Monday, September 06, 2004
I am at a loss to describe the sense of outrage that I feel over the tragedy in Beslan. But I am equally appalled by the insensitivity of people. (No, I’m not talking about terrorists who shoot at children and deprive them of water and food for days.) I am talking about ‘responsible’ journalists like those employed by the Times of India, who feel the need to package a tragedy of this scale by using alliterative headlines like ‘Bloodbath in Belsan’.
I can just hope and pray that a horrific incident will lead to some soul-searching among Muslims worldwide. This extremist scum should be isolated, exposed and asphyxiated of funds (which comes in the bagfuls from the stupid Arabian emirates). I know it is easier said than done, but if the general mood is any indicator it may happen sooner than later.
Sample these:
“Muslims worldwide are the main perpetrators of terrorism, a humiliating and painful truth that must be acknowledged,” Abdulrahman al-Rashed, general manger of Al-Arabiya Television wrote in his daily column published in the pan-Arab, Ashara Al-Awsat newspaper.
“The horrifying images of dead and wounded Russian students showed Muslims as monsters who are fed by the blood of children and the pain of their families,” Ahmed Bahgat, an Egyptian Islamist, wrote in his column in Egypt’s’ leading pro-government newspaper, Al-Ahram.
“The mobilisation of moderate Muslims, which began in France after the kidnapping of two French journalists in Iraq, has spread to Italy, Britain and Germany -- the other European countries with large Muslim populations.
"Isolate Fanatics to Achieve a More Just and Safer Country" was the title of a manifesto published in one of Italy's leading newspapers this week and signed by some 30 Italian Muslims.
In France, the abduction of two French journalists by the Islamic army in Iraq turned into a defining moment for the country's 5 million-strong Muslim community, Europe's largest. The militants' demand that France revoke its recent ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools had all the elements needed for serious tension between Paris and its Muslims. Instead, the fractious French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) spoke out in one voice to denounce the kidnappers and reject their bid to inflame the headscarf issue.
Leaders of Germany's some 3.3 million Muslims have also tried to distance the community from extremism. "These people who claim to be acting in the name of Islam damage the religion itself and Muslims, and therefore we must condemn their acts and of course distance ourselves from them,” said Ali Kizilkaya, Chairman of the Islam Council of Germany.” (Reuters, Sept 3)
I can just hope and pray that a horrific incident will lead to some soul-searching among Muslims worldwide. This extremist scum should be isolated, exposed and asphyxiated of funds (which comes in the bagfuls from the stupid Arabian emirates). I know it is easier said than done, but if the general mood is any indicator it may happen sooner than later.
Sample these:
“Muslims worldwide are the main perpetrators of terrorism, a humiliating and painful truth that must be acknowledged,” Abdulrahman al-Rashed, general manger of Al-Arabiya Television wrote in his daily column published in the pan-Arab, Ashara Al-Awsat newspaper.
“The horrifying images of dead and wounded Russian students showed Muslims as monsters who are fed by the blood of children and the pain of their families,” Ahmed Bahgat, an Egyptian Islamist, wrote in his column in Egypt’s’ leading pro-government newspaper, Al-Ahram.
“The mobilisation of moderate Muslims, which began in France after the kidnapping of two French journalists in Iraq, has spread to Italy, Britain and Germany -- the other European countries with large Muslim populations.
"Isolate Fanatics to Achieve a More Just and Safer Country" was the title of a manifesto published in one of Italy's leading newspapers this week and signed by some 30 Italian Muslims.
In France, the abduction of two French journalists by the Islamic army in Iraq turned into a defining moment for the country's 5 million-strong Muslim community, Europe's largest. The militants' demand that France revoke its recent ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools had all the elements needed for serious tension between Paris and its Muslims. Instead, the fractious French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) spoke out in one voice to denounce the kidnappers and reject their bid to inflame the headscarf issue.
Leaders of Germany's some 3.3 million Muslims have also tried to distance the community from extremism. "These people who claim to be acting in the name of Islam damage the religion itself and Muslims, and therefore we must condemn their acts and of course distance ourselves from them,” said Ali Kizilkaya, Chairman of the Islam Council of Germany.” (Reuters, Sept 3)
