Daily Lobo new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
friday April 3, 2015 | Volume 119 | Issue 132
Student causes stir with video Sophomore calls panel “pro-ISIS” in Facebook clip; Muslim group says claim is a misrepresentation By David Lynch Cell phone footage of an ISIS panel held in the SUB atrium by the Muslim Student Association, characterized as pro-ISIS by the student who filmed it, is raising eyebrows as it makes the rounds on social media. Michael Noah Guebara, a sophomore criminology major, posted the almost-two-minutelong video, titled “pro isis panel at unm,” on his Facebook page. It was clearly shot from the stairs adjacent to the atrium — a position from which it is difficult to hear what the panel is saying. Guebara can be overheard saying, “This is disturbing, people. This is very disturbing,” and, “As a God-fearing, gun-loving American, I am scared.” Guebara declined to give comment to The Daily Lobo, saying in a Facebook message, “I will not be giving a statement to the daily lobo as I do not support your liberal views.” Event organizer Rehab Kassem said that the video mischaracterizes the purpose of the panel, which she said was to educate attendees on how the actions of ISIS are not in line with Islam. “What this guy is doing is counterproductive to what we’re trying to do,” she said. She said many attendees took videos of the panel, and they were allowed to do so, but that Guebara’s video, along with the comments he makes, takes the event out of context. “You can’t even hear what the panel is saying,” she said of the video. “You can only hear what he is saying.” At press time the video had generated upwards of 48,000 views and nearly 1,700 shares. At the end of the clip Guebara calls on rightwing political commentators Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh to “please bring this up on your show.” On Thursday afternoon the MSA posted raw footage of the entire panel
Screenshot: Michael Guebara
In this still image captured from video filmed by Michael Noah Guebara, a panel discusses ISIS during an Islamic Awareness Week event Wednesday at the SUB atrium. Participants on the panel said they talked about the radical nature of ISIS not coinciding with Muslim belief, but Guebara the event “pro-ISIS.” Guebara posted the video on his Facebook profile.
— about two hours in length — on its Facebook page in order to “clarify the misconceptions regarding the panel.” Event coordinator Masood Mirza started the panel by saying, “This is actually more of an anti-ISIS panel. We’re going to be talking about the non-relationship between Islam and ISIS.” Kassem said that people who watch Guebara’s video may reach inaccurate conclusions due to the clear display of a sign reading “ISIS” in large letters. But she said the purpose of the sign was to attract listeners, which it did. She said it was the group’s largest event thus far. “It served its purpose: We left it on the podium because people who were walking, it stopped (them) and caught their attention,” she said. “We want to reach out to as many people as we can.” Kathryn Lafayette, a Muslim
who sat on the panel, said that it seemed most people in attendance understood that the panel was anti-ISIS. “It’s a University with intellectual people, and they automatically know that there’s a big disassociation between the Muslims they go to class with and this crazy group in Syria and Iraq,” she said. “And that was good; it was refreshing for us to see.” Lafayette said she and her fellow Muslims who sat on the panel actually put themselves in harm’s way because ISIS kills more Muslims than it does any other group. Guebara’s video potentially puts them in greater danger, she said. “I think it was very dangerous and irresponsible of him to post this, and potentially risk some sort of backlash from the students here,” she said. “My concern is that people are watching this and taking it as
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Michael Noah Guebara, in a video posted on Facebook, addresses his opinions on a Islamic Awareness Week panel discussion about ISIS held Wednesday. Guebara concludes this video by saying “I understand that to all of ya’ll that think you can vilify me for posting the truth.” Screenshot: Michael Guebara
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Jewelry stolen from residents of SFH By Lauren Marvin
There seems to be a jewel thief on campus. Seven incidents of theft at Student Family Housing — which account for about $10,700 worth of jewelry — have been reported to the UNM Police Department within the past month. Four of the police reports were dated March 24. However, most of the thefts occurred in February. According to the reports, many of the victims believed their missing jewelry had been lost. However, after speaking with neighbors and realizing others were experiencing the same situation, the residents chose to report the jewelry as stolen. Lt. Tim Stump, UNMPD’s public information officer, said the department has leads, but would not comment further about individual suspects. Part of the initial investigation
included looking into the maintenance staff and other employees who had access to the residences, and determining which staff had keys for the complex and had work orders, he said. There was no sign of forced entry on any of the residences, according to the police reports. Stump said the thefts are connected. In order to obtain entry into any residence, a code is required to unlock the outer gate and keys are necessary to enter into any apartment, he said. Wayne Sullivan, director of residence life and student housing, said residents were asked to file police reports and meet with UNMPD when it became apparent that the incidents were not isolated. “It was challenging because the initial reports weren’t many, and they were spread out over a period of
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Law school hears Gitmo journalist By Robert Salas
Diana Cervantes / Daily Lobo / @dee_sea_
Jess Bravin author of the book, “The Terror Courts: Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay,” gives a lecture on the policies and conflict surrounding Guantanamo Bay at the School of Law on Thursday afternoon.
As part of the John Field Simms Sr. Memorial Lectureship in Law, students, professors and attorneys gathered in the law school Thursday to hear best-selling author Jess Bravin discuss his coverage of Guantanamo Bay military tribunals. The lecture was part of the National Security Studies Program’s three-day symposium on the future of security trends. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Bravin is a Supreme Court correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, where he has long focused on covering war-on–terror tribunals. He is the author of “The Terror Courts: Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay.” His book recounts the military
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