Last night, I attended a speaking event by Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, which was held at UC Irvine and hosted by the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) campus chapter. As was expected, there was security upon entering the venue because, as we all know, Spencer has received numerous death threats over the years. There was private security, and about 5 or 6 campus police were just outside the room.
As it was, there were only about 25 people in attendance, which was disappointing. As is normally the case when people like Spencer or the late David Horowitz speak at UCI, a school official attends and quietly takes notes, in this case, a lady with a laptop.
Spencer's topic was "The Dangerous Myth of Islamophobia", in which he described how the word is used as a weapon to silence any criticism of Islam or terrorist acts committed by Muslims.
There were no real issues of protests or disruption, although one young man in the back of the room interrupted Spencer as he was talking about murders carried out in the name of jihad. He asked Spencer how many Muslims in the Middle East were killed by the West (I am paraphrasing). After he made his statements, he turned and left the room. At the same time, two young men, whom I assume were Muslims, entered the room, sat down in the rear, and left after about 5 minutes. Spencer duly noted that his opponents didn't want to hear the truth or dialogue with him. In addition, there was apparently an incident on campus prior to the event when a young lady approached a YAF table and threw papers on the ground.
Having my own personal connection with UCI, I am grateful that Spencer came to talk. I also compliment the YAF for hosting the event. UC Irvine sorely needs more voices like theirs.
No comments:
Post a Comment