According to the event press release from Travis Korson, GW YAF's Director of Press, the goal of the week is to "spread awarness and tolerance and education students and professors about the difference between the vast majority of Muslims who practice moderate and peaceful Islam and those who have radicalized and perverted their religious texts and used them to justify political violence."
Last year, the event was hugely controversial on campus, after fliers appeared with the slogan, "Hate Muslims? So Do We!" citing YAF as the group responsible. The posters were hung around campus by student unaffiliated the with organization to protest the event. The stunt made headlines in media organizations nationwide. YAF responded with two full page ads in the Hatchet entitled, "A Forgery and a Hate Crime," and "Stop Profiling Conservative Students."
This week began with a screening of Islam v. the Islamists, a film about the struggle of moderate Muslims in America. Wednesday, representatives from the YAF chapter asked individuals to sign a petition denouncing radical activities including religious Hadith sections. The event schedule concluded with a keynote address by Nonie Darwish last night in the Jack Morton Auditorium.
The speaker is a former lieutenant int he Egyptian Army, who founded the Feayeen, a group that was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis during his term. After she immigrated to the United States in 1979 and converted to Christianity, she became active against extremism and became an author. Travis Korson, the Director of Press for YAF said, "We are excited to bring Darwish as she will offer a unique and firsthand perspective into the radical perversion of the holy Islamic documents. She will also be highlighting the detrimental effects for the people who do adhere to this perversion of the books."
-Monika Wysocki
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