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Slaying of 4 may be tied to (Islamic) religious extremism (NJ Christian family had throats slit)
Bergen Record ^ | Sunday, January 16, 2005 | TOM TRONCONE

Posted on 01/16/2005 5:22:26 AM PST by dead

Islamic extremists may have murdered four members of a Coptic Orthodox family found bound, gagged and with their throats slit on Friday in their Jersey City home, a law-enforcement official familiar with the case said.

The official confirmed that Hudson County investigators, as well the FBI, were "knee-deep" in pulling computer records and were coming to terms with the possibility that the family may have been targeted for death because of exchanges about religion in an Internet chat room.

The official cautioned, though, that investigators have not ruled out other possibilities, such as a robbery gone awry.

Hossam Armanious, 47, Amal Garas, 37, and their daughters Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8, were found dead in their Oakland Avenue home early Friday after family members alerted police that nobody had heard from them in days.

First Assistant Hudson County Prosecutor Guy Gregory declined to discuss any details of the case, other than to confirm that police have ruled out a dispute the family had with a former tenant as a possible motive. He cautioned against speculating about the motive behind the murders.

"This is a very delicate investigation and one where we have spent hours at the scene collecting evidence and with the evidence collection complete, we're moving to bring in people that we feel need to be interviewed," Gregory said. "It's unfortunate that people are speculating."

But as the theory spread that revenge and religion were the driving forces behind one of the most heinous murders in the county's long history, fear enveloped the city's Coptic community.

Friends, relatives and co-worshippers of the devout family spent much of Saturday wondering how the seemingly upstanding Armanious family could fall victim to such a shockingly brutal crime. Several spoke of Hossam Armanious' participation in heated discussions about the Islamic faith on the Paltalk.com messenger service and threats he received for expressing his views about the religion.

Milad Garas, an uncle of Amal Garas, said Saturday that he was told investigators are probing whether the killings could have been prompted in part by the chat sessions. He also pointed to a passage in the Muslim holy book, the Quran, that details how enemies should be killed - bound and their throats slit, an assertion that drew a rebuttal from some Islamic scholars, but was supported by others.

A translation of passage 47:4 of the Quran reads in part: "Therefore, when ye meet the Unbelievers [in fight], smite at their necks; At length, when ye have thoroughly subdued them, bind a bond firmly [on them]."

"There is a very wide range of interpretation of that, and it depends on where people are in the spectrum," said Frederick M. Denny, a professor of religious studies at the University of Colorado and author of more than a dozen books on Islam. "If they were going toward the extremist side, it could lead someone to believe it is justified. ... There are those that take that [passage] quite literally."

The close-knit Coptic community promised protests if the religious revenge theory proves accurate.

"If it turns out they were killed for religion, then we will [protest]," said Ayman Garas, Amal's younger brother. "We have to be patient, we can't do anything stupid. ... But it looks like it is religion, maybe."

The Armanious family moved to the United States from Egypt in part to escape religious persecution. Hossam Armanious had sensed a rise in anti-Christian extremism and wanted to make a better life for his family in America, Ayman Garas said.

"What I really want to know is: How?'' he said. "We just can't believe it at this point. Everything has passed like a dream."

The details of what may have been said in the chat sessions were not known Saturday night.

Fred Ayad, deacon of the couple's St. George Coptic Orthodox Church, said that the entire community was in a "panic" over the apparent targeting of the family, as well as the murders of a Coptic deacon in December and a Coptic cabdriver in late 2003.

Prosecutor Gregory said the conjecture about the murders is hampering his office's investigation, which he said has been exhaustive.

Copts are Egyptian Christians, a minority group of about 6 million in a nation of 60 million, and have been killed in religious rioting and during attacks on Christian churches by Islamic militants. Coptic leaders also say they lack representation in the Egyptian government and are treated like second-class citizens.

Over the past decade, Copts have increasingly immigrated to the United States. Currently, they number about 1 million in this country. Coptic Orthodox churches are scattered throughout the nation and, while there is no official count, Coptic Web sites list about 10 large congregations in New Jersey and about 20 in the tri-state area.

Islamic leaders said Saturday that the murders could not have been the work of someone inspired by the Quran.

"We are not a bloody people," said Ahmed Shedeed, director of the Islamic Center of Jersey City. "This is not from the Quran. This is not from Islam at all."

Shedeed, who is Egyptian, said his group recently co-founded a social service organization with local Coptic churches, called Egyptian Family.

"We are trying to get religious leaders from both communities to meet on a monthly basis to break the ice between the people," he said. "We meet as individuals, but as organizations we never have done such a thing. We are trying to show that Egyptians together can benefit."

Shedeed said that as part of that effort, he attended Christmas Eve services at St. George's this year.

Asked about passages in the Quran that may suggest murdering non-believers in a manner that resembles the family's deaths, he replied, "The Quran talks about people fighting in the battle of war. It's not talking about people who live next to you. ... This has nothing to do with our community at all."

"The Quran stands very firmly against taking human life," said noted Islamic author Zayn Kassam, chairwoman of the religious studies department of Pomona College in California. "If someone read a verse and used it to justify the killing of four people, I believe that person is unbalanced. ... There are very few Muslims who would support this sort of thing."

On Saturday, the family received mourners at the church, as friends left lighted candles and flowers in front of the home. Neighbors talked of an exhaustive police investigation, with a former Armanious tenant, Nelly Ramirez, saying police had questioned her, her son and her son's girlfriend.

Meanwhile, friends of Sylvia, a high school sophomore who would have turned 16 on Saturday, lingered in front of the house, alternately crying and laughing. They talked of an extremely gifted teen who recently won a trip to Italy from the National Honor Society for a series of essays she wrote on topics such as Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.

"She used to write all the time," said her friend Jankil Patel, 15. "She used to go to church all the time. ... She'd debate people in class and even had a religious tattoo on her [right wrist]."

"She had a lot of friends; she was very popular," said Jessica Cimino, 15, another friend. Cimino and the other girls said they plan to attend the family funeral on Monday and wear T-shirts bearing Sylvia's image to school on Tuesday.

Ayman and Milad Garad and other family members were allowed into the crime scene for the first time on Saturday morning to gather the needed paperwork for the cemetery. They left the home with a briefcase and several other items, including a tank with several small turtles inside.

Staff Writer Kathleen Carroll contributed to this story. E-mail: troncone@northjersey.com


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: aliens; anothermissedstory; antichrist; armanious; comingtoyourhomenext; coptic; dhimmi; extremism; foxnewsasleepagain; gihad; holywar; islam; islamofascism; jerseycity; jihadinamerica; jihadtsunami; koran; koranimals; mediamissliketsunami; muslims; nicejobmedia; nukemecca; quran; religionofpeace; religionofpieces; terrorism; trop; war; waronterror; whereiscair; whereiscnn; whereisfnc; whereismsnbc; whilethemediasleeps
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To: DooDahhhh

Of Course.


61 posted on 01/16/2005 6:29:48 AM PST by nuconvert (No More Axis of Evil by Christmas ! TLR)
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To: fallujah-nuker
Yes I agree with your posting.

Seems many liberals on the left have forgotten the teachings about false Prophets.

It's time for Christians to stand up and say were not going to take this kind of treatment.

This is a good example why we must not become multicultural.
62 posted on 01/16/2005 6:32:38 AM PST by OKIEDOC (LL THE)
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To: dead
IMHO these murders have muzzie fingerprints all over them.

Somebody tell our leaders to quit lying about this religion of peace crap.

63 posted on 01/16/2005 6:33:36 AM PST by gitmogrunt (undecorated and proud. God Bless our troops and their Families.)
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To: BunnySlippers; dead
There are very few Muslims who would support this sort of thing."

Except Mohammad.

64 posted on 01/16/2005 6:35:38 AM PST by angkor
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To: SheLion
"I wonder how many are targeted from Free Republic......"
Let's see?? All magazines are loaded. Batteries in the M-16's Aim Point are new. Wife won her pistol match, yesterday. Each daughter has her German Shepherd close. You are just trying to cheer me up, right??
65 posted on 01/16/2005 6:37:40 AM PST by womcg ((was in hospital longer than Kerry was in country) ))
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To: dead

islamicfinder dot org is your friend.


66 posted on 01/16/2005 6:38:21 AM PST by ßuddaßudd (7 days - 7 ways (but you must follow the instructions carefully))
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To: e5man_r_u?
Remember what you hear in english will be much different from what you hear in Arabic. MEMRI has more on that on a daily basis.

Lost in translation?

67 posted on 01/16/2005 6:38:27 AM PST by SheLion (God bless our military members and keep them safe.)
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To: dead
Lived there, I was in my cups, about 94-96 something like that, hard to pinpoint it, as those days dragged like a long nightmare, a young Arab man followed me around for hours one day as I went about getting my liquor and "medicine", he read from a text, the script was Arabic and after awhile I noticed he read right to left, thought he was Muslim, wished he would (at best) disappear, last thing one wants in that world is anything that will draw attention, then I noticed a cross around his neck and I wondered if he was Lebanese like Danny Thomas, "Coptic" he said. "Christian?" , I wondered aloud. "Yes. Yes.", he affirmed. He followed me for hours. Later I realized it was the Bible. I got clean and sober 2 years after that. I have since felt that he was some sort of an angel.
68 posted on 01/16/2005 6:39:33 AM PST by wildcatf4f3 (out of the sun)
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To: dead
We are not a bloody people," said Ahmed Shedeed, director of the Islamic Center of Jersey City. "This is not from the Quran. This is not from Islam at all."

BS, just one more lie from a muslim about islam to fool non-muslims about islam in order to convert stupid people who have not read the evil book. This is exactly what islam teaches, this is islam.

69 posted on 01/16/2005 6:39:49 AM PST by Lady Heron
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To: angkor
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Qur'an should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth." --Omar Ahmed, Chairman of the Board of CAIR (Council of American Islamic Relations), San Ramon Valley Herald, July 1998

There are very few Muslims who would support this sort of thing."

He should come on Pal Talk sometimes. There are MANY muslims on there who not only support it, but wish it !

70 posted on 01/16/2005 6:41:00 AM PST by vinylsidingman (Islam: the religion of peace,,, bwaaaaahahahahahah ,, give me a break)
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To: e5man_r_u?
What *exactly* am I supposed to gain by visiting that website? Is there a specific article there somewhere that you recommend?

Remember what you hear in english will be much different from what you hear in Arabic

Nuances can be lost in any translation, yes. But I reject the idea that an English translation means something 180 degrees opposite of the original Arabic text. As in 'smiting infidel throats' in English means 'hugging your neighbor' in the original Arabic. I trust that you are not trying to say something so absurd. Please correct me if that is, indeed, what you mean.

71 posted on 01/16/2005 6:41:07 AM PST by Lil'freeper (Error 404. The requested file was not found.)
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To: dead

The crazier Muslims can only relate to Christians and Jews as dhimmis. I go with the internet chat room theory. That enraged Muslims somehow got this guys home information and killed his family. But there sure ain't much to go on.

I think this play out as an "on line" murder which always gets the media titillated. Me too if this is the case.


72 posted on 01/16/2005 6:42:05 AM PST by dennisw (G_D: Against Amelek for all generations.)
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To: All

I'm not able to tune into tv this morning, has anybody heard this story yet? Radio? Anything?


73 posted on 01/16/2005 6:45:16 AM PST by prairiebreeze (George W Bush: Spending well-earned political capital.)
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To: dead
"We are not a bloody people," said Ahmed Shedeed, director of the Islamic Center of Jersey City. "This is not from the Quran. This is not from Islam at all."

Liar.

74 posted on 01/16/2005 6:45:33 AM PST by pgkdan
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To: SheLion
"Lost in translation? "

Willful deception. They say in English what they want us to know. They say in Arabic what they want the Arab street to hear.
75 posted on 01/16/2005 6:46:09 AM PST by e5man_r_u? (A Man's mission: Build, Protect, Provide)
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To: SheLion
I think we'll see more of this.
The danger is going to be the refusal of our leaders to allow anything which can be perceived as profiling.
Every effort will be made to exonerate the "religion of peace". We don't have all the bloody years of Muslim atrocities which have dictated Israeli policy.

We have been concerned about a massive blow like 9-11. We'd better start getting prepared for isolated incidents like this all over the country.
Anyone with half a brain can figure out that there must be thousands of small terrorist cells in place in this country. We have practically no control over our borders, and anyone who thinks we do is living in a dream world.

My advice to everyone is to buy some protection and learn how to use it.

76 posted on 01/16/2005 6:47:41 AM PST by TexasCowboy (Texan by birth, citizen of Jesusland by the Grace of God)
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To: veronica; weenie

Agreed...it's coming our way...ping.

Wake up America. As far as Canada is concerned, our liberal-induced lack of a backbone will not spare us.


77 posted on 01/16/2005 6:49:31 AM PST by JudyinCanada (Five-fingered Canadian)
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To: e5man_r_u?
Willful deception. They say in English what they want us to know. They say in Arabic what they want the Arab street to hear.

Aaah, I see where you're going with this now. Apologies for snide snippiness in my previous post.

78 posted on 01/16/2005 6:49:31 AM PST by Lil'freeper (Error 404. The requested file was not found.)
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To: Lil'freeper
Sorry, my post was not very clear.

MEMRI is a resouce for research. I have found it very useful in the past.

The site came to my attention when I read that Arafat used to make one speach in English and one that was completely different in Arabic. This is not lost in translation this is an effort to keep the left on their side while firing up the Arab street.
79 posted on 01/16/2005 6:51:09 AM PST by e5man_r_u? (A Man's mission: Build, Protect, Provide)
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To: Lil'freeper

My fault I was not clear.


80 posted on 01/16/2005 6:51:38 AM PST by e5man_r_u? (A Man's mission: Build, Protect, Provide)
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