Der Hookmullah Gloats Over Shuttle;
Der Hookmullah Gloats Over Shuttle; Sane Muslims Respond: "Get Your Worthless Ass Out Of Here":
The Muslim fanatic [Abu Hamza] called the Columbia crew “thugs of space” who deserved to die.He denounced the team — made up of Americans, an Israeli and an Indian-born Hindu — as a “trinity of evil” punished by Allah....
His rant caused outrage across Britain, in the grieving space communities of Houston and Cape Canaveral in the US and in Texan counties littered with wreckage.
Here, angry Muslims led renewed calls for Hamza, who lives in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, to be kicked out of the country.
Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “He does not possess a scrap of human decency. How dare he gloat over a tragedy like this.”
Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is to hear an outspoken voice of reason in the Muslim community. I'll be the first to say that they've got an uphill battle to fight if they want to change their P.R. over here. Too many "condolences" for September 11th went like "Man, we're really sorry about your loss on 9/11... Too bad you guys had it coming," or something to that effect. It's sort of like when Jerry Falwell raps with Pat Robertson on the 700 Club about how America got what it deserved because we didn't condemn the gays enough. (Yes, I know, that's an overreaching paraphrase, but give me a break: I make no allowance for nuance when you say something even remotely as ridiculous as that.)
It's bad for any group when one of its members keeps making a public spectacle. Our brains are wired to make associations; thus, we think "Falwell == Christian." Or "Muslim == Terrorist." It's how we learn and survive. The only thing that gets us closer to the truth -- which is far more textured -- is more people like Bunglawala being outspoken in their condemnation of cartoon characters like Hamza who ought to be an embarrassment to any religion.
Posted by Matt at February 4, 2003 12:03 AM
