Is Walid Shoebat A Fraud, Or Is Debbie Schlussel Losing Her Mind?

Debbie Schlussel says he is:


By Debbie Schlussel

[TO MY READERS: I originally wrote the column below in February. But I sat on it and didn't publish it because I feel bad about exposing even this fraud and creep, Walid Shoebat, despite the fact that he's plagiarized from me and harassed me under a fake name using his own e-mail address, and despite the fact that his equally shady manager, Keith Davies, fits a similar bill and has--along with Shoebat taken to trashing me.

But now that The Jerusalem Post has also exposed the fraudulence and fakery of Mr. Shoebat, I've decided I cannot remain silent on who he really is and his behavior, any longer. After harassing me, he tried to appear with me at a 9/11 event in Dearborn, and I realized I can no longer hold back. I've thought long and hard about it, but it must be done. The record must be set straight.]

Years ago, when I first heard of Walid Shoebat--the man who claims to have been a Palestinian Islamic terrorist--I liked his story. Since then, I praised him in more than one entry on this site. That was a mistake.

In the back of my mind, I always doubted his story. It's not that I don't believe Muslim terrorists can convert to Christianity and see the error of their ways. I personally know of a scant few who have, indeed, done that. And there are several former Muslims--Ayan Hirsi Ali (never a terrorist) comes to mind--and enlightened Arabs--my friend, Brigitte Gabriel, is one--who are great orators with an important message so many more need to hear.

It's that I simply didn't find Shoebat credible. And his behavior toward me is that of an unstable, insecure man who is upset that his shaky claims are being doubted. It's a case of trusting my instincts, and my instincts told me this man oozing arrogance, bravado, swagger, and not much else was a fraud--that this was a business for him, showmanship. And he never provided a shred of proof that he did what he said he did in his former life.

Still, I kept my doubts to myself, lest I be accused of enabling the Islamists, and because I had no beef with his message, a good one. My inclination was to ignore him and not waste my time or effort on this man. Sadly, though, that's not the way he sees things. For some reason, Walid Shoebat won't stop harassing me, despite my requests. He's annoying me and wasting my time. And he won't go away. So I can no longer look the other way.

Mr. Shoebat took it upon himself--despite my praise of him on this site--to engage in a pattern of behavior that spanned plagiarism and obscene verbal abuse to the non-stop barrage of harassing messages he sent me over the last two days under a fake name, "Sandra Medina." That's what I get for being nice and charitable to a snake. I got bitten.

All along, I figured the e-mails I got yesterday were coming from Shoebat or one of his blind believers. And, sadly, I was right. It's those instincts--when you trust them, you are right; When you don't, you regret it.

Shoebat made the mistake of e-mailing me using an e-mail he and his son had used to e-mail me before with their real names. While some real terrorists are stupid and inept (like Richard Reid, "The Shoe Bomber), most aren't--not that stupid.


Go read the whole thing.

I'm running close on time now that I'm back to work and haven't yet read all of Schlussel's article.

AOW note: Some time back, Mr. Shoebat wrote this. I have no idea if it answers the points in Schlussel's article.