Monday, August 4, 2008
Well this sounds familiar -- exactly the type of thing that lead to the massive Jewish exodus from around the Middle East. Problems at home? Round up the usual suspects (der Juden!) and hang a few. And if they're not Jews...no matter, just make them into "Zionists"...instant conversion:
Local media report one woman, three men to receive death sentences for involvement in Shiraz mosque blast, 'connections with Zionist regime'
An Iranian woman accused of involvement in the blast at a Shiraz mosque a few months ago will be executed, a local news agency reported, saying she received a life sentence for a connection she had with Israeli intelligence organizations.
Aside from this woman, whose name was not released, three other Shiraz residents arrested in this case will be executed.
According to the report in Iran, 25 people were arrested for alleged involvement in a blast that took place at a Shiraz mosque on April 12, while a religious ceremony was being conducted by a local sermonizer.
The explosion took 14 lives, and dozens of other worshippers were injured.
A month after the incident, the Iranian president blamed Israel, the United States and Britain for involvement in the blast.
"These three countries announced that they plan on attempting to kill Iranian elements and a short time afterwards, the blast occurred in Shiraz," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in the Iranian official news agency, IRNA.
According to him, "due to the calculated effort made by Iranian intelligence officials, the people who caused this blast were arrested quickly and admitted their connection to the Zionist regime, America and England."...
How convenient!
[h/t: Fred]
Gee. Didn't a Sunni group claim they did it? Turns out it was the Jooz, in cahoots with the great Satan and the Brits, after all. Who knew?
I expect the U.N. to mull this impending example of "the religion of peace", over a long lunch, with an invocation by shiite mullah.
"That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace." G.W. Bush
"I believe that Islam is a great religion that preaches peace," G.W. Bush
I'd like to hear an acknowledged Muslim leader say positive things about Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism that are as concilliatory as GWBs comments about Islam.
But you'll never hear it from such a Muslim leader.
I didn't think the comment was about Muslims saying nice things about others. This is from the Pope:
ANKARA (Reuters) - Pope Benedict told Turkey on Tuesday he backed its bid to join the European Union and believed Islam was a "religion of peace", hoping to soothe rows overshadowing a delicate visit to the mainly Muslim country.
My brother Daoud(Oops! Lest the creep accuse me of insulting him...) David reminds us that Islam is a religion of peace. So when, for example, oppressed Sunnis blow up a Shi'ite mosque in Iran, it's an anamoly, the result of a simple misunderstanding or their religious doctrine. Likewise when the Islamic Republic blames Israel, the US and the UK and condemns to death someone they accuse of collaboration with Israel.Far from being peaceful, violence is the hallmark of the civilization of clashes (and I use the term civilization very loosely in regard to the Muslim world in light of their uncivilized behavior).
Look just about anywhere in the Muslim world and you will find tribal and clan rivalry, sectarian violence, border clashes and violence against Christians, Hindus, Bhuddhists, Sikhs, Baha'is, Jews and animists -- in short, adherents of every other religion. Not to mention chattel slavery.
No one takes the pap about religion of peace seriously, even though it's the standard line of taqiya from the Islamists and their apologists, such as Comrade David. (Meaningful interfaith dialogue is so troublesome because the Muslim interlocuters spin a web of deception and disinformation.) W made those statements in the wake of 9/11 with a specific tactical purpose, namely to prevent violence here in America, in the form of attacks against individuals or vigilante revenge in Arab enclaves like Dearbornistan.
[I hate to monopolize the conversation here, but my previous post was held up because of some technical issue, and in the meantime, there's been another dropping from our good friend David.]
Daoud dismisses Eddie's comment as if it were off-topic, so I'll spell it out for him and try to use small words. Eddie's comment was about Muslim intolerance and not just for other denominations of Islam, as in mosque bombings. In light of GWB's statement, Eddie points out the deafening silence from Muslim leaders when it comes to saying something nice about non-Muslim religions. This draws our attention to how intolerant most Muslims are of non-Muslims, something that stands in sharp contrast to the Western tolerance evidenced by what W and the Pope said.#5 David:
The Pope's comments have to be seen in the light of wanting to assuage the raw sensibilities of Muslim Turks who were offended by the visit and reassure them that he's not a conquering Crusader. After all, it was only a short time ago that the Muslim Ottoman Empire was defeated by the West. In backing Turkey's joining the EU, I believe he hopes that fully normalizing relations between Turkey and Europe will help solidify Turkey's integration into the, so called, "international community." Further, his saying Islam is a religion of peace may be more of an aspiration than a description. Certainly Islam contains within it the potential to be tolerant and peaceful even though Islamic leaders are freaking out about the possibility that a peaceful interpretation of Islam might get some traction.
Predominantly Muslim Turkey is constitutionally a secular state. It's troublesome that Christians (e.g., Armenians) and other non-Muslims are discriminated against and that Muslims are destroying the ancient cultural artifacts of non Turkish culture (e.g., Armenian) within the borders of modern Turkey. It's also troubling that the party in charge is "moderately Islamist," which is something like being a little bit pregnant. On the plus side, the ruling party says they're committed to Turkey's constitution.
Far from being off-topic, Eddie's remarks are clearly spot-on. Comrade David has a lot of hutzpah to make his (patently incorrect) criticism. David often changes the subject, and when he replies to a comment, he responds to superficialities and ignores the substance of what people say. See how far afield David takes us? Instead of discussing the plight of the Iranians sentenced to death, or the regime's blaming Israel and their wretched allies for domestic violence stemming from their own mistreatment of minority Sunnis, Daoud would have us debate whether Eddie's remarks are relevant to the discussion or talk about the Pope. As it is, Eddie's observation was already a response to Brother Daoud's earlier diversion.
David claims to be interested in dialogue. Bullshit. He's a troll who just wants to waste our time. We have no chance of convincing this ideologue and apologist of anything, and he knows (or should) that we have more sense than to take anything he says seriously. So why do I spill so much ink on the Pope and Turkey? Did I really fall into his trap? No. My intention behind this long post and critique of our dear friend is merely to illustrate how ridiculous he is as a discussant and drop a very strong hint that he go somewhere else. It might not be as much fun as badgering us, but I'm sure he'll feel more at home at loony left sites like Daily Kos or well-intended but extremely naïve interfaith forums.
Damned troll, be gone! Out with you! Enough!
I never said I was insulted...just regognized the effort.
I never said I was insulted...just recognizing the effort.