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Phares has testified before committees of the U.S. [[United States Department of State|State]], [[United States Department of Justice|Justice]], [[United States Department of Defense|Defense]] and [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Homeland Security]] Departments, the [[United States Congress]], the [[European Parliament]], the [[United Nations Security Council]]. He was Terrorism expert at [[NBC]] from 2003 to 2006 and has been Middle East and Terrorism expert and analyst at [[Fox News]] since 2007.
Phares has testified before committees of the U.S. [[United States Department of State|State]], [[United States Department of Justice|Justice]], [[United States Department of Defense|Defense]] and [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Homeland Security]] Departments, the [[United States Congress]], the [[European Parliament]], the [[United Nations Security Council]]. He was Terrorism expert at [[NBC]] from 2003 to 2006 and has been Middle East and Terrorism expert and analyst at [[Fox News]] since 2007.

Phares is also a prominent adherent and promoter of the [[Sharia Law]] [[Conspiracy Theory]], in which he believes [[Muslim American]]s seek to subvert and overthrow the [[U.S. Government]] and [[Constitution]] with [[Islamic]] law. <ref>[Ali, Wajahat; Clifton, Eli; Duss, Matthew; Fang, Lee; Keyes, Scott; and, Shakir, Faiz. “Fear Inc. The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America,” Center for American Progress, August 2011.]</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==
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Phares is an expert on [[Maronite]] history and affairs, and has served as the Secretary General of the ''World Maronite Union''<ref>[http://www.aramaic-dem.org/Walid_Phares/E/16.htm World Maronite Union WMU Secretariat General]</ref> and also the Secretary General of the ''World Lebanese Cultural Union''.<ref>[http://www.defenddemocracy.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11774297&Itemid=0 UNSCR 1559:Calling on Syria to Pull Out From Lebanon]</ref>
Phares is an expert on [[Maronite]] history and affairs, and has served as the Secretary General of the ''World Maronite Union''<ref>[http://www.aramaic-dem.org/Walid_Phares/E/16.htm World Maronite Union WMU Secretariat General]</ref> and also the Secretary General of the ''World Lebanese Cultural Union''.<ref>[http://www.defenddemocracy.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11774297&Itemid=0 UNSCR 1559:Calling on Syria to Pull Out From Lebanon]</ref>
<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,150002,00.html [[Fox News]] Special Report With Brit Hume, March 10 2005]</ref>
<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,150002,00.html [[Fox News]] Special Report With Brit Hume, March 10 2005]</ref>

In March 2011, Phares was originally scheduled to testify before the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee’s controversial hearing on the alleged radicalization of the Muslim American community. However, he was dropped from the hearing after his ties to the Lebanese Forces network were publicly revealed. <ref> [http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/02/24/146260/king-drops-phares/]</ref>

==Controversy==

'''Role in Lebanese War Crimes'''

Opponents to Mr. Phares cite that he is an associate to war crimes, due to the fact that he is a “former official with the Lebanese Forces, a Christian militia.”<ref> [Vince Beiser, "New Bedfelloes Unite Against Syria," The Jerusalem Report, January 12, 1995, Pg. 10]</ref> This militia was implicated, by Israel's official Kahan inquiry and other sources, in the 1982 massacre of civilian men, women and children at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. Regarding the massacre, the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that, “Lebanese militias, notably the Lebanese Forces, went on a killing spree.”<ref>[Marius Schattner, “Sabra and Shatila: The Horror Israel Wants Forgotten,” Agence France Presse – English, September 14, 2007]</ref>

In 1999, Phares’ World Lebanese Organization included among its “leading members” both “Col. Sharbel Baraket, former deputy commander of the [South Lebanese Army], and Etienne Sakr, head of the radical Guardians of the Cedars group.”<ref>[Rudge, David. “Christians propose autonomy for security zone,” Jerusalem Post, June 10, 1999.]</ref>

Until its closure in 1999, the South Lebanese Army (SLA) controlled the notorious Khiam Prison. Human Rights Watch has stated, “It is indisputable that systematic torture occurred in Khiam.”<ref>[Human Rights Watch. “Torture in Khiam Prison: Responsibility and Accountability,” Human Rights Watch, October 27, 1999.]</ref> The SLA also perpetrated atrocities such as the 1984 massacre in which its members “fired guns and hurled hand grenades at men rounded up for questioning.” <ref>[Pippert, Wesley. “Untitled,” United Press International, September 21, 1984.]</ref>

Similarly, Sakr’s group earned “a reputation for atrocities”<ref>{Marlow, Lara. “Deal is short of full Syrian Troop Withdrawal,” The Irish Times, March 8, 2005[Marlow, Lara. “Deal is short of full Syrian Troop Withdrawal,” The Irish Times, March 8, 2005.]</ref> during the Lebanese civil war. Responding to questions about his group’s role in the Sabra and Shatila massacres, Sakr said, “We have the full right to deal with our enemies in Lebanon in the manner we find suitable. <ref>[Farrell, William. “We had a right, Phalangist says of massacre,’ New York Times, December 2, 1982.]</ref>

When Phares was interviewed about the past atrocities attributed to Sakr, Phares replied, "Everybody did silly stuff, on both hands...but amazingly enough, the Guardians of the Cedars have been the most moral fighters."<ref>[http://www.iviews.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=IV9909-635 Ismail Royer, “iviews.com reveals ties between Lebanese terrorist and American Jewish organizations,”iviews.com, September 15, 1999.]</ref>

'''Islamaphobia'''

According to Thomas Cincotta, author of Manufacturing the Muslim Menace, Walid Phares, argues that “jihadists within the West pose as civil rights advocates”and patiently recruit until “[a]lmost all mosques, educational centers, and socioeconomic institutions fall into their hands. These “jihadists” put off militant action, Phares claims ominiously, “until the ‘holy moment’ comes.” <ref>[http://www.publiceye.org/liberty/training/Muslim_Menace_Complete.pdf Thomas Cincotta, "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace, Private Firms, Public Servants, and the Threat to Rights and Security," Political Research Associates, 2011]</ref>

According to the report, Mr. Phares adheres to and promotes the [[conspiracy theory]] of a "sinister plan [which]involves a steady decades-long infiltration of key institutions in the United States, including academia, the defense sector, and community organizations, [by Muslims] in preparation for a future overthrow to impose Sharia law," and while he is often very cautious in his characterization of Muslims, on the whole, his narrative distorts the nature of Islam, misstates the role of the overwhelming majority of Muslim Americans, and reinforces cultural stereotyping of Arabs and Islam.<ref>[http://www.publiceye.org/liberty/training/Muslim_Menace_Complete.pdf Thomas Cincotta, "Manufacturing the Muslim Menace, Private Firms, Public Servants, and the Threat to Rights and Security," Political Research Associates, 2011]</ref>



==Academic work==
==Academic work==

Revision as of 21:44, 12 October 2011

Walid Phares (Template:Lang-ar, Template:IPA-ar), an American scholar born in Beirut, is a professor and commentator on global terrorism and Middle Eastern affairs.

Phares has testified before committees of the U.S. State, Justice, Defense and Homeland Security Departments, the United States Congress, the European Parliament, the United Nations Security Council. He was Terrorism expert at NBC from 2003 to 2006 and has been Middle East and Terrorism expert and analyst at Fox News since 2007.

Biography

Walid Phares was born in Lebanon, where he studied at the Lebanese and St. Joseph Universities. After earning degrees in law, political science and sociology, he practiced law in Beirut. He then earned a Masters degree in International Law from the Université de Lyon in France and a Ph.D. in international relations and strategic studies from the University of Miami. He emigrated to the United States in 1990.

As of 2008, Phares teaches Global Strategies at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C. He is a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C., and a Visiting Fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels. In 2008 he also became the Coordinator of the Trans-Atlantic Parliamentary Group on Counter Jihadi-Terrorism.[1]

Phares is an expert on Maronite history and affairs, and has served as the Secretary General of the World Maronite Union[2] and also the Secretary General of the World Lebanese Cultural Union.[3] [4]

Academic work

Phares taught at the Department of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University between 1993 and 2005. He has been a senior lecturer at the Lifelong Learning Society since 1994. His courses include Middle East Politics, Political History, Ethnic and Religious Conflict and International Terrorism. He has given lectures throughout North America and Europe.

Writing

Books

Year Book Publisher
1979 Pluralism in Lebanon Kasleek University
1980 The Lebanese Thought and the Thesis of Arabization Dar el-Sharq Press
1981 Democratic Dialogue Manshurat el-Tagammoh
1985 Thirteen Centuries of Struggle Mashreq Editions (Beirut)
1986 The Iranian Islamic Revolution Dar el-Sharq Press
1995 Lebanese Christian Nationalism: The Rise and Fall of an Ethnic Resistance L. Rienner Publishers
1998, 2001 History of the Middle East: Trends and Benchmarks IRP University of Miami Press
2005 Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America Palgrave Macmillan
2007 The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy Palgrave Macmillan
2008 The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future Jihad Palgrave Macmillan
2010 The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East Simon & Schuster

Journals

Phares' articles have appeared in Frontpage Magazine[5], Middle East Quarterly, Global Affairs, Journal of Middle East, South Asian Studies, The Journal of International Security Affairs and other journals.

His columns have appeared in many publications including The Jerusalem Post [6], Family Security Matters, The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, World Defense Review, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Denver Post, The Indianapolis Star, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Oregon News, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Detroit Free Press, the Chicago Sun-Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, La Razon (Spain), Le Matin (Montreal), al Siyassa (Kuwait), and al Nahar (Lebanon),

References

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