Posted on 04/17/2007 8:54:20 PM PDT by LdSentinal
All at once, the world went searching for the meaning of "Ismail Ax".
Those two words, written in red ink on one arm of Cho Seung Hui, the 23-year-old Virginia Tech student suspected of the campus shooting spree, set off a massive internet hunt by the public for clues to what might have motivated the nation's worst mass killings.
Almost as soon as the Chicago Tribune's website reported that detail, which was then picked up by news organisations around the world, the blogosphere filled with theories about the possible meaning of "Ismail Ax." Hundreds of bloggers speculated on a link to Islam or to literature; thousands offered their opinions and millions read the commentaries, according to Technorati.com.
The rapid search and response of that term offered another snapshot of how quickly the web disseminates information and connects people.
On Monday, compelling mobile phone videos of the scene at Virginia Tech raced across the web. The next day, the internet provided reflection and a search for answers.
At Facebook.com, a social networking site popular with college and high school students, hundreds of impromptu memorials to the victims were posted, many adorned with a black ribbon circling the school's logo.
Yahoo reported that "Virginia Tech shooting" was the most searched term on its site. Traffic at news organisation sites also surged. At ChicagoTribune.com, the report about Ismail Ax and other details set off the busiest hour in the site's history, with 524,000 page views during the early afternoon.
Internet users seemed particularly curious about what Cho might have meant by the phrase.
Technorati.com, a web site that tracks the blogosphere, said that by late afternoon Tuesday, there were nearly 300 blog posts regarding Ismail Ax.
The phrase was the 10th most popular search counted by Technorati. With two other terms related to the Virginia Tech killing in its top 10, that meant that millions of people got online and did a search of those or very similar words, said Derek Gordon, Technorati's marketing director.
"To raise into the top 10, there are initially tens of thousands of searches, then hundreds of thousands, then millions," Gordon said.
There were other reactions. A TV repair shop owner in Corpus Christi, Texas, registered the domain name http://www.ismailax.com the morning after the shootings.
"I guess I'm a professional domainer," said Raymond Patterson, who registered the site five minutes after he heard the phrase "Ismail Ax" mentioned on a Fox News broadcast. "When I hear a name, I register it. I have about 200 names right now."
Patterson said he had no intention of making "blood money" from the site.
As for the term's meaning, one popular theory spreading across the web comes from a story in the Koran, the holy book of Islam, about Ibrahim and his son, Ismail. This theory picked up speed because many bloggers wondered if the actions at Virginia Tech could be related to terrorism.
In Islam, Ibrahim is known as the father of the prophets and, upset that people in his hometown still worshiped idols and not Allah, he smashed all but one statue in a local temple with an ax. Ibrahim's son is Ismail, who also became a prophet. Ibrahim is Arabic for Abraham, who plays a significant role in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Two theories come from literature, where Ismail is spelled Ishmael.
In one, tied to James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Prairie," Ishmael Bush is known as an outcast and outlawed warrior, according to an essay written in 1969 by William H. Goetzmann, a University of Texas History professor. In Cooper's book, "Bush carries the prime symbol of evil - the spoiler's axe," the professor wrote.
Also, the narrator from Moby Dick, Ishmael, is considered an enigma who is well educated yet considers his time on a whaling ship worthy of time at Yale or Harvard, according to education site Sparknotes.com.
Cho was an English major at Virginia Tech.
Other theories speculate that Ismail Ax could be a reference to Cho's nickname on a video gaming site or that it is a misspelling of Turkish hip-hop artist Ismail YK.
Gordon of Technorati said the rapid rise on the internet of a term like Ismail Ax is not unusual. But it typically happens around terms in pop culture "like iPhone in January and, in March, Sanjaya and American Idol.
"It's nice to see that people also pay attention to the stuff that really matters," he said.
Cho indicated in his letter that the end was near and that there was a deed to be done, the official said. He also expressed disappointment in his own religion, and made several references to Christianity, the official said.
It’s probably the name of some garage band in his neighborhood.
“his own religion” is apparently NOT Christianity, then. Wonder what it is?
Seung expressed disappointment for Christianity in his note before the bloodbath.
Ismail
Ax
I
Islam
Ax
Bob Marley’s Small Axe
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+marley/small+axe_20021665.html
Hmmm....reference to Ismael and his ax, a story known to Muslims.
Attacks made on Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 16th.
Kills a prof who was a Holocaust survivor.
Shoots unarmed innocent civilans en masse.
No, no religion of peace angle here. Move along now......
‘Islamic’?
Sorry, but I don't buy that for one minute. Of course he registered it for a reason, and what would that be, certainly not out of goodwill.
just some word and letter play..
what was his field of study? he was a senior.
Christian Ishmael = Jealous, hateful, evil
Muslim Ishmael = Kind, innocent
The Isaac parts get swapped basically. The Christian Ishmael is vindictive and angry at Abraham for favoring Isaac.
English. And a 23 year old senior.
“He also expressed disappointment in his own religion, and made several references to Christianity, the official said.”
This is extrememly obscure, and poorly written. Yes, it could mean he is disappointed in Christianity, but what it says is, He is disappointed in his OWN religion? and then makes references to Christianity.
In any case, my personal guess is the guy was inhabiting his own fantasy world. Who knows what he thought his religion was.
Ishmael- God listens
ax- symbol of bloodshed (a more brutal weapon than a sword... suggesting carnage)
God Listens to Carnage.
Ok I mean Jewish, not Christian but the story does get re-cast between faiths.
Interesting... sad to say, but your thoughts sparked one in my mind. Maybe our literate friend felt compelled to (or got wrapped up in) a “Da Vinci Code” like murder mystery?
(PS, find Ismail.....)?
My theory is that it translates to “Ishmael acts”... Ismael being the son born to Abram on the wrong side of the sheets. Maybe he felt alienated or denied like Ishmael.
Ismail Ax meet Occam’s Razor
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