Friday, September 09, 2005

One year ago today, this column appeared in the Arab News

The column was originally published in Arabic. This English translation was published in the Arab News on September 9, 2004.

A Wake Up Call , Almost all terrorists are Muslims, by Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, General Manager, Al-Arabiya news channel.

An excerpt:

It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims.

The hostage-takers of children in Beslan, North Ossetia, were Muslims. The other hostage-takers and subsequent murderers of the Nepalese chefs and workers in Iraq were also Muslims.
Those involved in rape and murder in Darfur, Sudan, are Muslims, with other Muslims chosen to be their victims.

Those responsible for the attacks on residential towers in Riyadh and Khobar were Muslims. The two women who crashed two airliners last week were also Muslims.

Osama bin Laden is a Muslim. The majority of those who manned the suicide bombings against buses, vehicles, schools, houses and buildings, all over the world, were Muslim.

What a pathetic record. What an abominable "achievement." Does all this tell us anything about ourselves, our societies and our culture?

Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg wrote about that al-Rashed article in early September last year. Professor Thomas Klocek of DePaul University read that column, and on September 15 tried to engage some pro-Palestinian students in conversation at a student activities fair at DePaul's downtown Chicago campus.

That discussion led to Professor Klocek's suspension and DePaul's jihad against academic freedom.

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