Wednesday, May 12, 2004
An Iraqi's take on Nicholas Berg
I guess I should really get into this and get my thoughts down on this atrocious act. Maybe later tonight. For now, here are some thoughts from Zeyad, a dentist in Baghdad, on the video.
Strange coincidence that the Nick Berg video was released almost
simultaneously with the video of Palestinian 'freedom fighters'
displaying the severed head of an Israeli soldier on a table.
Al-Jazeera had the head blurred out, and the Nick Berg video was
casually mentioned near the end of their news bulletin, and that was
that. No extensive discussions with Arab 'intelligentsia' followed, no replaying of the video over and over again for days (as the Abu Ghraib images), no talk shows with enraged, fist shaking, name-calling Arab figures discussing the effect of these videos on the 'image' of the Islamic or Arab world. Just shame and guilty silence. Apparently, pictures of an American female soldier taunting a naked man with underwear on his head is much much more gruesome to Arabs. I guess not everyone is perfect.
Some more insight:
And for Muslims, who are definitely going to say 'this isn't the real Islam':
"When you meet the unbelievers, strike off their heads; then when you have made wide slaughter among them, carefully tie up the remaining captives." Surat Mohammed:4
Grow up, and leave the 7th century.
Scary that that is a passage from their holy book. Not that most holy books doesn't at times delve into violence, but I THINK(?) it's safe to say that a majority of the most violent radicals/fundamantalists are Muslim? That may be an unfair/unintelligent comment. But that is how I see the current situation (I am not saying other religions weren't as bad in earlier times) From my limited knowledge on most religions (other than Catholicism), that is how I see it.
Strange coincidence that the Nick Berg video was released almost
simultaneously with the video of Palestinian 'freedom fighters'
displaying the severed head of an Israeli soldier on a table.
Al-Jazeera had the head blurred out, and the Nick Berg video was
casually mentioned near the end of their news bulletin, and that was
that. No extensive discussions with Arab 'intelligentsia' followed, no replaying of the video over and over again for days (as the Abu Ghraib images), no talk shows with enraged, fist shaking, name-calling Arab figures discussing the effect of these videos on the 'image' of the Islamic or Arab world. Just shame and guilty silence. Apparently, pictures of an American female soldier taunting a naked man with underwear on his head is much much more gruesome to Arabs. I guess not everyone is perfect.
Some more insight:
And for Muslims, who are definitely going to say 'this isn't the real Islam':
"When you meet the unbelievers, strike off their heads; then when you have made wide slaughter among them, carefully tie up the remaining captives." Surat Mohammed:4
Grow up, and leave the 7th century.
Scary that that is a passage from their holy book. Not that most holy books doesn't at times delve into violence, but I THINK(?) it's safe to say that a majority of the most violent radicals/fundamantalists are Muslim? That may be an unfair/unintelligent comment. But that is how I see the current situation (I am not saying other religions weren't as bad in earlier times) From my limited knowledge on most religions (other than Catholicism), that is how I see it.
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