Former PLO Member To Speak at Columbia

Correction appended.

A former Palestinian militant will speak on campus next Wednesday after receiving an invitation from the Columbia University College Republicans.

Walid Shoebat, a former member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization who now identifies himself as a pro-Israel advocate, is one of three speakers who is slated to talk at the event, entitled "Hate, Terror, Indoctrination, Redemption & Peace." Shoebat also spoke at Columbia two years ago. The other two speakers are Hilmar von Campe, a former member of the Nazi Youth, and Zak Anani, a former leader of an Arab gang who has since renounced terrorism.

The goal of the evening, said College Republicans President Chris Kulawik, CC '08, is to hear from people who have chosen to turn away from violence.

"We hope to get a lot of people there," he said.

But some students said they were upset by the invitation.

"I don't even feel that his invitation merits a real response," said Omar Siddiqi, CC '09 and president of the Muslim Students Association. "Any intelligent person on campus won't give heed to anything he has to say."

Kulawik said the College Republicans also invited Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania), along with several other Republican candidates, to speak at the end of October, but no politician has confirmed that they will come.

Reports of Rick Santorum's visit were first reported on Bwog, The Blue and White's blog.

Shoebat last came to Columbia in November 2004, with the support of the Walid Shoebat Foundation, Koach, Netzach Yisrael, Chai Society, Columbia Chabad, and Hasbara Fellowships. He also visited Harvard Law School, Princeton, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as communities in London and Chile.

In December 2005, Shoebat's visit to Princeton was cancelled. While university officials said at the time that they nixed the visit because the Whalid Shoebat Foundation began promoting the speech nationally, Shoebat accused the university of trying to silence him.

Correction: A quote from the article "Former PLO Member to Speak at Columbia" (Oct. 4) by Muslim Students Association President Omar Siddiqi did not fully contextualize Siddiqi's comments. Siddiqi was expressing his opposition to Walid Shoebat's views on Islam.