Controversial Imam to Speak at UCF Sparks Protests

Students at the University of Central Florida are protesting the expected appearance of a controversial imam speaking at the university as part of Islam Awareness Month.

Imam Siraj Wahhaj -- who was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a character witness for Abdel Rahman, known as the Blind Sheik -- was invited by the Muslim Student Association to dispel misconceptions about the Islamic faith, reports MyFoxOrlando.

But his appearence, scheduled Friday evening, has sparked controversy at UCF --a public university part of the State University System of Florida.

“I’m all for free speech but when I started reading about him, as a conservative, some of his rhetoric can be very dangerous,” said Jonathon Little, Chairman of the College Republicans at UCF.

Wahhaj is an African American convert to Islam and imam of the Masjid Al-Taqwa mosque in Brooklyn, New York. He denounced the World Trade Center terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 but his critics say he remains neutral about Usama Bin Laden and his role in the attacks, MyFoxOrlando reports.

The Muslim Student Association defended its move saying in a statement: “The members of the Muslim Student Association are excited about or future speaker during Islam Awareness Month. Imam Siraj Wahhaj has a long record of being a positive force in our community and has made frequent college visits to encourage all students to live positive lives. We think that once you get a chance to hear his message, you will agree that he is a good choice as our speaker for this important month.”

The Muslim Student Association received $6,500 from the university towards Islam Awareness Month, yet it remains unclear if any of that is being used for the imam's visit. Any student-run group can apply for this type of funding, MyFoxOrlando reports.

The university itself says it supports free speech but does not endorse a speaker’s background or comments.

Some students have said they will go and hear what he has to say. Others say they plan to protest.

The American Betrayal

by: Sima Kadmon
The earthquake in Egypt caught us off guard. As was the case before, this time too our intelligence officials did not predict it, yet we are in good company: No Western country, including America, predicted this, just like they did not predict Hamas’ rise in Gaza.

Yet there is one more thing we can learn from the events in Egypt, aside from the fragility of the region we inhabit, and it is something that’s not easy to digest: The Western world’s and mostly America’s treachery. We learned that the way they abandoned President Mubarak and gave him the cold shoulder can happen to us too. Or in other words, we cannot count on the Americans at a time of crisis.

Everyone understands that Mubarak has to go, yet we would expect the American Administration to back him rather than disown him. It’s the decent thing to do at least. For dozens of years, he was the only leader the West could rely on, the dam in the face of Islamization. He should have been treated differently if only in gratitude.

And when America does this to the Egyptian president, what should any other ally think? Perhaps that it’s better to conduct oneself like Iran or Syria, rather than like a moderate Arab state.

There is no doubt that something fundamental about the American Administration has changed. The US conduct in the Middle East attests to inexperience and lack of familiarity with the region. It appears as though the world is being led by a rookie.

Ignoring Mideastern Realities

A senior diplomatic source told me this past week that Israel is engaged in talks with US officials on the events in Egypt and Mubarak’s abandonment. The Americans are saying that they cannot ignore reformist elements that believe in the universal values espoused by the president. Or in other words: The current Administration’s problem is ideological and ignores Mideastern realities. Indeed, democratic reforms are worthy of being promoted, yet when this is done by abandoning an ally it sends a bad message to regional leaders.

Meanwhile, it’s clear to all that if Muslim groups take power in Egypt at the conclusion of the uprising, our peace deal with Cairo is doomed. And should this agreement collapse, what are the chances that Jordan will remain the only state in the region that has peace with Israel?

The revolution in Egypt has prompted a revolution in our thinking as well. Indeed, Egypt is not Israel, as we have the support of the US Congress and Jewish groups that exert immense influence on the Administration. However, following the events of the past week, we must wonder whether we can even count on that.

The Arab Revolution and Western Decline

by: Ari Shavit

Two huge processes are happening right before our eyes. One is the Arab liberation revolution. After half a century during which tyrants have ruled the Arab world, their control is weakening. After 40 years of decaying stability, the rot is eating into the stability. The Arab masses will no longer accept what they used to accept. The Arab elites will no longer remain silent.

Processes that have been roiling beneath the surface for about a decade are suddenly bursting out in an intifada of freedom. Modernization, globalization, telecommunications and Islamization have created a critical mass that cannot be stopped. The example of democratic Iraq is awakening others, and Al Jazeera's subversive broadcasts are fanning the flames. And so the Tunisian bastille fell, the Cairo bastille is falling and other Arab bastilles will fall.

The scenes are similar to the Palestinian intifada of 1987, but the collapse recalls the Soviet collapse in Eastern Europe of 1989. No one knows where the intifada will lead. No one knows whether it will bring democracy, theocracy or a new kind of democracy. But things will never again be the same.

The old order in the Middle East is crumbling. Just as the officers' revolution in the 1950s brought down the Arab monarchism that had relied on the colonial powers, the 2011 revolution in the square is bringing down the Arab tyrants who were dependent on the United States.

The second process is the acceleration of the decline of the West. For some 60 years the West gave the world imperfect but stable order. It built a kind of post-imperial empire that promised relative quiet and maximum peace. The rise of China, India, Brazil and Russia, like the economic crisis in the United States, has made it clear that the empire is beginning to fade.

And yet, the West has maintained a sort of international hegemony. Just as no replacement has been found for the dollar, none has been found for North Atlantic leadership. But Western countries' poor handling of the Middle East proves they are no longer leaders. Right before our eyes the superpowers are turning into palaver powers.

There are no excuses for the contradictions. How can it be that Bush's America understood the problem of repression in the Arab world, but Obama's America ignored it until last week? How can it be that in May 2009, Hosni Mubarak was an esteemed president whom Barack Obama respected, and in January 2011, Mubarak is a dictator whom even Obama is casting aside? How can it be that in June 2009, Obama didn't support the masses who came out against the zealot Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while now he stands by the masses who are coming out against the moderate Mubarak?

There is one answer: The West's position is not a moral one that reflects a real commitment to human rights. The West's position reflects the adoption of Jimmy Carter's worldview: kowtowing to benighted, strong tyrants while abandoning moderate, weak ones.

Carter's betrayal of the Shah brought us the ayatollahs, and will soon bring us ayatollahs with nuclear arms. The consequences of the West's betrayal of Mubarak will be no less severe. It's not only a betrayal of a leader who was loyal to the West, served stability and encouraged moderation. It's a betrayal of every ally of the West in the Middle East and the developing world. The message is sharp and clear: The West's word is no word at all; an alliance with the West is not an alliance. The West has lost it. The West has stopped being a leading and stabilizing force around the world.

The Arab liberation revolution will fundamentally change the Middle East. The acceleration of the West's decline will change the world. One outcome will be a surge toward China, Russia and regional powers like Brazil, Turkey and Iran. Another will be a series of international flare-ups stemming from the West's lost deterrence. But the overall outcome will be the collapse of North Atlantic political hegemony not in decades, but in years. When the United States and Europe bury Mubarak now, they are also burying the powers they once were. In Cairo's Tahrir Square, the age of Western hegemony is fading away.