FrontPage Magazine Highlights UM YAF Chapter Participation in the National Radical Islam Awareness Week

The highly popular online FrontPage Magazine has highlighted the UM YAF Chapter for their participation in the National Radical Islam Awareness Week, or Islamo-fascism Week. The article link is below, and the UofM section is below as well (and very good!). It highlights the events going on at other campuses as well.

*Young Americans for Freedom, NOT Young America's Foundation
*Event will take place TOMORROW
(they are fixing these mistakes)


http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=
1CB41CFA-0CEC-487F-BA5B-F2654D3111D8

The University of Michigan

David Horowitz will be speaking at the University of Michigan tonight*. The campus chapter of Young America’s Foundation* will follow David’s speech tonight with a showing of Obsession on Thursday.

Sarah Ledford, a junior at UM, said YAF is working to host this week’s activities with the assistance of the College Republicans and Israel IDEA, the Israeli activist group on campus. Ledford said she first came to admire David Horowitz after reading his expose of academic malpractice, The Professors.

Ledford said she has tried to be sensitive toward the Detroit-area campus’ large Arab and Muslim population. Ledford described her approach as “extremely Politically Correct.” On campus, IFAW is being called National Radical Islam Awareness Week, “just to emphasize the difference.”

“I’ve been making it very clear to them that we’re only talking about radical Islam, how they’re twisting peaceful Islam to try to destroy the West, Israel, and America,” she said. “I’ve been consistent in telling people that we’re only talking about radicals. If they don’t listen, then they don’t care about our intentions; then they condemn what we’re saying because they disagree with us.”

The approach has won her few friends, though. MSA activists “really don’t like our group,” she stated. No stranger to controversy, the University of Michigan chapter of YAF brought ex-Muslim “infidel” Walid Shoebat to campus last February.

During last year’s IFAW, the group watched as MSA members attempted to sabotage the event. Radical Muslims and leftist activists wore colored shirts in solidarity with YAF’s alleged victims and flooded the room where IFAW speakers were gathered. “They took up seats so others couldn’t get in or see,” Ledford recalled. “We had to turn people away. Then they got up and walked out.” But she said non-leftist students are used to opposition on campus. “Since we’re a conservative group on campus, we’re not generally accepted. People call us a hate group and racists, etc.”

Ledford said she and other students have promoted the event to remind people of the tragedies extremist ideologies create. They covered campus with “stickers that they can’t peel off” that depict the Twin Towers with a grenade next to them. Near them is the slogan, “Be Aware of Radical Islam.” Ledford explained, “We’ve been trying to put the Twin Towers everywhere to remind people what this is all about.”