Tuesday, 21 October 2008 11:39 PM David Horowitz spoke to a mild crowd compared to some of his previous stops Tuesday evening at the Lone Star Auditorium, but had a few dissenters from the audience during a question and answer session.
In his lecture, Horowitz associated the Muslim Student Association to terrorism, because Muslim Brotherhood members founded the group.
“This is a stealth Jihad,” he said.
He called on MSA members and Muslims to publicly denounce terrorist actions, as he said he’s done across the country.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” said Mustafaa Carroll, Council on America-Islamic Relations’ Dallas-Fort Worth chapter executive director. He said there were condemnations by more than 600 Muslim groups after Sept. 11. “And I was one of them,” Carroll said.
Carroll said Horowitz shouldn’t expect Muslims to agree with him under what he said was direct attack.
“You spent the last hour or so acting like Muslims had tails,” he said. Carroll added that the way Horowitz asked Muslims to denounce terrorists, after giving a speech about Muslim atrocities, was unfair.
“It’s like saying ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ ” he said.
MSA UTA chapter president Azim Ansari said the facts were not true. Horowitz quoted a Muslim Hadith that calls for all Muslims to hunt out Jews and kill them. Ansari said the Hadith is a nonauthentic Hadith that is not verifiable by sources.
The overall tone of Horowitz’s speech was objectionable, said Bilal Khan, MSA UTA chapter vice president. “His overall lecture was just bashing Islam,” he said.
Business management lecturer David Mosby said he spent three years in the Middle East and encountered hundreds of Muslims.
“I didn’t hear one untruth coming out of Mr. Horowitz,” he said.
He said it’s not Islam’s fault. “It’s not the religion, it’s the people that mess it up,” he said.
Horowitz defended himself against some audience members who said he was lumping all Muslims together.
“I’m the one who says that hate is not representative of Muslims,” he said.
After the lecture, Horowitz thought the event went well, mainly because the crowd behaved. In the past, Horowitz had hecklers and protestors. The Young Conservatives of Texas hosted the event.
“Every eye we can open is a success,” said Jason Jordan, American Defense director and publications director. Several audience members clapped both for and against Horowitz’s views during the lecture.
Interdisciplinary studies junior Roy Pegues said he is politically independent but after the speech he would lean towards Horowitz on this matter. “I thought it was very informing,” he said.
|