I was included on this list [the mass email sent to everyone who got disinvited] because someone involved in the organizing wanted to make sure I was registered and forgot that I have a CUID.

I got to Lerner about 6:45 with sandwiches, but the guards wouldn't let us bring food into Lerner auditorium, even though parties with food are often held there. I had to check my tote bag, my umbrella, and my PURSE. They made another friend check his jacket. But they had no metal detectors and did not frisk us. So we could have been packing.

I spotted Jewelnel Davis and expressed my indignation about not being able to bring my (registered) family. She spouted the party line about the priority of safety and not wanting people to storm the stage or get kicked in the head. I said they would have a lot of angry people out front (they did; I was hearing angry voices by 7:00), and she said yes, but they would not be inside. I asked why the late notice, and she said they had not anticipated so many (>125) non-CUID registrants. I asked why not. She said there were only 20 last week. I said, That was last week. This is ridiculously poor planning. She said this is what we have to do.

About 150 people were present in an auditorium that can hold ~400. Jewelnel began promptly at 8 by making a 5-minute speech about freedom of speech and civil academic discourse. She said the speakers would speak until about 9:15, and the Q&A would go until 10, after which everyone would be expected to vacate the premises. Then the speakers started.

The first terrorist, Zakaria Anani, is, I think, a Baptist minister, but he is the son and grandson of imams, and at age 13 he became a militia fighter in the Lebanon war. At age 14 he made his first kill and celebrated. By age 16, he had killed 233 people and felt that his life had become meaningless and would not last long. Then he encountered a Baptist minister and converted. His imam told him that he had 3 days to convert back or be killed. In the next 20 years, there were 18 attempts on his life. For the first 10 years or so he was living in the Christian sector of Beirut, married, had children. One of the attempts injured him and his youngest daughter. After that his church got spooked and sent him away; he and his family moved to Canada. Somewhere along the line someone asked him the reason for the Islamic teaching that Jews have the wrath of God on them. He tried to research it and realized that the Jews were being wronged. But, he said, the western world does not understand.

The second speaker, Hilmar von Campe, also is a devout Christian who now lives in Alabama. He was 7 years old in 1933 when the Nazis came to power. His father was a state official of some sort who was ousted by the Nazis and relocated to an area that is now one of the Czech states. He reminded the audience that the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi party) was far left. Josef Goebbels, the chief liar, said We are Communists. Hitler eliminated all other parties, trade unions, youth organizations, etc. All young people had to join the Hitler Youth. Newspapers, radio, and the film industry were controlled by the Nazis. In school, there were jokes about religion and God, and constant rhetoric about how bad the Jews are and how good the Germans are.

On 9/1/39, Hitler reported that the Poles had invaded Germany and that Germany had to defend itself. Although he and his circle hated the Nazis, all felt that they had to defend Germany first and deal with the Nazis second. He said that many people were unaware of the Holocaust, but that everyone was aware of the discrimination against and unhuman treatment of Jews and all kept silent, including the churches. He said he became a liar too. He also said that in 1972, the KGB and Andropov adopted a policy of turning the entire Islamic world against Israel and the United States. During Q&A, he cited as his source a book, Red Horizons, by a defecting Rumanian general.

Walid Shoebat pursued that theme. His father was Palestinian, his mother an American who naively went to the Middle East to visit her husband's family and was trapped there with her children for 35 years. He said that Muslims fought on the Nazi side in World War II and murdered the Jews of Bosnia. He said that he was educated to believe that Jesus was a Palestinian revolutionary who came to liberate Palestinians from Zionist oppressors, that Jews spread Mad Cow disease, cause tsunamis, etc. He translated Jihad as Mein Kampf. He is a convert to Christianity. He also said during the question period that when Muslims are at least 20% of a population, they are obliged to seize state power. He also said that Muslims do not believe in the separation of church and state.

The question period was better than I expected. The questioners were somewhat critical but they did not rant. The answers were generally to the point, despite some language problems. The speakers were fairly critical of Jews and others who think appeasement can bring peace. Walid pointed out that the word hudna, usually translated as truce or ceasefire, actually means strategically taking time off from fighting to regroup and obtain concessions. Muslims feel no obligation to tell the truth to non-Muslims. When criticized for hate speech, they responded that they were criticizing Islam, not Muslims individually.

Walid had said at one point that Muslims should have a right to convert to Christianity, that Jews should have a right not to convert to Christianity, etc. A couple of questioners interpreted him as saying that Muslims should convert to Christianity. He straightened that out. Some questioners asserted that moderate Muslims do not believe all those bad things. Anani said, if you think your imam is moderate, ask him what would happen if his son converted to Christianity.

Walid's overall presentation, and that of the group, was, I thought, much stronger than his presentation at Columbia a couple of years ago. I am sorry you had to miss it.