Self-proclaimed Former Terrorist Belittles Islamic Faith

BY TOM NETHERLAND
SPECIAL TO THE HERALD COURIER

BRISTOL, Va. – “Islam is the essence of evil,” Walid Shoebat, a self-described “former Muslim terrorist,” said here Saturday night.

Born in Jerusalem and reared as a Muslim, Shoebat said he grew up with hatred for Israel and Israelis in general and non-Muslims in particular. That hatred coupled with his intense devotion to Islam propelled him along a path that led to his affiliation with the Palestine Liberation Organization, he said from the lobby of a local hotel.

“He is the most wanted man in the Muslim world,” local resident Lonnie Whitley said of Shoebat. “There is a $10 million bounty on his head.”

Whitley and a coalition of pastors arranged for Shoebat to appear in Bristol. He spoke Sunday morning and afternoon at Antioch Baptist Church in Bristol, Va.

His multifold message to the large congregation concluded that Islam and – by extension – Islamic organizations and governments are evil and Christians need to wake up while there’s time to do so.

“Good morning,” Shoebat began during the 11 a.m. service. “Tonight, your life will never be the same. I guarantee it. You are in the midst of a myth.”

Shoebat said he converted to Christianity as a result of trying to convert his Catholic wife. To strengthen his argument, he read the Bible and became convinced he had been wrong all along. He left Islam and life as a terrorist in 1993. He equated Islam and therefore Muslims as wolves in sheeps’ clothing.

“I was a wolf myself, but God can change the wolf,” Shoebat told the congregation.

David Blevins, of Bristol, Va., nodded his head and added an “amen.”

“He was a man who hated Israel and Jews, and now he’s come to love Jews and is a defender of them,” Blevins said after Shoebat’s hour-plus address. “If a former PLO member can change, then God can change anyone.”

However, Shoebat, author of such books as “God’s War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible,” said in an interview with the Bristol Herald Courier Saturday night that there was a price beyond the bounty on his head as a result of his conversion. His father, sister and brother remain Muslims.

“My father called me one night and said ‘you should be killed,’ ” Shoebat said. “My brother is in California. My sister is in Saudi Arabia. They also think I should be killed.”

Antioch Baptist Church pastor Brad Davis listened as Shoebat spoke to his church of his Islamic past, his Christian present and his hopes for a future when
people at large recognize Islam as evil.

During the early morning session, Shoebat spoke of Islam’s treatment of women. He related a story of how his high school teacher in the Middle East said that they could have concubines. A kid asked if it had to be consensual, and the teacher said it did not, Shoebat said.

“It’s a cruel, cruel, cruel religion toward women,” Davis said. “Walid lived [as a Muslim] and understands [Islam]. He gave great insight.”

A brief though bombastic video prefaced Shoebat’s morning address. Therein, Shoebat spoke momentarily of his prior terrorist activities.

“I was here in America, in basements, planning jihad against you,” he said.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty.”

“He stated some things that were surprising,” Blevins said after hearing Shoebat speak. “He mentioned having had terrorist camps here in America.”

Wake up, America, Shoebat related to the church. He challenged Christians to look to the Bible for passages that identify Islam as an enemy that comes
cloaked.

“The fox is in the henhouse,” Shoebat said as his voice rose, “and the hens do not seem to want to do anything about it.”

Blevins barely blinked as Shoebat spoke.

“It was a real eye-opening message,” Blevins said.

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com.