In November 2016, Kasim Hafeez came to Butler to help host five events in Western PA and Eastern OH called Standing with Israel. Kasim’s life story is about transformation and the evidence that every life has value. Kasim is one of the most influential leaders of our time. He is also a great friend. We want to share a brief summary of his life.
For several years there has existed an exceptional level of anti-Semitism in some pockets of the world’s Muslim community. While growing up, one of the adherents to this narrative was a young British Muslim of Pakistani descent named Kasim Hafeez. So ingrained was Kasim’s anti-Western attitude, that he spent his university years leading protests against Israel and the West, and eventually decided that violent Jihad was the only path for him. But the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had other plans for Kasim. Before acting on his Jihadist worldview, Kasim came across a book, “The Case for Israel” by Alan Dershowitz.
After spending months trying and failing to prove false the “lies” found in Dershowitz’s book, Kasim decided to go to Israel and see the country for himself. When he arrived at Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, he told the Israeli security officers precisely why he had come. None-the-less, to Kasim’s amazement, he was granted entry into the Jewish state. As he walked the streets of Jerusalem, he sought out his Islamic brothers and sisters, asking them of their experience living in the country he had been raised to hate – but they did not hate Israel. He searched for the separate drinking fountains and bathrooms he had been led to believe existed in the “Apartheid state of Israel” – but he found none. Instead he found an open and vibrant society where everyone is free to speak, worship, and live as they see fit.
Kasim went to Israel an anti-Semite and returned a Zionist. Everything he had been taught about the Jewish state was a lie. Instead of finding Israel detestable, he fell in love with the land and the people. And the passion that once drove Kasim to lead anti-Israel rallies at his university, now compelled him to stand up and speak up for Israel. As a result, Kasim Hafeez has joined the Christians United for Israel team. He travels across the country speaking to those who believe the same lies he once believed. Last month, he traveled across the western US speaking at events in Idaho, New Mexico, California, Nevada and Utah and shared his miraculously transforming journey from anti-Semitism to Zionism.
