This week, the Penn College Republicans have organized Terrorism Awareness Week. As some of you may know, on a national level this campaign is running under the title Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, sponsored by David Horowitz and the David Horowitz Freedom Center.
In mid-September, our board was approached by Horowitz about hosting IFAW at Penn. While he suggested participating in a number of events, we concluded that it was in the University's best interest to focus our efforts on promoting academic dialogue.
Thus, we agreed to hosting two events - a panel of three discussants (Stephen Gale, Ian Lustick and Daniel Pipes) and a lecture by former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
Further, in terms of the structure of the week, we spoke with the Muslim Student Association and agreed that it would be most appropriate to change the title to Terrorism Awareness Week. Controversy over wording would only serve to distract from dialogue on the real issues.
Though we removed "Islamo-Fascism" from the title, we still strongly espouse the belief that radical Muslims pose one of the most pressing threats of the twenty-first century.
It is important for us as the future leaders of America to realize that this radical sect is intent on purifying the religious moderates, as well as attacking Western democracies such as the U.S. and England.
We must make a distinction between the moderate and the radical, because the latter is too well-equipped to continue to ignore.
Whether you agree with his ideology or not, you cannot challenge the fact that Santorum is well-versed and well-educated on the subject of the War on Terror. His numerous travels to Israel and other countries throughout the region have only bolstered his knowledge about the imminent threats posed by terrorists. On Wednesday, Santorum spoke eloquently about the oppressive tactics employed by these radicals and challenged us to learn the real facts that are often not addressed on university campuses.
In regards to the panel held on Monday night, our intent was to engage fellow students in an open dialogue about the issue of terrorism.
It was important to have Lustick as a part of the panel, for his differing opinions presented other ideas for the audience to ruminate on.
One of the noteworthy aspects of Penn's Terrorism Awareness Week is the fact that we did have three different viewpoints represented in one room at the same time.
From what we know about events at other universities across the country, no attempt was made to invite those with dissimilar ideologies to participate in any discussion.
We hope that those in attendance used the panelists' arguments to help formulate their own opinions about terrorism and radical Muslims.
While the College Republicans do not agree with most of Lustick's points ("Iran is not an imminent threat to America"), we are glad he could be a part of the panel.
We realize that we have undoubtedly angered some people with the events held this week.
Just like national politics, the wind isn't always blowing your way, and in most cases over the last month, the College Republicans were walking directly into a strong headwind.
But we are incredibly proud of the fact that we could engage Penn in a dialogue about a serious problem that many universities - and people in general - are not willing to address. At this moment, ambivalence to terrorism is no longer an option.
Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, Independent or Libertarian, this is a topic that must be addressed and discussed openly.
Abby Huntsman is a College senior and Zac Byer is a College sophomore. They are the chairwoman and president of the College Republicans, respectively.
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