Posted on 04/05/2007 1:53:53 PM PDT by Eurotwit
MOSCOW, March 4 (Reuters) - Plans to build a memorial to the 333 hostages killed three years ago in the Beslan school siege have sparked a row between Christians and Muslims in Russia.
The local Russian Orthodox diocese says it will build a church in the grounds of Beslan's school No. 1 to commemorate the victims -- half of them children -- killed in a clash between insurgents and Russian troops.
But one of Russia's leading Muslim clerics has accused the Orthodox church of trying to hijack a national tragedy by building a memorial that he said would exclude the more than 20 million Muslims who live in the country.
"It is not acceptable to present this tragedy as the tragedy of followers of only one religion," Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, chairman of the Council of Russian Muftis, said in a statement.
"We need a monument on this site that symbolises a national tragedy, without any religious undertones, where everyone can come and shed their tears."
Gainutdin is an outspoken Muslim leader in Russia, and other senior clerics have not spoken out about the memorial plans.
But the row has exposed faultlines between the communities which, despite a conflict between Moscow and rebels in Muslim Chechnya, have had largely smooth relations. Russia is home to the biggest Muslim community in Europe.
Wrangling over the memorial could also aggravate already raw divisions between Muslims and Christians in the volatile North Caucasus region that includes Beslan.
Beslan and the area around it have a majority Christian population and many of them blame their Muslim neighbours for the bloodbath: the hostage-takers were Islamist militants from Chechnya and the neighbouring Muslim region of Ingushetia.
BESLAN'S CHOICE
The local Russian Orthodox diocese said it plans to build the church next to the school sports hall, the spot where many of the hostages died after a bomb fixed to a basketball hoop went off, triggering a massive gunbattle.
A spokesman for the diocese said a church was the memorial that the people of Beslan had chosen.
"It is not a case of someone coming along and taking this decision. It is the decision of the people who were hostages and whose children died ... and it should be respected," said spokesman Yevgeny Bronsky.
Asked about Muslims' reaction to the plan he said: "We have not noticed this issue dividing anyone in Beslan."
The administration of the North Ossetia region, of which Beslan is a part, contradicted the church, saying consultations on what form the memorial would take were still being conducted.
"The people of Beslan ... will review the proposed options and will make the final choice," it said in a statement.
Since the tragedy, the wrecked shell of the sports hall has become a makeshift shrine, with candles on the floor and photographs of the victims pinned to the walls. Some victims' relatives say it should be preserved as a permanent memorial.
Muslims gave a damn about the country, they wouldn’t be blowing up and shooting children in the back and those who didn’t personally do it would be able to condemn those of their faith that do.
Muslims can do neither... they are nothing but dogs with beards.
I think our government could take some lessons from the Ruskies about how to handle Muslims....
Instead, our government prefers to punish people such as the Serbs who can stand up to the Muhammedan.
You are needlessly insulting dogs. Dogs are incapable of the endless evil behavior shown by the "Religion of Peace" horror show sub-humans, since the 6th Century.
So, excluding the Islamist terrorists who perpetrated the attack, how many muslim teachers, parents and children were murdered in the Beslan school atrocity?
I am trying to remember how many muslim students were killed in this standoff? Particularly the ones shot in the back as they were fleeing. Or raped. Hmph.
How many muslims were there out of 333 killed hostages? If there were any, let this Ravil Gainutdin build a memorial mosque comprising the prorated part of the total monument.
Yes, if it was muslims killed in the attack, then they would be justified in building their own memorial.
But one of Russia's leading Muslim clerics has accused the Orthodox church of trying to hijack a national tragedy by building a memorial that he said would exclude the more than 20 million Muslims who live in the country.
F#$% the muslims. None of those sand apes were killed.
Were any Muslims children killed? Weren’t they all Christians?
Frickin' crocodile tears. They just don't want a church going up.
“one of Russia’s leading Muslim clerics has accused the Orthodox church of trying to hijack a national tragedy by building a memorial that he said would exclude the more than 20 million Muslims who live in the country. “
Here’s a solution. In addition to memorializing the innocent children who were murdered, include a couple of statues of the Islamiot pigs rotting in the deepest pit of hell. Wake up world. This is a battle of ideologies. They are blowing up kids in schools, while we are fighting lawsuits (with American lawyers) over reporting suspicious behavior by Muslims on airplanes. If by “religion of peace,” you mean “piece of shi*”...I concur.
Consecrating the ground would deny them the beach head they worked so hard to establish....
Too d*mn bad they don’t blow up the local mosque with everyone in it. THAT would make a suitable memorial to Beslan. Hopefully the Russians have a better memory than we do.
Oh that is right, Christians were the target both times.
Then there’s this stupidity from the tolerant West:
British town votes to change a church to a mosque
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1810374/posts
Catholic church collects money for mosque (Cologne, Germany)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1804771/posts
There is an easy way to shut these savages up.
Tell them that instead of the planned memorial you are going to build a monument to the terrorists that committed this mass murder. Tell them that the memorial will glorify mass the murder of infidels and violent jihad in the name of Allah. make a big deal of it. Invite local islamic leaders for the ribbon cutting. TV coverage.
Then see if they protest that. If they don’t (and they wouldn’t) tell them to STFU and stand out of the way for their own safety. Then build the monument that was originally planned.
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