A View of Islamic terrorism from the inside

Have you ever heard of Walid Shoebat? He is a former PLO terrorist who saw the light and became not only a Zionist but an evangelical Christian. He wrote a book called Why I Left Jihad. The Root of Terrorism and the Return of Radical Islam. I just read a symposium interview that included Shoebat as a panelist, and what he had to say truly fascinated me. I feel the same way about the inside perspective of communist-turned-conservative author, David Horowitz. Here are some of the gems that Shoebat spoke in the interview:

...Ever since I left radical Islam, I have consistently run into westerners who are oblivious to the mind-set of radical Islamists, and being on both sides of the fence, I have felt like I am Captain Spock of Star Trek -- always having to explain to Captain Kirk how the aliens thought. Yet the first problem I encountered when speaking to westerners is that they always think that the Muslim world has the same aspirations as they do, seeking liberty, equality, modernization, democracy, and the good life.

...When I was a terrorist the world labelled us as freedom fighters. When I was a “freedom fighter”, I was free to say that “Jews are shylocks, Israel is a racist state, Jews run the Congress and the media…”. In those days, I hated Jews, but when the day came that I changed my mind and loved everyone, I was labelled as a racist.

And my favorite:

...The other dangerous trend is that all fundamentalists are being lumped as fanatics. At the BBC in England during one interview the interviewer stated to me that “the problem with today’s world is fundamentalism” to which I responded “Christian fundamentalists give the world a headache, I confess, but Muslim fundamentalists will whack your head right off your shoulders, sir” I was quickly thanked and escorted out of the BBC.

If you would like to read the entire symposium, click here.

Good Day to You, Sir