrorist group. School officials defended Shibly in emails to the mother and he defends his position by saying it is backed by top political scientists.
Shibly says he has spoken to over 40 high school classes in New York. He claims that he only focuses on the basics of Islam and avoids discussion of political issues unless asked during the Q&A session. Shibly engaged in a back-and-forth with Nonie Darwish over what he was alleged to have said (it can be read here). He attributes the criticism of him by the mother and Darwish to an anti-Islam agenda. The mother says her 14-year old son lacks the political awareness to make up the statements he said Shibly made, and indeed, background research on Shibly does show that he has controversial beliefs that parents should be aware of.
Shibly is not shy about stating that “Hezbollah is absolutely not a terrorist organization.” Rather, he says the group is a “resistance movement” and “any war against them is illegitimate.” On his Facebook page, he posted an interview where Norman Finkelstein praises the group. In his extensive communication with me, he has refused to condemn Hamas as a whole or refer to them as a “terrorist” group, saying such labels are too simplistic and would write off the group as a peace partner that could be negotiated with. He instead condemned violence against innocent civilians by both Israel and Hamas, and said that he would not describe Israel as a “terrorist state” for the same reasons.
He compliments the late Syrian Sheikh Ahmad Kuftaro, the former grand mufti of Syria, for “speak[ing] out for the oppressed.” He links to Kuftaro’s website, and Shibly’s father has organized trips to the sheikh’s center in Syria. Although Shibly did not have a personal relationship with Kuftaro, that isn’t the case with his father. In 2002, Kuftaro had neo-Nazi William Baker as a speaker at his mosque, as well as Louis Farrakhan. In 2004, Kuftaro called on the world’s Muslims to “use all means possible to thwart the aggression, including martyr operations against the belligerent American, British and Zionist invaders,” and specifically mentioned Iraq as a place where Muslims should fight. He also held a meeting with Hamas leaders where he said all Muslims were required “to do jihad upon the Zionists.”
Shibly also praises Sheikh Rajab Deeb, a top disciple of Kuftaro’s. Deeb has called on Syria to obtain nuclear weapons and rails against the Jewish lobby in the U.S. Deeb holds a position in the Syrian regime, which is listed by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism. In May 2005, Deeb gave a sermon where he accused Jews of trying to “eradicate every race except their race.” Shibly said he was unaware of these statements and does not support them.
Shibly has received some attention for his lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, which has been dismissed. In 2004, he and others were detained at the Canadian border as they tried to re-enter the country from the Reviving the Islamic Spirit Conference in Toronto. He felt their detainment was based on the sole fact that they are Muslims, but the government said it “had credible intelligence that conferences similar to the one from which these individuals were leaving were being used by terrorist organizations to fundraise and to hide the travel of terrorists themselves.”
The mother of the student accuses Shibly of saying that the perpetrators of 9/11 were not Muslims, but he says this was taken out of context. He meant they were not acting as true Muslims and were motivated by politics, not religion or ideology. When questioned by me about who carried out the attacks, he said that al-Qaeda was “probably” behind them but he was unsure.
He cited three stories about how the U.S. supposedly lied to get involved in Vietnam, British operatives disguised as terrorists were arrested in Iraq after a clash with police, and Israeli agents were allegedly videotaping the attacks on the World Trade Center and cheering and were subsequently deported. Shibly also appears to court the idea that the U.S. is behind terrorism in Iraq to justify its presence. On July 16, 2009, he wrote on his Facebook page that “America does not (at least publicly) support Iraqi Suiccide [sic] Bombers.” He wrote in a December 9, 2007, note that “there is evidence that U.S. and UK are involved in instigating sectarian violence.”
Ryan Mauro is the founder of WorldThreats.com, national security advisor to the Christian Action Network, and an intelligence analyst with the Asymmetrical Warfare and Intelligence Center (AWIC). He can be contacted at TDCAnalyst@aol.com.
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I’m curious as to why a cleric of ANY religion or denomination is being invited to speak at 40 high schools to discuss their faith? Would the same standard of access be afforded an evangelical Christian? Quite honestly, it would almost be more appropriate for him to discuss politics, as offensive as the idea of Hezbollah or Hamas not being terrorist organizations, but merely resistance groups with whom “peace” can be brokered honestly.
It is frightening just how incompetent the educators in our public school system happen to be.
It’s all part of the plan… Indoctrinate to build misinformed support for the Ground Zero masjid of hate.
Are we to stand by and watch, while our schools ignore US history and fail to teach our Children about The Constitution,the Declaration of Independence and the fight for our freedom. In spite of this,Officials, allow Hasan Shelby, into USA classrooms, to spread the word of Islam! This is beyond belief, I stand with the mother, in questioning the wisdom of the Educators, who made Mr Shelby’s foray into the classroom possible. I sincerely doubt that any other religion, would be invited into public schools,to discuss their cultures and religious beliefs. Is it me, or is our country being slowly pushed into a society, that is foreign to us and will result in the loss of our Republic. Many Politicians, including President Obama, are saying that the Constitution is outdated. They are wrong, and we need to speak up and defend that great document. Our only recourse ,is to vote for those who want to preserve the American way of life. Study the voting records of politicians, and make wise decisions in the coming elections.
#1 is correct- why are children getting indoctrinated in any religion?-
the correct answer and #2 reason our kids should not be subject to this ——> ISLAM should NEVER be in any school program : in ISLAM the TRUE ISLAM there is no separation of POLITICS, Military and so called faith
Why are our children being proselytized in ONE-sided distorted political views that are wholly anti American anti Israel and pro Hezzbollah
Hezzbollah may be a political party in Lebanon but the way they got to power was by killing their opponents in the only Christian nation in Middle East. Hezzbollah is a de facto ARMY of IRAN, and in USA is a terror organization regardless of this person’s opinion
ISLAM the political animalk also has NO PLACE bing sold to our children under “interfaith” discusssion
want the kids to understand ISLAM?- teach them HISTORY- the one we KNOW is reality, not the revisionist crap from Muslims
It is exactly for all of the above reasons, why there has been an increase in children being home schooled.
Parents wants their kids educated – not indoctrinated.
Indoctrination instead of education.
The story only reinforces why children should be home schooled.
Why is it that everytime someone has an opinion different to theirs it becomes anti-islamic propaganda or islamophobia.
See, these people don’t want to “discuss” a point, they wish to “dictate” a point of view.
Remember Islam does NOT mean Peace, it means submission.
Never Submit.
The moon god worshiping enemy should not be talking to American school kids at all. More government Treason in the education system.
Check the Mosque he is from for weapons, and C4.
Oorah! Recon! With a few good men there is still hope for victory, as long as we still have our rifles and our underwear.
Fire for effect 200 yards left of point Bravo. Shift fire 100 yards left, fire all. Repent, shift fire 100 yards left, fire all. Over.
Don’t you pretty boy Recon Marines have somewhere to go? This an’t no Sunday social. Make sure the Gunny knows which direction your going.
Kill!
I hate to break it to you, but Muslims worship the God of Abraham. Allah is the same name for God that Jesus Christ used (in Aramaic: Alla-ha) when he preached. Allah has the same semantic origin as the Hebrew Elohiim, the plural form of Elo-ah and a variant of the Hebrew-Canaanitish El, which also means God, as in the place name Beth-El. There were Arab Christians who used the name Allah for the God of Abraham in their worship and in the Aramaic translation of the Bible, the Peshitta, centuries before Muhammad started Islam. Also, modern Arab Christians – Oriental, Catholic, and Orthodox, alike – still refer to God as Allah.
You have been misinformed about the identity of Allah by those who use some minor ancient inscriptions to claim that Allah is the moon-god Al-Lat. You insult God by making such a claim, and you insult your fellow Christians, too!
You don’t have to approve of Muslim theology or practice to reverence the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac, the prophets, and Jesus Christ in a language other than English.
Having said that, I agree with everything else you said, Leatherneck.
If Wikipedia is to be believed:
“Allāt or Al-Lāt (Arabic: اللات) was a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess who was one of the three chief goddesses of Mecca. She is mentioned in the Qur’an (Sura 53:19), which indicates that pre-Islamic Arabs considered her as one of the daughters of Allāh along with Manāt and al-‘Uzzá.”
==> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All%C4%81t
Hassan Shibly reminds me of The Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, only far, far more sinister.
Education is a private enterprise function.Otherwise it becomes a propaganda device for the use of politicians. The morons who invited this moslem propagandist to indoctrinate the children for whom they are responsible in the satanic tenets of islam should be executed summarily, as an example to others of their ilk.
Islam is evil, anti-american, vicious. Free speech must end where deception begins. Lying is never right. As we frequently see in the OT, executed offenders never, ever, repeat their crimes.
I don’t know exactly how you can call Hezbollah a terrorist organization. They are a political party. They do violently attempt to expel occupying Israeli military forces. Israel’s terrorism against Lebanon dwarfs Lebanon’s terrorism against Israel, if you can call Hezbollah’s reaction to Israeli violence terror. Israel has invaded Lebanon like 5 times since 1982 killing tens of thousands of civilians. Explain how Hezbollah is a terrorist group but Likud isn’t.
When you retaliate against an invading army, is that now terrorism?
#11 It is true that Hezbollah is a political party, but what do you make of his military wing? Hezbollah empowered his existence in Lebanon through terrorism; Hezbollah is reputed to have been among the first Islamic groups to use tactical suicide bombing, assassination, and capturing against foreign soldiers in the Middle East. Hezbollah and its affiliates have planned or been linked to a lengthy series of terrorist attacks against the United States, Israel, and other Western targets. These attacks include:
a series of kidnappings of Westerners in Lebanon, including several Americans, in the 1980s; the suicide truck bombings that killed more than two hundred U.S. Marines at their barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983; the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, which featured the famous footage of the plane’s pilot leaning out of the cockpit with a gun to his head; two major 1990s attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina–the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy (killing twenty-nine) and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center (killing ninety-five).
Finally, if what you claim that Hezbollah is in retaliation to Israeli aggression against Lebanon, then how do you explain the presence of Hezbollah cells operative in Europe, Africa, South America, and North America?
America’s Enemy Within
Precisely who originated the term “the enemy within” is unclear. It has now become fairly commonplace in our vernacular and has been referred to in a religious context, as partial titles of some books such as Michael Savage’s, even used as a title episode in “Star Trek.”
With reference to America’s internal, domestic enemies, “the enemy within” is at once a very simple and complex term which has in the past referred to the Communist menace but has evolved of late to mean the religion of Islam or, to be PC, radical Islamic elements.
America has any number of enemies, both outside our borders and within, nations, people, and forces who despise us for one reason or other and who passively or actively work to undermine our values, national security, our very existence as a nation.
Communism is not quite dead since it lives and breathes in China, North Korea, and Cuba and a former KGB head Vladimir Putin rules the former U.S.S.R. with figurehead, Dmitry Medvedev. However, despite the natural inclinations of Communist despots to bluster threateningly, the Red Menace can’t be considered a viable threat.
As of now.
Far and away the most visible and serious external enemy America has today, as well as our most dedicated and dangerous enemy within, is extreme, radical Islam which is probably the most insidious domestic collection of foes we have ever encountered.
They are not traitors in the sense of France’s Vichy government . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1803