Jean Charles de Menezes: Electrician, Son, Murder Victim
If several men in regular clothes started running after you in a metro station (metro being the most ominous word for subway), brandishing weapons, would you run? If one of them happened to have identified themselves as police, would you hear them (we don't know yet if anyone did). If you tripped, fell and were shot several times, as part of a "shoot at the head" policy, what would your last thought be.
(for a full story, see BBC Newsarticle on it
If the police shot a man to death in a subway station, and offered the explination that he was directly linked to a series of bombings the day before, would you be satisfied? If a day later, it was admitted that he had absolutley nothing to do with any terrorist activity, and was in fact a simple electrician, trying to catch a train, would you be angry? Would you the police cheif?
If your son was killed, several thousand miles away, and his murderers offered you an apology, saying "sorry, we thought your son was someone else", would you except that apology?
WE ARE OUTRAGED
Libellés : G.B.
par Borges à 02:40
Racism and the shooting
Shot man not connected to bombing: A man shot dead by police hunting the bombers behind Thursday's London attacks was a Brazilian electrician unconnected to the incidents.Wohw racism is so deeply impeded in societies. I don't mean Western society in particular, but since this is me we'll use that as an example. When i heard that the man was Brasilian, i thought "my God, he wasn't even South Asian, why did they think he was a terrorist". Perhaps that's because the news reports said he had "Asian appearance" which he doesn't at all, he looks like any white guy walking down the street in any country with a white population. I also felt the sympathy with my Lusitanian (Portuguese-speaking) brethren. Perhaps society's racism is projected onto us whether we like it or not. I have to admit, i was surprised to hear one of 7.7's bombers was Jamaican. And this is coming from me, a Muslim.
Or perhaps it's not racism, perhaps it's just plain what we know, what is shown to us everyday. But it's true, the majority of terrorist are of Desi and Arab descent. We Muslims need to admit it, we have terrorists in our communities, and these terrorists are Muslims. I don't like it when people say that "terrorists aren't Muslims". Your not out of Islam for any reason other than the placing of a partner with God. Surely these actions are not Islamic, but they are still Muslim people. Anyway, maybe it isn't racism, just what we know, what we all know, and what we are used to. I think probably this was a feeling felt by everyone when they learned of the mans appearance and background, Asian, Arab, European, whatever.
It made me angry to think that they shot a man, a man who we now know had absolutley no links to terrorism, he was just a student. Haha all those people saying "ohh the police were right to do that" when we didn't know anything about it, even so many muslims saying that on the Asian network, so what is it now? Is it that it's okay to shoot someone as long as they were doing something wrong. So what happens now, now that a completely innocent man has been shot multiple times and died within minutes. There's still more to be discovered, like why did he run? Hmm, well i'll leave you with that.
Khuda Hafiz
Libellés : G.B.
par Borges à 23:03
They just don't give up
More explosions on London public transportyou don't know how much you hurt us all.
Libellés : G.B.
par Borges à 12:57
La Courneuve
La CourneuveThe following, in an attempt to spread the word about the plight of our brothers and sisters in France, and their growing disparity, i'm linking to an article about "La Courneuve" a huge ()and majority Muslim) housing project in Sein Saint-Denis, an area right outside of Paris where the slaying of Salil Boubakeur, an 11 yearold caught in the cross-fire between two rival groups of Muslim youth occured.
It's so sad the state of the Ummah in France. At almost 10% of the population, Muslims in France are in a weakened and desperate state. A large portion resigned to poverty and generational poverty, the North Africans, Africans, Mid-Easterners and Desi (mostly North African but we have to be inclusive) are overwhelmingly poor and summer both state sanctioned and private racism and discrimination. La Courneuve illustrates it brilliantly, a group of huge tower blocks housing poor families, the majority of whom are Muslim, is today a community over-run with drugs and Muslim-on-Muslim violence. And this isn't even so much about immigration anymore. A large portio of the Muslims in France are French citizens, born and raised in the land of Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood, the childeren or grand-childeren of immigrants, mostly from North Africa and other African countries that were once French colonies. It's so sad because just look across La Manche to England, where Muslims make up just 3%, you can go anywhere and find a masjid, Islamic schools are springing up all over, and there are hundereds, perhaps thousands, of home grown and educated Alims. I pray that the Ummah in France unites and pulls itself up and out. Ameen (and before y'all state hatin', realize that this last paragraph is not only based on news article and books, but also personal accounts of North African Muslims who have lived in France or have family there).
About La Courneuve: A La Courneuve, "Rebus" et "Renois" disent la vie des "4 000"
About Sidi-Ahmed: Sidi Ahmed, 11 ans, nettoyait la voiture de son père, dimanche, quand il a été atteint par deux balles perdues. LES POLICIERS étaient toujours à la recherche, lundi 20 juin dans la matinée, du meurtrier du jeune Sidi Ahmed, 11 ans, tué par deux balles de 9 mm, dimanche 19 juin, en bas de chez lui à La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis). Selon les premiers éléments de l'enquête, l'enfant aurait été atteint de deux balles perdues, après que plusieurs coups de feu ont été tirés par deux bandes rivales qui s'affrontaient dans le secteur sud de la cité des 4 000. (the actaul text right here is from Le Monde, the link is from Liberation)
Libellés : Accommodements raisonnables, Europe, Sarkowatch
par Borges à 22:10
London Bomb Attacks
Salaam Aleikum wr wb,I hope this post finds everyone in the best of health and iman. Sitting here drinking water and eating awesome leftover spicey and regular fries i took home from work (go me!). This bombing has really affected me, I don't know why, maybe it's because i'm older . Obvioulsy I was affected by 9/11 and I even had some family die in it, but this seems more real, or maybe it's because i'm muslim now. I was talking to Oana today and i couldn't believe how angry I was about this. ARGHHHH!! WHy do they have to bloody do this!! They aren't helping anyone, killing people indiscriminantly is so terrible. Allah hates killing. How can anyone call this jihad (especially when the bus attack was in Hackney/Aldgate which is a big Muslim area). I hope all the brothers and sisters reading this are okay. Ahmed and Zain, i thought of you guys and hope you are okay and that the backlash is not too bad. You know what I also thought of, that this is NORMAL in Iraq, how terrible for them. Ya Allah, please grant those that died Your Mercy and please protect our brothers and sisters in Iraq. The following are too good articles (in English this time), both by the BBC.
A good overview (at least 50 dead and 700 injured)
Muslim leaders join condemnation
Libellés : G.B.
par Borges à 00:47
Londres frappée par une série d'attentats meurtriers dans les transports
Londres frappée par une série d'attentats meurtriers dans les transportsI'm very scared and worried for my brothers and sisters in England. I pray that wonderful Ummah in the UK is not affected too badly by these attacks. Almost 50 dead and around 350 injured, how terrible a thing. I can't believe this, how horrible. May Allah grant all those killed Mercy. Ameen.
Libellés : G.B.
par Borges à 11:16
Sister, your eyes attract me to your figure, your speech cannot keep my gave upAnd then, as I check yourself, I glimpse your necklace.
It's a beautiful golden crescent, cradling a star, and I am shamed.
I am shamed, and ashamed for you.
You, who love Islam enough to wear it on your neck, yet you don't love Islam enough to cover your body, and to cover your head
Me, because I have disrespected you, I have given you the disresepct that you call for, and yet I am still at fault.
Oh and by the way, to my beloved Ummah, who seem to love me not, just because your from an Islamic country does not make you any better than me. I can feel your stairs, I can hear your words, hushing your voice and looking my way. Because I am dressed to spread Islam and represent the best this world has ever been offered, you to epitomise all that is most wrong in the world today. You Sisters, with your short cut shirts and barely there skirts, you brother's, with your gold chains and pink shirts. And then you tell me that you are the real muslims, and I am something I am not. I scoff at you and sometimes retort, but inside, and alone, it brings tears to my eyes. Maybe I act like your words don't hurt me, that your hypocrisy isn't a stabbing pain, but your words are working, for they hurt me. Okay, apostraphe over... oh wait no there's a little more...
Y'all don't know how much you hurt us, how your stares are worse than those of the kuffar. You don't know what you do, how you make us pain, when you give us Salaams with a smirk or speak, thinking we can't understand. Do you think your bette than us because your brown? Is there some sort of ignorant racial thing going on here? Are you insecure about your own identity, so you have to degrade those of us that have come to Islam, defied our own heritages and had to blaze a new trail, because you have chosen to forget Islam and walk the trail of the mushrikeen?
(Boy, what a trip to RiteAid at 1230 in the morning to buy ice cream can bring up)
par Borges à 00:47
