Posted on 01/31/2004 10:24:59 PM PST by miltonim
Two weeks ago a much publicized bombing took place at a compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Most media outlets rushed to judgment with a sort of perverse, comfortable kind of conclusion. Muslim terrorists were targeting Muslims….and this happened through the “holy” month of Ramadan. Wrong. The main targets of the attacks were Christian Lebanese who lived in the compound and were employed in the Kingdom. A number of Lebanese were killed in the attack including two small children, Raya, age seven, and Jad, age four. Dozens of Lebanese nationals were also injured in this horrific attack.
Yes, there were Muslims also injured and killed in the attack. They were unfortunate collateral damage. In an interview done soon after the bombing, Abu Salma Al-Hijazi, an Al Qaida commander and close advisor to Osama Bin Laden, labeled the media reports, “merely media deceit.” Al-Hijazi added, “This place was under surveillance for many months….it became perfectly clear to us that the people living there were at least 300 Americans and a large group of Lebanese Christians who had tortured Muslims there, in Lebanon, during the civil war. After consultation, we decided it was appropriate to attack this place and destroy it, including the people who lived there, because it housed Americans and a large majority of Christians holding Lebanese citizenship.” The truth…coming straight from the horse’s (terrorist’s) mouth.
Little Raya and Jad, and their parents, have paid the cruelest price for being just what they are….Christians living in “Muslim lands.” All lands must be Islamic lands, even lands that the world considers secular lands. In Australia’s infamous refugee camps, Mandaeans (the followers of John the Baptist) have found the safety of their children once again in peril, due to their fellow refugees, Muslims. Both groups are put in the same camps, despite overwhelming evidence that Mandaeans have a long history of discrimination and suffering at the hands of Islamists in their countries of origin in the Middle East, namely Iraq and Iran.
In the refugee camps, Mandaeans are forced to eat foods considered unclean according to their religious laws. The foods and diets in the refugee centers are tailored to accommodate Muslim laws and sensibilities, without regard to the religious/cultural needs of others who inhabit these camps with them. Mandaean adults and children often eat nothing more than rice. The health status of Mandaean children are most negatively affected by the limited variety of foods. Recently, it was discovered that Muslim cooks in the camps deliberately added finely ground hot peppers and curry to be served in soups fed to Mandaean babies. Such ingredients could have easily maimed and/or killed the little innocents….or kafirs (unbelievers) as they were thought of by the Muslim chefs. Suffer the little children….at the hands of their cruel cooks.
Islamists also want to poison the minds of their own children. WorldNetDaily recently reported that new textbooks, distributed by the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education for 11 th graders, are geared to “prepare the nation for jihad and to defend the country from its enemies.” These young students learn that, “It should be proclaimed and invite [people] to join it [Islam] wisely and through appropriate preaching and friendly discussions. However, such methods may encounter resistance and the preachers may be prevented from accomplishing their duty…then, jihad and the use of physical force against the enemies become inevitable….” Conversion by the sword, a claim always denied by Islam’s apologists, is clearly stated in textbooks distributed to Palestinian youths. In another section of the textbook, praise and encouragement is expressed for “shahada” or martyrdom, which in the context of Palestinian life describes death by suicide bomb attacks against Israel and other enemies of Islam.
These young and impressionable minds, already surrounded by a culture of intolerance and violence, also learn that to leave Islam means to invite certain death, and justifiably so, according the textbook. “Like any other regime, Islam has to protect itself and therefore this punishment [execution] awaits the person who abandons it, because he is spreading doubt about Islam….” These textbooks are largely funded by Western foundations and charities. Unfortunately, the books being distributed to Muslim children by the Palestinian Authority are not unique. Books like these can be found in classrooms throughout the Muslim world, daily poisoning the minds of impressionable children.
The end results of this hatred are….the deaths of innocents in Riyadh and the attempts to literally poison innocent children in refugee camps in Australia. The future does belong to the children of the world, all children. Babies are born without hatred, prejudice and bigotry. Moderate Muslims must ensure that the children in their societies and entrusted to their care are taught fairness, tolerance and justice for all. If not, the Islamists win and the world will be in conflict for centuries to come.
Deepest condolences go to the Mezher family. Jad and Raya, rest in peace.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.