Friday, November 28, 2008

MUMBAI ATTACKS

It looks as if the tragedy in Mumbai is finally coming to an end. The world does not yet know who the attackers were or what they wanted, but it is clear that no grievance, not even the most legitimate ones justify the murder of over one-hundred and fifty civilians. Whatever cause the attackers sought to advance in the eyes of the world they have inevitably harmed, this is always the case with terrorism. Hundreds of civilians are dead, hundreds more are wounded, and millions are living in terror. The anger of a few can bring anguish to all of humanity.

In confronting man made disasters this is an important lesson to remember. It is important not to let anguish harden into rage, the same passion that drove the perpetrators of this atrocity. The victims are in anguish, that is understandable, we anguish with them, but we cannot allow more hatred to grow from that anguish. Many are channeling their anger at what happened towards the Pakistani nation and the Islamic faith. There is no basis for these allegations, they would not be justified if every attacker were a Pakistani Muslim, but they start, or perhaps continue a dangerous cycle. Enough people have already died senselessly. The bereaved must respond with restraint and avoid retaliatory actions. That would only create more needles suffering and continue the cycle that produced this attack. As a great Indian once said "an eye for an eye makes the world blind".

3 comments:

Avi said...

King David wrote that those who love G-d must hate evil. And the perpetrators of the attacks in Mumbai were evil people following an evil ideology.

Think about it. Hundreds of innocent people on vacation were murdered simply because they were not Muslim. They committed no crime. And the cries of condemnation from the Muslim world are nowhere to be found. The same people that protest so passionately over cartoons and teddy bears have no words to spare when their religion is supposedly "hijacked" by extremists. Now would be the time for Muslims to prove their religion of peace rhetoric.

The Chabad rabbi and rebbetzin who were murdered were the antithesis of the evil jihadist terrorists. They left their comfortable homes in New York and Israel to bring holiness and goodness to a remote part of the world. They gave support to a tiny community, to Jewish businessmen and Israeli tourists, a place to eat kosher food, stay over Shabbat and to study Torah. They helped Jews and non-Jews grow spiritually, fight poverty and overcome drug addiction. They were selfless. Yet the terrorists chose such a small target along with another 10 sites, a center of a community that makes up less that 0.03% of the millions of Mumbai's citizens. The Chabad house was the only target where all of the hostages were murdered and tortured. The terrorists came from Pakistan, where there is not a single Jew. Despite never knowing a Jew, their hate was great enough to know that these people must be killed. One of the hostages was found shot with an open prayer book in front of him. To murder with impunity in a house of G-d is pure evil.

Now is time to raise our voice against the pure, unrestrained evil that is Islam. The Torah says that Ishmael will be a wild ass of a man, his hand in everything and everyone's hand against him. Ishmael has no shame, knows no bounds, no limits but murders in the name of his satanic faith. We must fight his evil and cruelty. The attacks in Mumbai are attacks on the very heart of civilization and decency.

May G-d comfort all of those affected in the attacks, Jews and non-Jews, among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

Progressive Pinhead said...

First of all no one is really sure why this crime was committed, it could have been motivated by religion, but also perhaps nationalism or simply attention. The condemnations are everywhere to be found. You can't avoid them, though, and then argue they don't exist. Moderate Muslims don't owe any demonstration of the peaceful nature of their religion to you. Why don't you condemn Kach and Kahane for hijacking your peaceful religion, oh wait...

Fighting extremism and hate has to begin within you. If you cannot overcome those things yourself you will never be able to confront them in other people. Not that there isn't hope, Uri Avnery, the grandfather of the Israeli peace movement was a terrorist in his youth. Now he is adored by Israelis and Palestinians alike for his courage, devotion, and compassion. However, confronting the hate within yourself takes courage and resolve. It requires you to accept the possibility that you maybe wrong on everything, and probably are wrong on many things. It requires you to accept that there are things you don't know, not just factually, but also morally. It requires you to accept that there are no simple answers and it requires you to, above else, be open to reforming your worldview.

Avi said...

YA, the group responsible for the attacks called themselves the Decan mujahadeen. Mujahadeen means Islamic holy warriors. The sole surviving terrorist explained why out of a city of 14 million people, terrorists chose to attack a Jewish center for a community that represents less than 0.03% of Mumbai's population. Why was a little whole in wall Chabad house targetted along with major hotels? Why did the doctors find terrible signs of torture on the Jewish victims? The terrorist explained that they specifically targeted Jews for attack. No other place of worship of another faith was targeted. By attempting to downplay the obvious Jew-hatred and genocidal intent of the terrorists, you are their useful idiot. You allow them to murder Jews with impunity.

The Chabad house was the only target in which all of the hostages were immediately killed. They were bound and tortured. The rebbetzin was 5 months pregnant. The rabbi had to watch as his wife was killed. The terrorists then destroyed the holy books in the house, demonstrating their contempt and hatred for Jews, Judaism and Jewish moral values. This is a sick and perverted ideology. It cannot coexist with peace-loving people.

Please show me one condemnation by a mainstream Muslim organization. Where are the marches in the streets, the riots, the burning of effigies and flags, just as they did over Muhammad cartoons, teddy bears, Salman Rushdie's knighting, etc?

You are indeed naive. I am hateful for exposing hate? I do not hate Muslims and would love nothing better to live in peace and security. Truthfully, the greatest victims of Islamic violence is innocent Muslims. By minimizing the problems with extremism in the Muslim community, you do not give moderate Muslims the chance to speak up, as the Left silences them right away.