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In FrontPage today I discuss the coverage of some recent cases (news links in the original):
On Sunday morning, a cab driver in Nashville named Ibrahim Ahmed picked up two college students, Andrew Nelson and Jeremy Invus, at a city bar and drove them to the campus of Vanderbilt University. Along the way, the three got into an argument, apparently leaving Ahmed enraged: after they paid their fare and left his cab, he tried to run down Nelson and Invus. Nelson eluded the cab, but Ahmed hit Invus, who was seriously injured.What were they arguing about? The only widely available news reports on the incident are not very specific. Nashville’s WSMV reports that “a fight over religion became heated.” Newschannel 5, also of Nashville, has little more to add: “Police said Ibrahim Ahmed chased down visiting students Jeremy Invus and Andrew Nelson after an argument over religion.” Associated Press has it that “police said he ran over one of his passengers after they got into a religious argument.”
What kind of religious argument? A comparison of the relative capacity of Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism to transport its adherents to Nirvana? A discussion of whether or not Mark 16:18 justifies snake-handling? An examination of Reform and Orthodox Judaism? There’s no telling. Neither WSMV nor Newschannel 5 nor AP give any details about the argument. And all we learn about Ibrahim Ahmed himself is that he worked for United Cab, and that he was charged with assault and attempted homicide, as well as theft, since it turns out that his cab was sporting a stolen license plate. We’re also told that he has previous convictions for “evading arrest in a motor vehicle” and “driving on a suspended license.” But about who Ibrahim Ahmed is, and what may have led him to try to kill two of his passengers because of an argument, we hear nothing at all.One might suggest to the Nashville news outlets, as well as to AP, that Ibrahim Ahmed’s religion, as well as that of Andrew Nelson and Jeremy Invus, would be relevant to this story, and may help readers understand how a religious argument could turn murderous. After all, AP has not shied away from reporting on the religion of perpetrators of crimes in another recent case. Around the same time that Ibrahim Ahmed was running down Jeremy Invus, a man in Chicago apparently bludgeoned three women – a woman, her stepsister, and their mother -- to death and attempted to kill himself. AP doesn’t give the suspect’s name, but does tell us that according to a neighbor and ex-husband of one of the victims, “the family was Assyrian Christian, a minority group in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria.” Is religion involved in this case? Did the murderer kill his victims because of some imperative he believed arose from his Christian faith? That seems unlikely: AP also says it was a “domestic dispute,” and notes that “the couple had been having marital problems.” The Chicago Tribune adds that the suspect, Daryoush Ebrahami, “felt ‘disrespected’ by the women, who had told him ‘he was not a man.’”
So why is Ebrahami’s Christian faith relevant? The Tribune tells us that he was recently granted asylum on the basis of the possibility that as an Assyrian Christian, he could face religious persecution in Iran. That is an interesting detail, albeit irrelevant to the murders, but it is absent from AP’s piece -- which mentions Ebrahami’s Christianity anyway.
Now compare that to the initial AP report about the Salt Lake mall shootings: “Police: Teen Shot Mall Victims at Random,” by Jennifer Dobner. All we learn about Sulejman Talovic beyond his name is that he was a “trench coat-clad teenager” who lived with his mother.
Now, when people point out that the religion of nominally Christian murderers isn’t noted in news stories, and that Talovic’s religion should therefore not have been either, they are assuming that in both instances religion played no factor in the killing, and was hence an irrelevant detail. However, while it is extraordinarily unlikely that Ebrahami killed his victims in the name of Jesus Christ, or would attempt to justify the killings by reference to Christ’s teachings, it was at very least a possibility that Talovic, like so many others around the world every day, as well as other lone jihadists in the U.S. like Mohammad Reza Taheri-azar, killed in the name of Allah and with justification from the Qur’an and Sunnah. That’s why Talovic’s religion at least merited a mention, and some investigation.
The FBI has ruled out Islamic terrorism as a factor in the Talovic killings. One hopes that agents have done so after sufficient consideration of the possibility – which seems to have been absent from other cases with some similarities to that of Talovic. But in the wake of this, some have rushed to condemn me and others who publicly noted the mainstream media’s reluctance to identify Talovic as a Muslim, and to explore the possibility that his killings were jihad-related. This criticism was misplaced, for that reluctance is real, but it does not apply to all religions – as the Ahmed and Ebrahami cases show. Ibrahim Ahmed is, of course, probably a Muslim, and his murderous rage may have been reinforced by Islam’s belief that those who insult Islam have forfeited their right to live. The refusal of the Associated Press even to consider such possibilities, and its inconsistency in doing so, is readily apparent.
All this becomes even more noteworthy in light of the recent revelation that Ali Abu Kamal, who killed one person and injured six in a shooting at the Empire State Building in 1997, “wanted to punish the U.S. for supporting Israel” – according to the New York Daily News. The explanation that has prevailed for ten years was that Abu Kamal was despondent after losing a large sum of money, but the killer’s daughter now says that Palestinian officials fabricated that story in order so as not to “harm the peace agreement with Israel.” She added that she tried to make his actual goal known, but no one was interested: “When we wanted to clarify that to the media, nobody listened to us.”
The media should start listening, and stop covering up details that may be pertinent to the cases they report. While Sulejman Talovic may not have been a jihadist, and Ibrahim Ahmed may not be one, in their selective disclosure of the facts they may find themselves covering up for the next jihadist who does strike. And they may already have done so.
Posted by Robert at February 22, 2007 4:33 AM
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Spencer, your analytical skills and the way you put your diagnosis in words gets better by the day!
Keep it up and watch your back:
Wanna get involved in stopping a mosque going up in paradise?
http://sheikyermami.com/2007/02/22/jihad-close-to-home-mosque-development-application-for-cairns/
Posted by: sheik yer'mami![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 22, 2007 6:03 AM
....as the the number of violent incidents continue to rise in where you see Islamic names you (or at least I do) begin to wonder if a social revolution is taking place inspired by "Islam," you begin to question our immigration policies, you begin to look at neighborhoods close to you for similiar incidences, you begin to research sites with more information than you will ever see with the MSM, you begin to look deeper into worldwide events with an ever increasing scrutiny, you begin to listen closer to every interview on TV,radio, or in person in which a Muslim is speaking, you begin to observe and listen to Muslims you may encounter at the coffee shop, in the mall, or on the street......as you do so you begin to realize that something foul is in the air and it is close to you, you begin to feel the hate that encompasses Islam and the followers of Islam, you begin to understand that the followers of Islam intend to remove your history, they intend to erase any memory you have of of your heritage, they intend to instill in you a fear of all who oppose Islam, and in a twisted sense of reality they wish to have you believe the archaic Shaira law is actually good for you...
....yes, you should note each and every one of these seemingly isolated or insignificant incidences with intense attention....as they are not so isolated or insignificant at all....they are all part of the grand plan of Islam....
...Ban Muslim immigration now...
at February 22, 2007 6:42 AM
All l have to say is than God for people like Robert Spencer,his staff and the internet! Freedom loving people will never allow this cult to take over. for some it may take a while to realize how dehumanizing Islam has been, throwing off the PC yoke is harder for some, but it is being spread, the Truth About Islam! thank you Robert!
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess at February 22, 2007 7:14 AM
Thank you President Clinton for your enlightened immigration policies that brought 9000 Somalian "refugees" to Nashville in 1996. Nashville was selected as one of three host cities for absorption of about 30,000 Moslem refugees. (almost all that used the program were Moslem). These "refugees" were put ahead of the immigration line and admitted lawfully to the United States on the theory there was a danger of their persecution in Somalia which had Islamists trying to take over. The reasoning was that as Moslems, in the politically correct Clinton environment, Somali Moslem refugees were as likely to be killed as anyone else because of their Islamic religious beliefs. The Somali community is segregated by choice, wears veils and has opened many mosques. A few of its members have been arrested for terrorist activities mostly in the Twin Cities, Minnesota area, a second host city to the enlightened program.
at February 22, 2007 7:28 AM
he tried to run down Nelson and Invus. Nelson eluded the cab, but Ahmed hit Invus, who was seriously injured
Now that is customer service!
Say, I think we need more of these islamic drivers asap!
They must drive the Limos for people like George, and Clinton; and should be trained to inquire about religious beliefs.
Maybe that way, we can put our immigration policy in this country, back on the sanity track.
Posted by: witness at February 22, 2007 7:34 AM
There is one other great big glsring hole in the story of the cabbie and the college boys. While I have seen pictures of the driver and heard from his friends and relatives. I have seen not one picture or greiving angry relative interview for the young men. Do their frends and family not care?
Or is there something about these fellows that we aren't supposed to know.
It makes one wonder what their religion is.
Aunt Bea
at February 22, 2007 8:23 AM
re: Salt Lake City shooter:
There's also a decided lack of media interest that the mosque the shooter attended is a block away from the mall ( article) and that this same mosque had an incident a month previous (SLC Tribune article archived but copy available here) where the imam was dismissed and disappeared after raising complaints about (among other things) "the housing of 'suspicious' individuals in the mosque"
Posted by: PapaBear at February 22, 2007 8:41 AM
The possible religious component should always be addressed if there is that possibility, rather then sweeping it under the rug as the MSM does quite often.
FBI agents who respond to these kind of crimes should have considerable training in the religious component that may be present,not the 2 or 3 hour presentation given under the tuteledge of some CAIR representatives. Of course the yell will be somekinf of religous bias is being demonstrated by the FBI--(PC and multiculturally correct of course). Once again thet lesson is somewhat ignored---
Know your enemy and know him well, and to defeat him you must be able to define him!
General Douglas MacArthur
Posted by: Mackie at February 22, 2007 9:02 AM
People, the Nashville "Tennessean" newspaper is so cowardly PC it reported that they did not know the religion of the cab driver, Ibrahim Ahmed!!!
Let's see, I think 'ol Ibrahim Ahmed is...Episcopalian!!!
What do you think?!
The two students' religions DID get reported, however - Catholic and Lutheran!
The "Tennessean" is also a newspaper that decided not to print the Danish Mohammed Cartoons.
Cowardly, craven "Tennessean."
Posted by: darcy at February 22, 2007 9:11 AM
Since the msm has decided this event didn't warrant an interview . . .consider this comment a
SHOUT OUT
to
Andrew Nelson and Jeremy Invus
- Here's wishing you both safety and speedy recovery for Jeremy. Feel free to speak up and post details here at JW regarding the events of that evening.
Inquiring minds and all that . . .
Posted by: miira at February 22, 2007 9:58 AM
Despite the unfortunate turn of events for these victims we should give some credit to our islamic cabbies.
After all, they do "go the extra mile to get their customers."
As 1930's bank robber once said: "this (cab ride in this case) could be the most memorable event in your life; don't make it your last (by telling the driver that you don't want to be a muslim).
I think this cabbie ought to be a private driver for the editors of Tennessean.
Posted by: witness at February 22, 2007 10:56 AM
It is amazing Muslims come here and use cars to attack people...maybe you never hear of Muslim road rage in Iran is they chase people with camels.
Posted by: Lame Cherry at February 22, 2007 12:32 PM
"... the imam was dismissed and disappeared after raising complaints about (among other things) "the housing of 'suspicious' individuals in the mosque"
How much more blatant confirming evidence will the media ignore in their febrile attempts to paint the SLC murders as a random act of violence? This story continues to gather momentum as a case of SJS (Sudden Jihad Syndrome), yet few, if any, news outlets can bring themselves to consider it.
Newsroom editors who suppress vital information of this sort for fear of "provoking violence against American Muslims", are in fact hastening the day when a massive public backlash will occur. Obscuring the nature of these ongoing SJS incidents will only guarantee that, once America's public connects the dots, their outrage will be one hundred times greater.
PS: Robert, congratulations on hitting the 8 Million mark!
Posted by: Zenster at February 22, 2007 12:45 PM
Its sad that the American, British, and Canadian media cover for Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists. In the New York Times, for example, writer Somini Sengupta, usually takes non-Muslims to task, but effectively covers for the fundamentalists and murderers by intentionally hiding acts of Islamic terrorism. It is well known that the Wahhabi lobby and countries such as Pakistan play major roles in providing financial incentives to journalists who portray Muslims and Islam in a positive light and Jews, Christians and Hindus in a negative fashion. Journalists are tempted by the bribes because most are barely making ends meet.
David
at February 22, 2007 1:38 PM
This is a classic example of how the liberal press operates in this country.
They play up what they want to play up, and they play down what they want to play down.
This has been going on for years, especially when reporting on racial and social issues.
evidently our socially concious media has decided that Muslims are a protected class, and that it would be socially irresponsible to inflame people by reporting anything that might reflect badly on them.
But let a Christian or Jew step on a Muslim's toe, and then watch all hell break loose.
Posted by: rational at February 22, 2007 1:42 PM
Liberalism is indeed a mental disorder. We may indeed have to split up our Western Nations one by one. The liberals can take their beloved "eemeegrants" and moslems in their half. The rest of us will choose Tom Tancredo or a similar sensible leader and stay in our half. I have no doubt as to which half would function better. And NO foreign aid for liberal-land once it is established! IF they need our military aid to expel the moFoes we will negotiate for their return. ON THE CONDITION THAT THERE BE NO MOMOs allowed!!!
Posted by: Allahfanculo at February 22, 2007 1:52 PM
I'm sure the only religion on earth that'll argue over anything will be Islam. You don't even see the staunch Baptist in a public argument anymore. It's amazing to see how the media tries to sympathize with Islamic's.
Posted by: Jeff at February 22, 2007 2:29 PM
And why is this guy not being charged with a Hate Crime? He was attacking the others because of their religion.
And where is CAIR?
Posted by: alaskan1000 at February 22, 2007 4:53 PM
darcy,
You wrote: "The two students' religions DID get reported, however - Catholic and Lutheran!"
Do you have a link to substantiate this? If so, you might want to contact Robert Spencer and give him the link, since that information considerably buttresses the argument he makes in this article.
Posted by: remote_control at February 22, 2007 5:06 PM
It surprises me that the FBI and others haven't checked on the definition and practice of Jihad in the official manual for Muslims outside Dar al-Islam, called "The Reliance of the Traveller." This "classic manual of Islamic sacred law" is probably available in every mosque in the U.S. and abroad. Jihad is defined as war against non-Muslims to establish the Islamic religion. (Para o9.0). It is obligatory of every able-bodied man who has reached puberty and is sane. (Para o9.4)
Under the section, Obligation to Command the Right, it quotes Muhammad as saying, "People who do not change something wrong when they see it are on the verge of a sweeping punishment from Allah." (q1.3) More specifically it says, "There is no disagreement among scholars that it is permissible for a single Muslim to attack battle lines of unbelievers headlong and fight them even if he knows he will be killed." (q2.4(4))
It seems to me if a Muslim is behaving in exact accordance with his Sacred Law, that is relevant to describing his actions
at February 22, 2007 5:18 PM
"It is obligatory of every able-bodied man who has reached puberty and is sane. (Para o9.4)"
I didn't think Muslims believe in....
Sanity Clause!
(Where was that gag two months ago?)
at February 22, 2007 8:48 PM
"Although Ahmed's religion was not known, Metro police spokeswoman Kris Mumford said one of the students is Catholic and the other is Lutheran. She said she did not know which was which."
at February 22, 2007 11:27 PM
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007702200347
Here's the link confirming the reporting of the victim's religion but not the cab drivers. Strange that they couldn't determine Ahmed's religion but could discern it from injured victims! What a joke!
Posted by: holycrusader at February 22, 2007 11:30 PM
The Ummah, Islam's 1.4bn member kuffir kangaroo court. Islam requires that every muslim be judge, jury and executioner. He is religiously empowered to take matters into his own hands and act on any perceived offence to the Ummah or Islam, and will be rewarded in paradise for this action. The laws of government and the rights of it's citizens are of no concern to a muslim who has gone into instant jihad mode.
Posted by: Dsinc at February 23, 2007 1:48 AM
This is the Big Secret that infidel governments don't want their citizens to know about.
Posted by: Dsinc at February 23, 2007 1:57 AM
exsgtbrown wrote
"you begin to realize that something foul is in the air and it is close to you, you begin to feel the hate that encompasses Islam and the followers of Islam, you begin to understand that the followers of Islam intend to remove your history"
Indeed,I smelt this stench downwind here in the U.K. more than 10 years ago.
I have had the fortune/misfortune to live amongst the mohammedens for 15 plus years.
The pyjama clad imams came about 10 years ago and started breathing fire and brimstone in there sermons.
For some reason islam had a free pass in the media and halls of power,mainly for leftist votes.
I don't believe it's coincidental that mass immigration happened in the west and global terror went up a notch.They run parralell as train tracks.
Real public opinion is galvanised though and any attempt at a power grab from muslims will be crushed,either violently or diplomatically.
It's their choice....
at February 23, 2007 1:06 PM
Chris (2/22/07 5:18PM),
Are you aware "The Reliance of the Traveller" has a number of missing English translation items? My copy (from Amazon) has both the Arabic and English and there are a goodly number of places (approx. 20) where some Arabic text exists but not the corresponding English translation. I'm very interested in finding out what is "missing" but I have no clue how to proceed. I'm leery of going to someone who knows Arabic but who may be uncomfortable or unwilling to give me full and correct translations.
What are your thoughts?
williak
Posted by: williak at February 23, 2007 5:41 PM
For gods sake and peace sake and for peaceful and safe life for my kids in future STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .STOP MUSLIM IMMIGRATION .
Posted by: Indiana_jones at February 23, 2007 11:48 PM
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