Wafa Sultan

I found this video on break.com. It's a female Arab-American psychologist taking on a Muslim Cleric on Al-Jazeera. I found what she had to say very interesting and I can't say I disagree with her on any of her points.

http://www.break.com/index/arab-woma...m-cleric2.html

[DJPePe]

Honestly, she is a fraud and a liar.

You might wanna read this interesting article about her life, contradicts everything she has supposedly claimed previously

http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/4009/135/

[zerojunkie]

Half the article was spent 'debunking' her past...Still doesn't make what she said any less truthful. She was a little biased against Muslims when she was describing the acts of violence, but even there she was mostly right. I found this part especially funny. Yeah it was edited but look what he said in response.

In the transcript, Shaikh Ibrahim Al-Khouli responded by saying, "…here we must ask a question, who facilitated the conflict and indeed initiated it; is it the Muslims? Muslims now are in a defensive position fighting off an aggressor... who said Muslims were backward? They may be backward in terms of technological advances, but who said that such are the criteria for humanity? Muslims are more advanced on a human level, in terms of the values and principles they endorse." (Entire transcript can be viewed at:

ORLY?

How that isn't basically corroborating what she said is beyond me. Maybe you can explain how Muslims are more ethically advanced than the rest of the human race?

[PETA]

yeah... the article spent little time addressing her comments to say nothing of contradicting them.

She may be describing the more despicable aspects of Islam but that doesn't make them fiction.

Originally Posted by DJPePe

Honestly, she is a fraud and a liar.

You might wanna read this interesting article about her life, contradicts everything she has supposedly claimed previously

http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/4009/135/

I read the article and it really didn't make an impact one way or another. Even if what they're saying is true about her exaggerating the facts surrounding her life prior to coming to the U.S., it doesn't detract from her message. Also, one must consider the source. The article is from a Muslim publication, which adds an obvious bias to it. I'm not even sure why they included all the stuff about her (alleged) illegal immigration and the lengths she went to, to get her children over here. Can you really blame her for wanting a better life for herself and her children, especially as an educated, non-religious Arab woman?

I don't see any solid evidence that anything said in the article is true. No sources, except a link to another article. Just looks like a smear job to me, and, like Xian pointed out, it doesn't really address any of the remarks she made in the interview.

[DJPePe]

Originally Posted by TragicallyUnhip

I read the article and it really didn't make an impact one way or another. Even if what they're saying is true about her exaggerating the facts surrounding her life prior to coming to the U.S., it doesn't detract from her message.

What message is that exactly? We all know that the Arab world is in serious disarray.

What is she doing to combat it, other than exaggerating a lot of her claims?

There are plenty of other Muslims who have committed a lot of effort to reform their societies without the need to smear the faith, or to kiss up to the neoconservative crowd.

Sorry but a lot of these so-called "reformers" that the neoconservative crowd tend to bring light to are nothing but opportunists looking to make quick fortune.

Also, one must consider the source. The article is from a Muslim publication, which adds an obvious bias to it. I'm not even sure why they included all the stuff about her (alleged) illegal immigration and the lengths she went to, to get her children over here. Can you really blame her for wanting a better life for herself and her children, especially as an educated, non-religious Arab woman?

So if it was from LittleGreenFootballs trying to expose a leftist, would you take it with the same skepticism as well?

Well if she wanted a better life, perhaps she wouldn't need to whore out intellectually in order to accomplish that feat. Lying and overexaggerating a lot of BS is a cop-out.

Educated? How is she educated? Because she comes up with the same tiresome rhetoric that I hear from the likes of Pat Robertson and Charles Johnson? I think not.

She's all talk and doesn't bring up any solutions.

I don't see any solid evidence that anything said in the article is true. No sources, except a link to another article. Just looks like a smear job to me, and, like Xian pointed out, it doesn't really address any of the remarks she made in the interview.

http://www.mideastyouth.com/2006/05/...r-wafa-sultan/

There's another one that addresses the remarks she made in the interview, and it's a source no one can accuse of being bias. The site actually has contributors that are also Israeli as well.

She may be describing the more despicable aspects of Islam but that doesn't make them fiction.

The thing is though, what she claims isn't necessarily limited to Islam. I personally don't care if she doesn't like Islam, that's her own right. Personally I think it's ridiculously harsh and barbaric to call for her killing simply because she doesn't want to be a Muslim.

Half the article was spent 'debunking' her past...Still doesn't make what she said any less truthful. She was a little biased against Muslims when she was describing the acts of violence, but even there she was mostly right. I found this part especially funny. Yeah it was edited but look what he said in response.

Well she claimed that what turned her against Islam was an assasination of her professor in Syria in 1978, when the article mentions that such an event never took place. They even took the time and effort to investigate even further by contacting the university and inquiring about the event.

ORLY?

How that isn't basically corroborating what she said is beyond me. Maybe you can explain how Muslims are more ethically advanced than the rest of the human race?

No one said the interviewer had flaws either. Muslims were advanced a few hundred years ago, now we can't get our heads out of our asses and continue to live in mud huts and wasting our time protesting and burning effigies like a bunch of retards.

[zerojunkie]

Well she claimed that what turned her against Islam was an assasination of her professor in Syria in 1978, when the article mentions that such an event never took place. They even took the time and effort to investigate even further by contacting the university and inquiring about the event.

No, the assassination took place, it was just found out by the article writers that she couldn't have been present when it was done. Fine, she lied, but it doesn't eclipse the fact he was still killed by Muslim extremists.

Originally Posted by infocus

As to the claim that her professor (thought to be Yusef Al-Yusef) was gunned down before her eyes in a faculty classroom at the University of Aleppo, Halabi said the incident never took place. "There was a professor who was killed around 1979, that is true, but it was off-campus (just barely, he was gunned down at the gates of the medical school he taught at.) and Sultan was not even around when it happened," he added.

No one said the interviewer had flaws either. Muslims were advanced a few hundred years ago, now we can't get our heads out of our asses and continue to live in mud huts and wasting our time protesting and burning effigies like a bunch of retards.

And that's fine, but the article makes it out to seem like these poor Muslim intellectuals were just edited out to make a piece of right-wing propaganda. Yes, they were edited out, but what they had to say didn't necessarily refute the point she was trying to make.

Originally Posted by DJPePe

What message is that exactly? We all know that the Arab world is in serious disarray.

That Muslims need to spend less time using violence to try to wipe out people of other religions and instead concentrate on what they can do to better themselves and the world they live in.

What is she doing to combat it, other than exaggerating a lot of her claims?

I would say going on national television and trying to educate people is a pretty big step towards combatting ignorance, or at least attempting to.

There are plenty of other Muslims who have committed a lot of effort to reform their societies without the need to smear the faith, or to kiss up to the neoconservative crowd.

She's not a Muslim though. I don't believe she's smearing the faith itself, only the fact it's being used as an excuse for violence and barbaric acts. She believes the Koran is being misused and misinterpreted and calls for another look at the book itself. It's the people abusing the religion she's attacking, not the religion itself.

Sorry but a lot of these so-called "reformers" that the neoconservative crowd tend to bring light to are nothing but opportunists looking to make quick fortune.

Possibly, but there will always be opportunists in any situation.

So if it was from LittleGreenFootballs trying to expose a leftist, would you take it with the same skepticism as well?

And here's where you start making assumptions about me. I vote Democrat and/or Independent. Trust me, I'm no fan of the right.

Well if she wanted a better life, perhaps she wouldn't need to whore out intellectually in order to accomplish that feat. Lying and overexaggerating a lot of BS is a cop-out.

That's assuming she's whoring out. I'm not sure I'm willing to concede that.

How is she educated? Because she comes up with the same tiresome rhetoric that I hear from the likes of Pat Robertson and Charles Johnson? I think not.

She has a degree or two, does she not?

She's all talk and doesn't bring up any solutions.

I think she threw out a few good suggestions, starting with a re-examination of what the Koran actually says and an emphasis on social reform in the Muslim community to stop the senseless violence.