Author speaks about jihad

Robert Spencer said he has received death threats and is often called an ""Islamophobe.""

So Spencer" director of the Web site jihadwatch.org and author of eight books on jihad and Islam came to UNC on Monday to spread his message and clear up what he deems are some popular misconceptions of his views.

His site is affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center" a conservative foundation that advocates for the ""defunding"" of the national Muslim Students Association" saying it has a radical agenda.

The lecture was co-sponsored by the College Republicans and the Committee for a Better Carolina who paid $3"000 to bring him to campus. About 40 students and community members attended.

Spencer began his lecture with a brief history of the jihad movement. He said he was trying to raise awareness of the threat to freedom posed by violent jihad.

But he emphasized that he was not trying to paint all Muslims as jihadists.

""There are so many Muslims n this world who have no interest in this program"" he said. But there are still many who are jihadist.""

Spencer cited the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education as an example of how the U.S. has made inroads to racial equality"" and said jihadist supremacy ideals are undermining that progress.

""We are at a point in the United States where this brotherhood is threatening to roll that all back"" Spencer said.

After his talk, Spencer took questions.

One audience member asked Spencer how his ideas differed from Islamophobia. He said his fear of jihad is not irrational; it is substantiated by jihadists who have explained their supremacist ideology on record.

These people said that they are going to destroy Western civilization"" Spencer said. I like Western civilization.""

Many at the lecture seemed impressed by Spencer's talk.

Sophomore political science major Jason Sutton" a member of both the College Republicans and the Committee for a Better Carolina" said he thought Spencer was very knowledgeable.

""I was impressed with not only his depth of knowledge but his breadth of knowledge"" he said.

Joe Moss, visiting from Tampa, Fla., said Spencer is his hero.

Although Spencer has seen negative reactions at other campuses from Muslim student groups, UNC's Muslim Student Association did not attend the event.

Aisha Saad, the association's outreach chairwoman and former opinion editor for The Daily Tar Heel, said in an e-mail that the association chose not to take part in the Spencer lecture.

We do not see it setting the stage for a productive discourse but rather falling into a circular discussion that perpetuates stigmatized and superficial conceptions of a diverse community"" Saad said.

Despite critical reception of his ideas, Spencer said he will continue to speak his mind.

I'm willing to take the heat for doing this"" he said. I'm willing to be called names and so on.""



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