Just minutes after I read a breaking news headline about the explosions/bomb blasts in Boston I made my way over to CNN.Details were sketchy last night at around 9pm South African time but that did not stop comments on the forums hosted by CNN - and other news sites - from being the place to rage against all things Muslim/Islam/Arab/Brown/Foreign.
Against my better judgment I copied this comment from CNN literally minutes after the first news reports were being disseminated. It is obviously not from a Muslim for a variety of contextual/factual mistakes but it speaks to the racist need to incite hatred against Muslims as much as it speaks to the Christian right wing agenda to cast themselves as victims of an Islamic onslaught:
alahisgoodtoyou •Notice that Allah is spelled wrong. The reference to young wife is the stuff of accusing the Prophet of taking a child bride. The BBHN that appears after the name of the Prophet is supposed to be PBUH (peace be upon him) but the author obviously cannot remember or even spell turban. And, the closing reference to 'eliminating' Christians is a standard lie about the teachings of Islam as pandered by right wing fascist and Christian churches all across the US.
I am a muslim. I DO have a young wife. I do wear a turbin. and I Do believe in the teachings of Muhammad, BBHN. This is justified in our teachings and the more christian scum we can eliminate, the better
The rest of the comments reposted here are standard fare for vocal Islamophobes and those who silently and not so silently believe that Muslims and Islam are to be fingered in Boston.
That said there are also many reasonable and thinking people who post comments that decry what has happened without descending into racist Islamophobic diatribes.
Be that as it may, this is a dangerous time to be a Muslim anywhere or even to 'look' like a Muslim ... :
Rick Hansen • I guess a decade of dropping bombs on Muslims was not enough, guess we better send some more over stat !
Time Traveler • It turns out it was a bunch of Muslims that decided Barbie's Playhouse looks a lot like Muhammad's bedroom, and they went ape sh*t.
Esperantisto to Time Traveler • i believe it. Mohammed liked to marry little children. 1400 years of jihad against the entire world, and you dhimmis still can't figure out what Islam is all about. *sigh*
nukunukoo • This was a race-related attack
ScrappyLee • Anyone think the evil Muslims did this? I do, they are all terrorists.
Esperantisto to ScrappyLee • Not all Muslims are terrorists. Some just keep their mouth shut and give the terrorists support with their silence. I love what it happening in Syria. Muslims killing Muslims is always a good thing.
fairandbrave Khalid_Shaikh_Mohammed • Mohammed is dead and someday you will be too, praise to GOD
MarkH Sphy • If it doesn't turn out to be Islamist based, I'll chop my junk off on camera and convert to Islam.
infidel2001 • christianity brings peace. islam is a plague of violence
Thedude1999 to Wilkerson • Arabs suck with their bombs.
I EiffelTowered Your Wife! • Go back to the desert Sheet-Head!
Leon Jase Wolf • ... anyone who is NON-violent is not considered a true Muslim, at least according to the Quran. There may be "moderate Muslims," but not so a "moderate Islam."
Gloria Caws to Jase Wolf • Only non-muslims state that "true muslims' are not violent. Muslims themselves revel in the Koran that prescribes violence in over 90 per cent of its content.
john Taniabahd31 • we have to kick all islamist people out
MarkH Sphy • If it doesn't turn out to be Islamist based, I'll chop my junk off on camera and convert to Islam.
infidel2001 • christianity brings peace. islam is a plague of violence
Thedude1999 to Wilkerson • Arabs suck with their bombs.
I EiffelTowered Your Wife! • Go back to the desert Sheet-Head!
Leon Jase Wolf • ... anyone who is NON-violent is not considered a true Muslim, at least according to the Quran. There may be "moderate Muslims," but not so a "moderate Islam."
Gloria Caws to Jase Wolf • Only non-muslims state that "true muslims' are not violent. Muslims themselves revel in the Koran that prescribes violence in over 90 per cent of its content.
john Taniabahd31 • we have to kick all islamist people out
Carlos Gutierrez desaram • Screw those little kids...we killed little terrorist in the making
Oh if you were thinking we did not have our share of racist/Islamophobes in South Africa here is a selection of comments from News24 and IOL.
Theodor Herzl • April 16, 2013 at 06:49 News24 Lets start of saying that it was muslims - the peace loving religion islam.
Heather Pool • IOL mark my words....Obama will again stand up and tell us that Islam is a peaceful religion...assuming a right-wing group doesn't claim responsibility this time
Boertjie • IOL These act of terror reminds me of the bomb attacks by the anc during the 80's and early 90's.Cowards!
Jon JJ Anon • IOL .....we all know that this is normal in Iraq so why bother covering it? It's their favourite pastime in the Islamic countries so who cares if they kill each other to satisfy their needs. They must just piss off from the western world. ... Westerners don't stay in Islamic countries. Muslims are the ones staying in Western countries where booze, women and Christianity is rife. Funny how they all flock to countries where principles completely contrary to the "beliefs" are practiced.....you gotta wonder about these "holier than thou" people. Me thinks that most of them are hypocrites 'cos if they're really that religious why would they stay in non-Islamic counties?
The last comment here is particularly dumb and filled with irony. Here a settler South African is bemoaning the presence of Muslims in the West. I wonder if he thought that most days in his miserable life he would not be able to count or drive anywhere were it not for those Muslims he so detests.
The selection here is narrow and just from my reading. My point is not to remove the disgust I feel for anyone who would kill innocents by waging war and acts of war against civilians.
Like any humane person anywhere I am sad to know about the deaths suffered in Boston - one being an 8 year old child. I am also sad about the injuries caused to innocent folk enjoying a sporting event.
No real struggle is waged against innocents even where life is lost in collateral damage as Obama and his mad henchmen like to argue.
The loss of one innocent life is too much.
For those Islamophobes anywhere who think they know the teachings of the Qur'an and the Prophet it would be an unexpected moment of sanity to consider that what I have said is not my own thinking - it is the teachings of Islam.
May those who have lost their lives in this senseless act of terror rest in peace until that day.
Onward!
Picture Credit
4 comments:
Whenever you see a smiling child, remember: she's never read a comment in her life, and she's doing just fine.
https://twitter.com/AvoidComments
This is probably good advice.
Thanks Alleman.
Peace,
ridwan
My first thought was that this was a domestic attack and not from a foreign group.
I knew that there would be an instant focus on Muslims.
This attack and the hate that follows makes me very sad.
I am sorry to all of the muslims who have to hear this hate towards them. It is not fair.
Peace to all!
Hi Kim:
The bombings are indeed sad and an indication of what is wrong with a nation-state system grounded on the rationale of violence.
The FBI and other authorities have not given any clear indication of who is responsible and why.
The talk of pressure cooker bombers and a web page that describes how to make these bombs was all the fare on the mainstream news channels this morning.
A CNN talking head was careful to say it is not certain but it fits Al-Qaeda because the bomb instructions can be found on a web page that belongs to them.
And therein lies the problem - speculation that supports the racist assumptions that all things Al-Qaeda is Muslim and Islam.
It does not pick through the nuances or tell the American people that ousting Gadaffi and supporting the rebels in Syria is in effect an indication of how the US and its allies are working alongside Al-Qaeda.
It also does not tell Americans how this bombing structure fits reconnaissance or secondary bombing techniques used by the US to kill support staff and innocent family members after a drone strike or aerial bombardment.
But that aside it is a terrible and sad time for ordinary people - Muslims and everyone else - who are just trying to live the best they can.
Hugz,
ridwan
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