After every terrorist attack, it’s only a matter of time until the media runs its expected, “Muslims fear backlash” stories.
The New York Times was one of the first media outlets out of the gate to claim that Sri Lankan Muslims are being terrorized by Christians.
“In the town of Negombo, where an attack on a church during Easter services killed more than 100 people, gangs of Christian men moved from house to house, smashing windows, breaking down doors, dragging people into the streets, punching them in the face and then threatening to kill them, dozens of residents said. No deaths were reported, but many Muslims fear it is only a matter of time,” the paper claims.
Then it admits that, “The country is about 7 percent Christian, 10 percent Muslim, 13 percent Hindu and 70 percent Buddhist.”
If we are to believe the Times, then the Christians, who make up only 7 percent of the country, are terrorizing Muslims who make up 10 percent of the country. And yet, are unable to fight back.
That sounds hard to believe. But it’s a convenient and familiar narrative.
The media is most comfortable with Christians as villains, rather than victims, and Muslims as victims rather than terrorists. And so it tells the story that conveniently fits its narrative of choice.
The attempt to transform Christians from victims to perpetrators so quickly after the Muslim church attacks is deeply shameful.
And deeply disturbing.
While Christians face genocide in Muslim countries, and even in countries with Muslim minorities, the media erases their stories and demonizes them. After ISIS concluded its bloody work, the media took over.
cfrread says
9-11 was the fault of the Americans.
Various attacks in Europe the fault of the ‘crusades’ in Iraq.
Ergo NZ massacre of Moslems by an Eco Fascist was the fault of intolerant Moslems not assimilating, FGMing, raping, engaging in crime and unemployed.
Fair is fair.
And when we eventually bomb Mecca into ruins we can blame the Meccan Moslems for slaughtering pagans, Jews and Christians, circa 630 AD.
Holger Jahndel says
The Islamists committed and committ genocides at Christians and also other religions like Yezids and nature religions in Africa and worldwide – Islamists are indeed the facists and national-socialists NAZIS of your time and age. Read Jaya Gopals book “The misery of Islam” and read the articles of the international Gatestone-Institute. You also might want to read James DeMeo and his websites and books and “Saharasia-Thesis”…!
gravenimage says
Holgar, cfrread was being sarcastic.
John says
islam, just Satanic FILTH
CRUSADER says
Well, it could certainly be that The Cross
to Muslims is a very terrifying thing.
It is a major thing to confront oneself in life,
and to see one is going in the wrong direction.
The Cross leads the way to Truth and Eternity.
But many want to ignore this and show the light
of The Cross can be too much to take in — certainly
all at once…
Humans are far too arrogant and blind all at the same time.
Holger Jahndel says
Read the books “The misery of Islam” by Jaya Gopal from India and also James DeMeos books and websites. I suggest you also see the articles at the website of the international Gatestone Institute and so on.
Margaret says
Essentially, the left’s rule is that nothing bad—no matter how true—may be said about Muslims or Islam and nothing good—no matter how true—may be said of Christians or Christianity.
CRUSADER says
Sisters of two of the alleged Sri Lanka suicide bombers revealed Thursday that their siblings – who have been described by officials as “well-educated people” — became increasingly distant and “totally crazy” in the years leading up to the coordinated Easter Sunday massacre.
Their comments come as reports emerged that one of the bombers was let go by police after being arrested earlier at some point.
“He told male relatives off for trimming their beards and became angry and totally crazy,” Samsul Hidaya, who identified herself as the sister of suspected bomber Abdul Lathief Jameel Mohamed, told the Daily Mail. “So I just stopped speaking to him because it got to the point where it was getting out of hand.”
In an interview published Thursday, Hidaya confirmed reports that her brother – who was in his late 20s — studied abroad in the U.K. and Australia before returning to Sri Lanka. But she says after coming home from Down Under, he was “a different man”.
This undated image posted by the Islamic State group’s Aamaq news agency on Tuesday purports to show Mohammed Zahran, a.k.a. Zahran Hashmi, center, the man Sri Lanka says led the Easter attack that killed more than 350 people, as well as other attackers.
This undated image posted by the Islamic State group’s Aamaq news agency on Tuesday purports to show Mohammed Zahran, a.k.a. Zahran Hashmi, center, the man Sri Lanka says led the Easter attack that killed more than 350 people, as well as other attackers. (AP)
“I had many arguments with him,” she said. “At first he started quoting scripture and I would say ‘OK, you’re right.’”
“But then the conversation got deeper and deeper into religion and I couldn’t follow what he was saying any longer,” she added.
Mohammad Hashim Madaniya, who identified herself as the sister of radical Islamic cleric Zahran Hashim (alternately known as Mohammed Zahran) – told the BBC a similar story.
Her brother has been mentioned in media reports as being one of the suicide bombers and possibly the mastermind of the attacks. Hashim also purportedly has appeared in ISIS-affiliated propaganda claiming responsibility for the bombings, which have left 359 dead and hundreds more wounded.
But before Hashim’s descent into radicalism — as evident by the hate-filled online sermons he posted on YouTube – he broke off contact with his sister
“We had a very good relationship during our childhood. He was very friendly with everyone in the neighborhood,” Madaniya told the BBC. “But for the last two years, he has not been in contact with us.”
A view of St. Sebastian’s Church damaged in suicide blast in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
A view of St. Sebastian’s Church damaged in suicide blast in Negombo, north of Colombo, Sri Lanka. (AP)
Madaniya says she learned about her brother’s alleged involvement in the bombings through the media.
“I never thought, even for a moment, that he would do such a thing,” she said. “I strongly deplore what he has done. Even if he is my brother, I cannot accept this. I don’t care about him anymore.”
Madaniya says Hashim went off the grid after Sri Lankan police tried to arrest him years ago for allegedly stoking violence between Muslim groups. She also claimed her elderly parents left their home in Sri Lanka days before the bombings and have not been heard from since.
“It makes me think that my brother could have kept in touch with them,” she said.
Over the past three years, radical Islamic cleric Zahran Hashim, alternately known as Mohammed Zahran, amassed an online following of thousands for hate-filled online sermons – sometimes delivered before a banner depicting the enkindled Twin Towers – and composed of impassioned calls for “all non-Muslims be eliminated.”
Over the past three years, radical Islamic cleric Zahran Hashim, alternately known as Mohammed Zahran, amassed an online following of thousands for hate-filled online sermons – sometimes delivered before a banner depicting the enkindled Twin Towers – and composed of impassioned calls for “all non-Muslims be eliminated.” (YouTube)
Police reportedly though have tracked down the father of two sons suspected of blowing themselves up in the attacks.
Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim, a wealthy spice trader in Colombo – the city where many of the bombings happened – is in custody over suspicions that he helped his sons, according to CNN.
A government spokesperson also told the network that one of the sons, Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim, had been arrested before and then released. He is suspected of targeting a hotel.
“It was the suicide bomber of the Cinnamon Grand bomb attack who was released earlier,” Sudarshana Gunawardana said, without elaborating.
As of Thursday, 58 people have been arrested and police are still setting off controlled detonations of suspicious items as they continue to investigate the attacks.
— Fox News
gravenimage says
Thanks for that information, CRUSADER.
Jaladhi says
NYTimes is as usual up to its old habits – denouncing Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs,.. and everybody else but Muslims who go on doing their worldwide carnage. NYTimes had no sympathy for genocide of Hindus in Myanmar committed by Muslim yet it talked about persecution of Muslim there ad nauseam. The left is a big propaganda arm of Muslims and Islam!
jayell says
‘Muslims fear backlash’ – and after such a horrendous death toll from the Easter attacks, so they should. It would in any case be perfectly logical, but, more to the point, this expectation would fit with the muslim mentality since this is exactly what they themselves would do (and is what the Easter massacre in Sri Lanka was all about in the first place). It sounds terrible, but if we want to educate the muslim world into behaving in a civilised fashion, continuing being ‘restrained’, ‘civilised’ and ‘turning the other cheek’ will achieve nothing since they model their attitudes and behaviour on the thug who founded their ideology, and, like a thug, they will continue to see this christian response as weakness and and invitation to yet more of their criminal barbarity. They need to be taught the sort of lesson that they would understand, and this expression of their ‘fears’ is an indication of the sort of lesson they expect and should receive.
gravenimage says
We don’t have to embrace the savagery of Islam in order to defend against Jihad.
alex says
Graven: that is true, but imagine if we found the consensual will to bury dead jihadists in pigskins, and to legally execute and bury convicted jihadists in unclean ways, even if somewhat cruel (someone on here suggested drowning them in a vat of pig blood, for example; there’s also the idea of lard-tainted bullets, and a number of other, similar things), and also to widely spread footage of these executions over the Internet and media. It might not deter every single jihadist, but it would likely put a good dent in the overall number of deadly attacks. I’m not suggesting that we go back to the age of Vlad Tepes the Impaler, though.
gravenimage says
I have no problem with burying Jihadists in “unclean” ways.
Olli Hekkala says
Lets say it that way. If they(Christians) do that, I understand what is behind it and condemn it simply because:
“You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
But I say to you, That you resist not evil: but whoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. ” Matthew 5:38,39
According to “eye for eye” principle, as in Israel Jews, Christians should round up Muslim children, men, women and elders equivalent group as they lost, and simply shut them in Mosque and blow it up. Now that is eye for eye.
But. And that is big BUT.
If it is another Muslims “islamobhopia” lie, it should be exposed. But of course it could be possible that Catholic crowd is not so much adherent of Jesus teachings as some latter churches. I mean that priests do hold sermons but people leave their religion to that. Maybe not much liturgy about all Jesus teachings. Who knows.
Rhiannon says
Who knows? You apparently do not, sir. It would be better if you not comment on Catholic liturgy if you don’t understand it. The liturgy is VERY Scripturally- based. Don’t spread misinformation by casual comments about others’ beliefs. Leave that to the fake news media.
Olli Hekkala says
When speculation continues, I would suggest that those who attacked Muslims, were no regular Church goers or bible readers.
CogitoErgoSum says
How were the members of the mob identified as being Christians? Did they wear crosses and shout that Christ is God? Could some of them also have been, Buddhist, Hindus or even atheists who were outraged beyond self-control? Did the news reports say?
gravenimage says
Actually, the Biblical concept of “an eye for an eye” does not entail the brutalization or murder of innocent people, as you appear to believe.
CogitoErgoSum says
I agree that the punishment should fit the crime but the punishment should be given only to the person who committed the crime. Some of the people involved with committing this crime are already dead and others have been or will be arrested. Those who are found guilty should be punished accordingly. But isn’t the religion of Islam itself guilty of inspiring and urging the perpetrators to do harm to the Christians? Quran 9:29 urges Muslims to fight the Christians until they either convert to Islam or pay the Jizya in humiliation to the Muslims. These Christians were not paying the Jizya and have been punished by the Muslims for it. The Christians may have not heeded the words of their god by responding with indiscriminate violence towards those not directly involved in the bombings but the Muslims have NOT committed any sin by attacking the Christians and acting according to the words of their god. Think upon that and tell me what can be done to live in peace with such a religion.
Olli Hekkala says
Suicide bombers and their support people are hard to punish. Religious war needs desperate measures. Maybe we could nail that “eye for eye” thesis/law/resolution to local mosques doors after deadly suicide terror attack. You know, judgement has been set and it is up to us, Jews and Christians, do we forgive if they ask nicely forgiveness. (We know what Jesus teaches.)
Keys says
O H –
Yes. “We know what Jesus teaches”. The interpretation and implementation is the problem, of course. And that is not without tension and anguish at times.
Do you think he meant his followers need to be fools ? No. Did he mean not to protect our loved ones from evil ? No.
Do you think he means by “love your enemy”, to let them kill and abuse you and your loved ones ? No.
Do we forgive 70 x7, those who hurt us and are truly sorry ? Yes, like a human punching bag ? Without consequences ? As an irresponsible buffoon ? With no individual and social justice ?
Muslims laugh at the “love your enemy” teaching as weak and absurd, and will manipulate it to their advantage. Let’s not let evil manipulate us into confusion, chaos, or cowardliness.
Expel the wicked man from your midst.
Would a father give his child a snake ?
If the homeowner knew the hour the thief was coming
Satan, be gone, …….
elee says
Enforceable civil and criminal liability for surviving jihadists would be a good start. This should include imams, mullahs, publishers, bloggers…….anybody who counsels solicits procures advises or abets violent and criminal jihadi doctrine. The Taylor Force Act was a step in the right direction, don’t let them roll it back per Senate Resolution 171.
gravenimage says
Agreed, elee.
somehistory says
Olli Hekkala
Christians have never been subject to the Mosaic Law. That certainly includes the Law about an “eye for an eye.” The Law was for the Jews to obey and for Christians to use to come to Know God. The Laws were based on principles, and Christians are to obey the Law of Love. Christian teachings are simple, but require study and prayer in order to understand. Just as Jesus said as to “why” He spoke in parables. And He said that the “two greatest commandments are to Love Jehovah your God with your whole heart, mind soul and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the Law of Love.
Christians are allowed to protect themselves, but are not to go avenging and taking revenge. Christ will do that (2 Thessalonians 1:8) And He will choose the time for it.
There may be some people who claim to be Christian, but then act in unchristian ways. That is unacceptable and clearly not according to Christ’s commands.
Jim Austin says
Liberals have a number of standardized, memorized narratives that they impose on reality. Liberal reporters don’t report the news. They report the narrative. They pick and choose and occasionally invent facts to fit their narrative and suppress the rest. If the situation doesn’t fit in any of their narratives, they ignore it altogether.
That’s the way they were trained in college. That’s the only way liberal reporters can function. Exhortations about honest reporting connect to nothing in their minds. They literally can’t conceive of building a story entirely from the facts at hand.
James Lincoln says
Jim Austin,
Excellent post.
At one time, back in the day, the New York Times actually did strive to objectively report the news.
That is no longer true – and has not been for some time.
Currently, they get things correct like the weather report, the DJIA, New York Yankees scores, etc. – and that’s about it.
Real news at the New York Times is long gone.
President Trump is right again, they are a failing newspaper.
Keys says
“At one time, back in the day, the New York Times actually did strive to objectively report the news.”
Ironic that at one time, not so long ago, the final scene in the movie “Three Days of the Condor” (1975) showing the NY Times building inspired relief and hope in us that the truth would be known thanks to our free press.
“ Condor” points to The New York Times building and says he has “told them a story” and “They’ll print it”.
James Lincoln says
Keys,
Very insightful observation.
J_not_a says
It’s the New York Slimes. Can’t sink any lower. The term fake news gets thrown around too much but when it comes to the NY Slimes, rhats all they put out.
gravenimage says
I’m afraid that the New York Times has been doing this sort of thing–and even worse–for a long time.
Jihad Watch’s Hugh Fitzgerald calls them the “New Duranty Times” after the appalling “reporter” Walter Duranty, who whitewashed the horrors of Stalin’s Soviet Union during the 1930s in the pages of the NYT.
KWJ says
There was an opinion piece in the New York Times a day or two ago. The author was going on about terrorism and not knowing why terrorists do what they do and some reasons are “fuzzy” blah blah. She mentioned the Irish Republican Army, right-wing terrorists and the 70s Weather Underground.
It wasn’t an in depth or eye-opening article, it didn’t put forth any interesting or thought-provoking ideas. It came off to me as wanting to mention other kinds of terrorists and not the fact that terrorism by Muslims greatly exceeds all others today. She also calls this the “new terrorism” that began 30 years ago. She apparently doesn’t recall plane hijackings, mosque attacks (by Muslims) 70s Lebanon, killing Israelis at the Olympics, and many others. She probably doesn’t know much of anything about Islamic history.
These are the kind of vapid writers the Times hires, and you’re right, they are presenting a narrative not deep thinking. It’s like they’re engaging in “Well, they did this” as if it’s a balanced equation but it’s not. Yes, we all know there are bad people of all kinds, but Islamic violence and demands are like no other.
The Times And BBC also screwed around with the Shah and Iranian Revolution to the detriment of Iranians who ended up dead. They also didn’t keep reporting about the Rwandan Genocide. They do the bidding of the White House or the shadow government.
andrewmckendrick says
“Invent facts”” how do you do that? A narrative ,a story , yes! But facts? Reminded of a line from Burns` poem The Dream…But facts are chiels that winna ding,an donna be disputed.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
Fake news eventually results in fake history, even contemporary history, which is based on the widespread dissemination and then belief in fake facts.
There are two components of this: fake reports and elision. The latter leaves out salient facts, undenied and undisputed facts, such as A woman is worth half a man and Kill them wherever you find them.
Just who is them? Or is that just whom is them?
Holger Jahndel says
The postmodern left-liberal multi-culturalist islamophile New York Times spreads lies about the trues events like all postmodern neoliberal globalist mainstream media following the Agenda of Political Correctnes and so on. See the articles of the international Gatestone Institute and also the international EIR NEWS Agency of the LaRouche Movement and also the American Free Press Newspaper by Pat Buchanan and Dr. Paul Craig Roberts about the truth and true events, also see Michael Snyders Weblogs and the Peak Oil Blog called “FROMTHEWILDERNESS” by Michael C. Ruppert (R.I.P.) and the indepdendent and investigative journalist F. William Engdahl and the international Epoch Times newspaper and the international nexus magazine…!
Dimitri Fernando says
This is absolute rubbish. There certainly have not been any gangs of Christian men roaming the streets of Negombo terrorizing Muslims!! ! I live in Colombo, less than 20 miles from Negombo. I go there often. Nothing of this sort has happened!
gravenimage says
Thank you, Dimitri, for this view on the ground.
somehistory says
Dimitri Fernando
I, for one, didn’t believe it for a second. Thanks for verifying the Truth.
Joe says
“In the town of Negombo, where an attack on a church during Easter services killed more than 100 people, gangs of Christian men moved from house to house, smashing windows, breaking down doors, dragging people into the streets, punching them in the face and then threatening to kill them, dozens of residents said. No deaths were reported, but many Muslims fear it is only a matter of time,”
———————————————————————————–
If you noticed, there is no Christian man named. No location other than the town. There is no time of day. No victims are named. There is no picture (even photoshopped) of the damage doors. There is no picture of the violence. There are no testimonials from the victims. We are supposed to believe it because it is written in a newspaper.
It sounds like something that someone just wanted to write. This is what “fake news” looks like.
Dimitri Fernando says
I would like to know the link to this NYTimes stody so that I can find it on their website, and lodge a formal protest with the US Embassy in Sri Lanka here. Start off a small shitstorm of protest towards the NY TImes. Also put it to the local media outlets that NYTimes is printing fake news.
CogitoErgoSum says
Maybe the New York Times can explain to the world the meaning of Quran 9:29 and how Christians and Jews should not find it terrorizing.
Kay says
Thank you. Please do. Many well-meaning people read it for their news and will be misled.
Beneath the Veil of Consciousness says
“Vengeance is Mine,” sayeth the Lord. Did the Times article preface their report by reminding the readers that the Sri Lankan murders were carried out in retribution for the killings of the NZ Muslims and how this was in keeping with Muslim beliefs? Whereas, any acts of vengeance by Christians violates their tenets.
jbusher says
ANGEL OR DEMON –
I going to tell you specifically how the Creator works in your life. First, the Creator controls two spirits; one holy and one unholy. The holy spirit has two purposes (1) to create from the human soul an angel for good works (2) to use that angel to raise up a constitutional republic. The unholy spirit has two purposes (1) to create from the human soul a demon for evil works (2) to use that demon to raise up a totalitarian dictatorship. How does the Creator determine which soul becomes an angel and which soul becomes a demon? The Creator offers the human soul a choice to act according to the holy spirit or unholy spirit. This is the only free will choice of the soul. When the soul chooses to act according to the spirit – the spirit takes over and fulfills its function. Jesus said to Judas, “Do what you must,” knowing the spirit was going to compel Judas into betrayal. Here is the danger to the soul – the Creator its causing an evil spirit to tempt the human soul into doing evil. When the soul agrees to do evil, the spirit in the soul does the evil. Then the Creator sends another evil spirit to continue the works of evil. The Creator is doing this in order to transform the human soul into a demon. The same is true for an angel. If the soul agrees with the holy spirit, this spirit will do a good work through the soul. Then the Creator sends in another spirit for another good work. This in order to transform the soul, work by work, into an angel. All souls are being transformed according to the spirit. Which spirit is transforming the soul is evident by the works of the soul. The works of the holy spirit include chastity in life, faithful in marriage, truthfulness in speech, never defaming, charitable, dutiful, humble never arrogant, reasonable, trustworthy, sober in mind and body, persevering, respectful, and service to others. The works of the unholy spirit is deception, drunkenness, faction, immoraliuty, debauchery, homosexuality, adultery, selfish ambition, ridicule and the like. Look who is building God’s constitutional republic! It is the holy who are compelled by the holy spirit. Look who is building an absolute dictatorship! It is the unholy compelled by the unholy spirit. Can a soul change spirits? Yes, repent your evil works and be baptized in Christ and receive the Holy Spirit. This is the promise and all past crimes God will show mercy.
CogitoErgoSum says
Jbusher, I have no problem with much of what you say; however, I disagree with the idea that God sends evil spirits to tempt people. I would say that God ALLOWS evil spirits (who themselves were allowed to choose between good and evil) to come and tempt people living in this world. The world in which we are born is not a part of God’s kingdom but rather a place outside of it where both good and evil spirits are allowed free access and even the ability to dominate. Right now evil dominates and our spirits are born into this world subject to evil’s control. To escape this control we must die and be reborn through baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit whereby we become the adopted children of God. The Muslims are right when they say each one of us is born as a slave of Allah for Allah is the evil one who currently controls this world —- so what is born belonging to evil must die and be born again and follow the way which Christ has shown as leading to the Kingdom of God.
This forms my way of seeing the world. This forms my way of thinking that Islam is evil and Islam is death; Christ is good and Christ is life.
J_not_a says
You are committing blasphemy when you say God sends his Spirit to do evil. Like the Pharisees said of Jesus when He performed miraculous healings and raised up dead “he has a demon in Him”. You are treading very dangerous ground saying things like that. I would ask forgiveness right away if you said these kinds of things in error. Very serious matter.
somehistory says
jbusher
Goc has never created “evil.” As Genesis reports on what God said, “After that, God saw everything that He had made and look, it was very good.” God never created evil spirits or anything else evil. After He completed His creative work, He rested. So, He never created any evil or evil spirits.
As the Apostle James said, “With evil things, God cannot be tried; neither does He try anyone.” He does not send evil spirits to us to tempt us into doing wrong. But, He does allow us to be tempted, just as He allowed Job to be and if we answer that temptation as Job did and as Christ did, then as the Proverb says, God can make a “reply to him that is taunting,” Him. He says, “Be wise my son and make my heart rejoice that I may make a reply to him that is taunting me.”
somehistory says
Goc is a terrible typo. It should say God.
Having eye surgery soon…have RD. May be away for awhile for healing. maybe I’ll see better after.
CogitoErgoSum says
Somehistory, may God keep you under His care and grant you a successful surgery and speedy recovery.
gravenimage says
Good luck, Somehistory.
And your posts are appreciated here, typos and all.
somehistory says
CogitoErgoSum
Thank you so much. I told my doctor that I was going to pray for him to do a good job and he thanked me. My doctor is a special guy and I thank God for him. I feel that He is with me every moment.
G,
Thank you very much. I appreciate the thoughts. I will be restricted in what I can do for about two months. Things may be a lot different then, but we shall see…better I hope. 🙂
gravenimage says
Somehistory, I will be thinking of you and will pray for you. Hope to see you back here soon, better than ever.
John says
From perpetrators to victims in less than a week. Impressive.
gravenimage says
Sometimes Muslims make these claims the very next day.
Malek al Kuffar says
I serched for “Negombo” in the two biggest daily papers in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the Daily News and the Daily Mirror. There were lots of news items about Negombo in both papers, but no mention of any Christians roughing up Mohammedans.
http://www.dailynews.lk/search/node/negombo?page=2
http://www.dailymirror.lk/search
gravenimage says
+1
gravenimage says
The only other thing I have seen is an article from Reuters where some Ahmadi Muslims said they were leaving town for a while because Christians supposedly might be vengeful. I have not been able to find any other claims that they have been.
tinker of Colombo says
this might have some truth to it.. there are many hundreds of Pakistani Ahmadi Muslims living in and around Negamobo, Sri Lanka as they have escaped the persecution in the hands of fellow Pakistani Muslims who do not recognize Ahmadi’s as true Muslims in their own country. but I, being a Sri Lankan , living not so far from Negambo is yet to hear anything on either main stream or social media of a scale of attacks as reported in NYT
gravenimage says
Thank you, tinker.
gravenimage says
Isn’t this *always* the case? Muslims slaughter Christians–as here, sometimes hundreds of them–but it is, somehow, Muslims who are in the real danger from Christians.
Dachlan says
Media controlled by Muslim
gravenimage says
Not really. It is controlled in many cases by dhimmis and deniers of the threat of Islam, though.
somehistory says
moslims represent the absolute worst of humans. Murdering, raping, mutilation, beatings, lying, stealing, destruction of any kind of thing that belongs to another human. One of the main targets of moslim hatred, rape and murder are Christians.
and yet, it’s Christians who are “hated by the world.” Why? Because as Jesus Christ said, “The world has hated me.” The ‘world hated me before it hated you.” “You will be objects of hatred by all the people on account of my name.”
So when moslims murder Christians, those who also hate Christians take the opportunity to add their own abuse on the innocent victims, thereby letting the guilty off the hook…and the innocent victim suffer further.
tinker of Colombo says
5 days after Easter Sunday attacks , there is still no attacks targeting Muslims of Sri Lanka…the tsunami of communal wild fires they so wished for is not raging. the International hate mongers can no longer wait and so – we have this article. If you closely follow the reporting of the authors one will see the biased nature of their reporting and especially Dharisha Bastians – her’s is a pretty visible penchant to pour vitriol on Sri Lanka and its people – whenever opportunity provides.
gravenimage says
+1
hammar says
No matter what is printed or voiced or pronounced out loud, mohammad will never be a prophet. He never was is or can be. The Old Testament prophets were always called by God and their testimony was always proven by facts or through visible means. Read anything about Moses, Abraham or Jacob to understand.
mohammad was nothing more than a killer, pillager, and child rapist. The koran is no word of God or will never be proven to be otherwise. All islam offers is death, threats, and intimidation.
infidel says
I commend these Christian gangs for what they did!!!
gravenimage says
Except it seems unlikely.
toomanhobbies says
what… wait…. I did not see any reports of muslims mosques being torched while services are going on. I do not see any stories of muslim communities being raped, murdered and burned to the ground. I have not seen any stories of muslims being taken and sold into slavery BY ANY ONE… however the Christian communities and churches….
American Pie says
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
— Joseph Goebbels
TC says
Sri Lanka’s Christians and Muslims Weren’t Enemies
by Neil DeVotta, Foreign Policy Magazine
The country’s real divide has been between Buddhists and Muslims, but the Easter attacks may change all that.
In November 2016, Sri Lanka’s justice minister announced to Parliament that 32 locals from four families had joined the Islamic State. Given the minister’s ties to some anti-Muslim Buddhist prelates, his claim was quickly dismissed as opportunistic—even racist. Since then, however, credible evidence has backed him up. Meanwhile, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the deadly Easter Sunday bombings that killed around 360 people, including nearly 40 foreigners.
To be sure, the Islamic State has a reputation for taking credit for terrorist acts it had nothing to do with. Its claims must therefore be treated skeptically. At the same time, however, there is no gainsaying that Islamist terrorist groups in South Asia and elsewhere support the Islamic State’s vision for a caliphate and crave alliance with it. And these groups, in solidarity with the Islamic State, have in the past targeted Christians on Easter. One such group is Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which killed 75 people in Lahore, Pakistan, in March 2016.
Yet the specifics of the Sri Lankan case make it unusual. For one, given the planning, sophistication, and scale, the attacks there on April 21 rank as one of the worst terrorist acts recorded. But more importantly, the relationship among the country’s Buddhists, Christians, and Muslims makes the targets the attackers picked somewhat strange. After all, why would the Islamic State or those allied with it go after the Christian minority when it is the radical Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists who have perpetrated violence against the island’s Muslims in recent times?
The histories of Sri Lanka’s ethno-religious groups only add to the puzzle. In 2009, the country’s decades-long civil war ended with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). During the violence, the LTTE often resorted to suicide bombings, and it is understandable that people initially thought the group was responsible for the weekend attacks. Although the Sri Lankan military has feared an LTTE comeback, though, the now defanged group never really mounted such coordinated bombings even at the height of its military power. In any case, the LTTE never attacked Christians if only because many Tamil Christians played a leading role in the separatist struggle.
Meanwhile, extremist Buddhists have periodically attacked Christian evangelical groups, but suicide bombings are not really their forte.
This left Islamist extremists as the potential culprits, yet Muslims in Sri Lanka have never before resorted to suicide bombings, and their moderate leaders have gone to great lengths to discourage reprisals for anti-Muslim attacks.
The two local Islamist groups that the government claims were involved in the bombings are relatively obscure. One is Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim (JMI), of which little is known. The other is National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ), which appears to have been set up after Sinhalese Buddhist radicals with links to the previous Mahinda Rajapaksa regime orchestrated a wave of anti-Muslim violence in June 2014. There exist various jamath organizations in Sri Lanka and South Asia thanks to breakaway factions. The NTJ could well be one such breakaway faction.
The NTJ gained some notoriety when one of the Easter suicide bombers desecrated a Buddha statue last December. It is unlikely someone intent on participating in coordinated suicide attacks would have wanted to expose himself by resorting to such an inflammatory act, so last weekend’s attacks must have been planned recently.
The NTJ is surely linked to the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath, whose puritanical demands have caused it to clash with Islamist groups in the south Indian state. The NTJ has likewise upset moderate Sri Lankan Muslims for its ambitions to impose a Wahabi lifestyle on the island’s Muslims within its reach. But no one appears to have thought the group was capable of unleashing the carnage it did this past Sunday.
Muslims amount to less than 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population, and JMI and NTJ followers are unlikely to account for even 2 percent of those. Their miniscule size, coupled with the sophisticated nature of the attacks and the targeting of churches rather than Buddhist temples and assemblies, was therefore one reason for concluding a foreign hand was involved.
Now pro-Islamic State posts on social media claim that the attacks were a response to the Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque shootings that killed 50 Muslims. The Sri Lankan government has also concluded that the Christchurch shootings were what inspired the attack. But the murder of Muslim worshippers in New Zealand had nothing to do with Sri Lanka or Sri Lankans. So why was the country chosen?
Appreciating the Islamic State worldview, which is rooted in a binary of “believers” versus “infidels,” may help in this regard. The group envisions a permanent war between believers who defend Islam and crusaders who undermine the religion in varied ways, including those whose lifestyles are antithetical to fundamental Islamic values. Their worldview respects no borders and nationalities. As far as the Islamic State and its affiliates are concerned, then, Sri Lankan Christians fit into the crusader bracket and qualify to being attacked.
A second reason Sri Lanka was picked is perhaps because, post-civil war, it represents a soft target. If security blanketed the island during the ethnic conflict, the LTTE’s total defeat, the new government’s less militaristic approach to governance, and the need to make the country more tourist friendly encouraged an increasingly lax atmosphere, especially outside the northeast. If the Islamic State could locate a more porous venue to reiterate its agenda, it will have. This means that all countries, especially those with so-called crusader populations, must brace against similar attacks.
A third reason for picking Sri Lanka was the availability of a newly radicalized cohort of Muslims. It may turn out that some of the suicide bombers had traveled to Islamic State redoubts in the Middle East, but even if none did, the anti-Muslim sentiment that has bubbled up in Sri Lanka since 2012 was arguably sufficient to radicalize Sri Lankan Muslims at home.
Thus, while the focus at this point is quite rightly on the innocent victims of the attacks and their perpetrators, Sri Lankans must come to terms with how politicians and Buddhist leaders have enabled and manipulated Islamophobia for personal gain and thereby contributed to this disaster.
Sri Lankans must come to terms with how politicians and Buddhist leaders have enabled and manipulated Islamophobia for personal gain and thereby contributed to this disaster.
Despite alerts from moderate Muslims and specific intelligence passed on from the Indian government, Sri Lankan officials failed to fully appreciate the threat these Islamists posed. Bad blood between the president and prime minister, and the chaos it has engendered, may partly explain the intelligence failure. The Sri Lankan intelligence community’s obsession with an LTTE revival could as well. It is almost certainly the case, though, that the government would have taken the threat more seriously had Buddhist temples been on the terrorists’ hit list.
Ultimately, the Easter Sunday bombings bode ill for Sri Lanka’s Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiment, especially among nationalist Buddhists, is bound to ratchet up. Most of the dead were Sinhalese and Tamil Christians, and those groups may now join the Islamophobia bandwagon, too. Already some Muslim shops have been attacked, and Muslims fearing reprisals have fled to safer locations. In this context, how the Sri Lankan government responds to anti-Muslim violence is of paramount importance—because a government that allows Buddhist extremists or others to operate with impunity will only invite more Islamist terrorism.
The potential ethno-religious instability these Easter attacks portend may work well for former President Rajapaksa, under whose leadership the LTTE was defeated amid allegations of war crimes. He and his family seek to return to power in elections this year, and they will claim that it takes a Rajapaksa to defeat Islamist extremism as well. Whether true or not, they will argue that the Islamic State has come to Sri Lanka and that a return to unyielding Rajapaksa rule is the only way to defeat it.
Neil DeVotta is a professor of politics and international affairs at Wake Forest University.