Ex-terrorists: 'Wake up and smell the hummus'

BOULDER, Colo. -- Two ex-terrorists who have caused controversy with their criticisms of Islam told a University of Colorado crowd to "Wake up and smell the hummus."Walid Shoebat and Kamal Saleem, whose talk Tuesday night was titled "Why We Want to Kill You," spent 90 minutes detailing their terrorist experiences and explaining flaws in American terrorist policy."I am standing on (America's) wall, crying out, saying, 'Wake up, wake up,'" Saleem said. "We have a saying that goes, 'Wake up and smell the hummus. If you don't, you'll be smelling it for a long time.'"They say Americans don't understand the resolve of Islamic fundamentalists and that the public should do more to understand the dangerous aspects of the religion.The speakers have drawn criticism at many of their tour stops in support of Shoebat's book of the same name. They drew a crowd of roughly 1,000 on Tuesday night.The College Republicans invited the speakers, and $10,000 in student fees was used to pay for the event.According to Kathleen Patrick, College Republicans chairwoman, roughly $5,000 of that was paid to the speakers, while the rest went to a large security presence and other logistical costs. The speakers said they spent $20,000 to come to CU.Both claim to have been Islamic terrorists in the Middle East and to have converted from radical Islam to Christianity. They said they are not anti-Islam and that criticizing a religion is not racism.The discussion was mainly civil until the end of the question-and-answer portion. Several shouts of "What is your message?" came from the back of the hall. Shoebat's response was, "What is my message? My message is, 'Shut up.'"There were no organized protests, and no one was removed from the room.Shoebat told the crowd that Islam isn't just a religion but a "constitution" and that Muslims are told to "fight all nations until they all say they are Muslims." He also told a story in which a Muslim man was killed as a suicide bomber and his family held a celebration.Saleem also criticized moderate Muslims in the United States. He said he wants to see those Muslims "wearing the American flag." But he also said several times that not all Muslims are terrorists."Don't go outside and hate Muslims," he said. "Know who's who, and that some are here for propaganda, and some are not."The speakers' tour hasn't been confined to college campuses, but they criticized the American university structure. Shoebat said, according to statistics he didn't specifically cite, that for every seven leftist professors on campuses, there is one "for America, you know, 'God bless America.'"Shoebat asked if it was worth risking his life to educate others about the dangers of Islam. His answer was, "Yes, but I'm not so sure on university campuses."Zak Brown writes for the Daily Camera in Boulder, Colo., www.dailycamera.com.)