Today’s op-ed melange:
-University of California-Santa Barbara student David Sforza went to hear Walid Shoebat speak, and writes in the Daily Nexus that the former PLO terrorist did not talk about good Muslims:

He told us about the yellow stars we had to wear in Spain during Muslim rule and he told us of how Muslims helped Hitler massacre the Jews. What he forgot to mention was the fact that the Muslims treated the Jews much better than the Spanish did and that they gave us the opportunity to practice our religion. After the Muslims fell in Spain, the Spanish executed and exiled of many of the Jews in Spain. Shoebat also forgot to tell us that Muslims let us live in Jerusalem during the crusades, whereas the Europeans slaughtered the Jews after they took control of the city. He forgot to tell us about the Muslims who lit candles in Iran for the Americans who died on Sept. 11.
After the speech, members of the audience were given the opportunity to ask Shoebat questions. Immediately, two Muslims spoke out against him, offended by what he had said. What was the audience response? We booed them and clapped at Shoebat’s insults toward them. One of them asked what he was supposed to do as he left the room. Shoebat did not understand what he meant, but I did. He feared that the room would leave with a greater hatred toward Islam. Now do not get me wrong. I love Israel and I love my people, the Jewish people, but I cannot stand silently as someone paints a single stroke brush of another group just as Hitler did of the Jews.

-After a CUNY sign honoring one convicted and one alleged criminal - black and Latino, respectively - is taken down despite City Councilman Charles Barron’s efforts to keep it there, Newsday columnist Sheryl McCarthy explains why it should be kept off campus:

College students often idealize as heroes and revolutionaries persons whom other members of society regard as radicals, terrorists and even gangsters - Che Guevara, Ho Chi Minh and members of the Irish Republican Army are some that come to mind. But if some students are offended by a student center named for two outlaws - a legitimate complaint in my book - then the college is right to respond. While the Morales/Shakur center is officially open to all students, my impression is that it’s run by a small group of campus idealogues. While all viewpoints should be tolerated on a college campus, it shouldn’t pander to radical groups. Just imagine the uproar if the center had been named for a militant white racist, a Jewish group that is rabidly anti-Arab or even a far- right Republican.

-The formerly all-male, mostly all-white University of Michigan honor society Michigamua - also criticized as mocking Native American culture - has changed its name to The Order of the Angell and is a lot more diverse, the Ann Arbor News reports.

Its president is Sirene Abou-Chakra, an executive member of the Arab Students Association. She leads a diverse group, including Andrew Yahkind, former president of the LSA Student Government and co-chairman of the Jewish Greek Council; Gopal Pai, past president of the Indian American Student Association; Jake Long, co-captain of the U-M football team; and Katelin Spencer, co-captain of the women’s soccer team. Unlike the past, membership won’t be a closely held secret.