FALSE ANTI-ISLAM SPEAKERS IN US

The Air Force Academy was criticised by Muslim and religious freedom organisations for playing host to three speakers who, critics say, are evangelical Christians falsely claiming to be former Muslim terrorists. The three men were invited as part of a weeklong conference on terrorism organised by cadets at the academy’s Colorado Springs campus under the auspices of the political science department. The three men were invited to talk about being recruited and trained as terrorists. Muslim organisations objected to the fact that no other perspective about Islam was offered, saying that the three speakers – Mr. Anani, Kamal Saleem and Walid Shoebat – habitually paint Muslims as inherently violent. All were born in the Middle East but Mr. Saleem and Mr. Shoebat are now American citizens, while Mr. Anani has Canadian citizenship.