Minnesota news! I’ve actually visited Perham. Nice town. Now they’re national news.
Perham, MN (WDAY TV) — Two exchange students attending school in Perham, Minnesota say they were kicked out of a church there when they questioned a nationally known speaker who says “Islam equals terrorism.”
The two teenagers are Muslim, and attended the event featuring “Walid Shoebat,” a Muslim turned Christian.
Fikri…from Indonesia, and Elshan, from Azerbhjan, came to the United States as exchange students. Their home right now is Perham, Minnesota and host Mary Anderson. When the students heard Walid Shoebat was speaking at a public forum at Assembly of God, they wanted to go.
First red flag: the speaker is hosted by the Assembly of God. Don’t expect anything balanced there. Turns out, the presenter is a former Muslim turned Christian and regularly speaks against Islam.
Elshan Mirzazade/Perham Exchange Student: “Our message is not to argue with him but to say to people that what he says is wrong.”
The boys heard what they say are mis-truths and distortions coming out of Shoebat, and so during question and answer time, they questioned Shoebat, and quickly were told to leave.
What happened at the event is a bit hazy.
Fikri Rahmat/Perham Exchange Student: “He got mad because he was afraid of the truth, one of his assistants said, “Out, Out.” Rudely said to us.”
Elshan: “They ushered us out and asked us to leave and I shouted, ‘Good way of promoting peace, bravo, bravo. ”
“I want people to know we love Muslims.”
Dirk is the pastor of Assembly of God in Perham.
“Nobody was kicked out because they were Muslim.”
He says the boys were asked to leave when emotions escalated.
Dirk Currier/Assembly of God Pastor: “It was not a dialogue. It was turning into a shouting match”
Mary Anderson/Host Mother of Boys: “I thought I was sending my boys to a house of love. And i am disappointed that hate was being taught there.”
The speaker’s credibility has been questioned by more people.
CNN has investigated Shoebat. Homeland Security has given Shoebat grant money for anti terrorism speechs around the country. The investigation questions Shoebats claim that he was a former PLO terrorist. Family and friends say he claims this for personal gain. No truth to it. The boys hope others will learn from their experience. Unfortunate as it was.
Imagine, with just a few mouse clicks, this whole situation could have been prevented. I wonder why the person who booked this speaker didn’t Google him first.
