Maybe it was just a faulty gas jet. Maybe it was just a wiring problem. Could have been anything. But there have been some interesting stories over the years from Islamic schools in other countries:
July 2009: Bomb kills nine at imam's house used as Islamic school in Pakistan
April 2007: 22 arrested for bombmaking in Islamic religious school raid in Afghanistan
July 2006: Jihadist killed by his own grenade at religious school in Afghanistan
September 2004: Nine prosecuted for bomb-making at Qur'an recital class in Indonesia
Am I saying that that was what was happening in Syracuse? No, I am not. But I doubt that investigators are even looking into that possibility, because to do so would be "Islamophobic." And that's the problem. Because it could happen here, even if it didn't in Syracuse Thursday.
"Cause of explosion at Syracuse Islamic school still undetermined," by Robert A. Baker for The Post-Standard,
October 9 (thanks to Steve):
Syracuse, NY -- Syracuse fire investigators have not yet determined the cause of an explosion Thursday at the Ihsan School of Excellence, a private Islamic school on West Onondaga Street....
A cause for the explosion in the school's basement will possibly be released on Monday, Galloway said.
An accident in Organic Chemistry lab, "Ahmad, don't heat kerosene over an open gas flame!"
I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. More likely, he was experimenting with peroxide hair bleach mixed with acetone nail polish remover. He has lots of girlfriends and wives, you see!
The school posts it's inane philosophy online . . .here
Regarding the explosion link:
and
and
jihad is an act of worship. a school is a place to learn about jihad. seems logical it'd be done in a place of worship as well as other places.
This story has not had much play here. An Explosion at any other around here would have been on the front page with pictures. Probably with inside by lines by the worry warts and excuse makers.
When the local Peace Counsel makes an appearance, you'll know something nefarious is up.
"School officials said they ...had no reason to believe the explosion was anything but an accident."
The point is, it could have been an illegal accident -- by Muslims testing, transferring, or manipulating their bomb-making materials and accidentally setting them off -- and thus indicative of a still unknown terrorist cell.
From the school website (thx to miira for the link), emphasis mine:
"The city of Syracuse is strategically located in the heart of New York State and only two hours drive away from Niagara Falls and numerous other scenic locations."
Freudian slip, methinks?
What are schools for? They are for learning things. Is only natural that an Islamic school teaches bomb making. Thats a no brainer. They simply had a lab accident in their bomb making class.
Ihsan (Arabic: احسان), also ehsan (persian) or ahsan is an Arabic term meaning "perfection" or "excellence".
.......
This refers to "excellence of faith"--*not* academic excellence.
"Ihsan" also means "to do beautiful things". Whether that includes bomb making remains to be seen.
Here's the Syracuse Post-Standard's coverage. The comments on this story are instructive--almost all the posters are quite suspicious about an explosion at an Islamic school--except for the couple of posters who consider even speculation along such lines to be "Islamophobic".
My favorite such comment is this, from the poster with the touchy-feely username "hopeflies":
"The boiler exploded, cause currently unknown.
What would you be saying if this had happened at a Catholic school or a Hebrew school?"
Really, I think "hopeflies" just answered his own question.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/cause_of_explosion_at_syracuse.html
I do not pretend to know what happened at the school but I do know a good bet when I see one. I am betting that the explosion was the result of a student playing around with an explosive device of HIS OWN MAKING. I will go even money only on this episode.