I finally had a chance to watch the video of the entire event, as the Muslim American Society/Islamic Society of Boston's M. Bilal Kaleem took on M. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy at the Ford Hall Forum and I'm glad I did. Jasser is terrific and understands exactly what the problems are that need to be faced as Islam comes to America. Highly recommended. Here is the entire debate:

If you wish to watch at YouTube, click here to start with Part 1. Jasser begins his remarks in Part 5 if you want to skip right to that.

James Carroll is the moderator but don't let that deter you. He's fine here.

The debate is amicable enough, but Dr. Jasser doesn't hesitate to call out MAS's Kaleem on what he feels are their failings. Jasser gets to the heart of the matter, aiming his remarks as an internal criticism of Islam's issues, while Kaleem's remarks on the wonderful ecumenical truths of Islam would be better suited to a sermon in some of Islam's less enlightened places (the spots that really need the lessons in Islam's tolerant nature). In this situation and before this audience his remarks simply serve to avoid the issues -- issues Jasser goes to with razor efficiency. Considering Kaleem's organization, not Jasser's, just built the Northeast's biggest mosque, this is a little bit disturbing.