A reformed Palestinian terrorist who was scheduled to speak here on Nov. 1 was unable to deliver his lecture after administrators voiced concerns about event security, according to the leaders of Zionists for Historical Veracity (ZaHaV). ZaHaV, a campus group who sponsored the event, was reportedly forced to postpone the visit of Walid Shoebat, a former member of the Palestine Liberation Organization because University administrators said logistical security concerns had not yet been addressed.

ZaHaV President Elana Lichtenstein '05 said that her group had been planning for this speaker to come for over six weeks, and that all logistical elements were in place. She said that up until the "one-stop" meeting with administrators a week before the event, she even assumed all aspects of security were in place.

"I was stunned upon being asked if I thought the speaker's message would be offensive because clearly that had nothing to do with security," said Lichtenstein.

Lichtenstein said that in discussions with administrators, not only security concerns were discussed, but the actual message of the speaker was also in question.

According to Dean of Student Life Rick Sawyer, who worked with ZaHaV in scheduling the event, the university had heard about death threats against Shoebat at other speaking engagements in the past, and they wanted to be sure adequate measures had been taken at Brandeis to protect him.

ZaHaV Secretary Jonathan Cohen '06 said that when the event was cancelled the Monday prior, ZaHaV leaders were surprised to learn that money was not the only obstacle preventing Shoebat from speaking.

Director of Public Safety Ed Callahan told the Justice that every event at Brandeis requires different security concerns, and that some events take longer to prepare for than others. Callahan said that at the time the speaker was supposed to come, all necessary concerns had not been addressed.

Lichtenstein said that Callahan had been supplied with much information about Shoebat including his Web site, history, and past speaking engagements, but that a week before the event, he still had not been in touch with Shoebat's agent.

Sawyer said that Callahan was unable to reach Shoebat's agent.

Lichtenstein said she is concerned that the school seems to be weighing value of Shoebat's message according to subjective considerations.

"Who are they concerned about keeping this message from-and why?" Lichtenstein said.

Sawyer said that initial concerns that Shoebat's message was racist prompted him to find a student who had seen Shoebat speak. He said that student assured him the message was not racist.

"We have to know what we are getting into," Sawyer said. "We have to know what the possibilities are, and what the probabilities are."

When asked if he would ever prevent a controversial speaker from coming to Brandeis, Sawyer said he would not.

"I might have lobbied hard to have people think through the benefit of having such a person on campus," Sawyer said.

Sawyer also said that it is important to him to encourage a balanced array of speakers on campus, and that any one message that is "anti-someone" should not be permitted without hearing other perspectives.

According to his Web site, Shoebat used to be an active member of the P.L.O. and incited many acts of violence against Israel before being imprisoned by the Israeli government.

Later in his life, Shoebat said that in an effort to convert his wife to Islam, he spent time studying Jewish holy books.

As a result, he said learned everything he knew about the Jews was wrong, and he set out on a mission to be an advocate for Israel and the Jewish people and to work against the hate that he said had once possessed him

Sawyer cited an incident 15 years ago when Rabbi Meir Kahane, who is considered very controversial because of his ideas to relocate the Palestinians outside of Israel, spoke at Brandeis. According to Sawyer, he was assassinated five days later in New York City by a stalker.

"It could have easily been here," Sawyer said. "Ed Callahan and this University aren't going to take any chances."

Cohen agreed that taking a death threat seriously was important, but he said that it would have been better if the University had dealt with such issues earlier in the process, instead of waiting until the last minute.

Cohen said that he felt the administration knew what it needed to do for this event and didn't work hard enough to make it happen.

"I am not bitter," Cohen said when asked about his reaction to the cancellation. "I am upset that we worked through the rules to make this happen and it still didn't work out."

According to club leaders of ZaHaV, who sponsored the event, it is now unlikely that Shoebat, who spoke at Harvard Monday, will speak at Brandeis until next semester.