7 replies to this topic

[medicineman]

http://www.msnbc.msn...rime_and_courts



now imagine the publicity and the uproar if it was an arab who did the shooting.

[rwac]

You're being unnecessarily cynical here. Shooting kids is news generally, but it's likely lower profile since no one died.

http://latimesblogs....l-shooting.html

[niner]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39582428/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts

now imagine the publicity and the uproar if it was an arab who did the shooting.

Well, he was a psycho, carrying a Jack-o-lantern and a gun. Crazy people come in all flavors. They didn't actually mention his ethnicity or nationality. How do you know that he wasn't Arab? When I lived in Southern California, I had a lot of Arab friends and acquaintances. It was not a big deal, but that was in the 1980s. I don't know if it's changed now.

Oh, I see from rwac's post that they id'd the guy; a Brendan O'Rourke. Doesn't sound like an Arab name. Must be Kenyan, like O'Bama...

[medicineman]

maybe you misunderstood me mate. My point was, an Arab or Muslim killer is worldwide news, a 'normal' non muslim Killer isn't.

Thinking even further, how many more people would have cared about the Rwandan massacre if one of the parties was of muslim or arab origin? May I suggest, ALOT more than current interest in the horrendous massacre?

[niner]

maybe you misunderstood me mate. My point was, an Arab or Muslim killer is worldwide news, a 'normal' non muslim Killer isn't.

Thinking even further, how many more people would have cared about the Rwandan massacre if one of the parties was of muslim or arab origin? May I suggest, ALOT more than current interest in the horrendous massacre?

Yeah, I know what you're saying. Arabs have gotten a bad rap because of Islamist terrorism. If school kids had been shot at by a Muslim, crazy or not, that would have been huge news, because everyone would think it was terrorism. Violence by non-Muslim psychos, on the other hand, well, that just happens; particularly in America where we hand out guns to practically anyone. I think the Rwandan massacre and the worlds response to it was a disgraceful episode, but the appropriate analogy would be one Arab sect killing another Arab sect in a far off land that few had heard of. It might have gotten a similar response, although the Middle East is more familiar to Westerners than is Africa, so that would have raised the level of interest somewhat.

A relatively small number of violent extremists has tarred entire an entire ethnicity. It sucks...

[medicineman]

maybe you misunderstood me mate. My point was, an Arab or Muslim killer is worldwide news, a 'normal' non muslim Killer isn't.

Thinking even further, how many more people would have cared about the Rwandan massacre if one of the parties was of muslim or arab origin? May I suggest, ALOT more than current interest in the horrendous massacre?

Yeah, I know what you're saying. Arabs have gotten a bad rap because of Islamist terrorism. If school kids had been shot at by a Muslim, crazy or not, that would have been huge news, because everyone would think it was terrorism. Violence by non-Muslim psychos, on the other hand, well, that just happens; particularly in America where we hand out guns to practically anyone. I think the Rwandan massacre and the worlds response to it was a disgraceful episode, but the appropriate analogy would be one Arab sect killing another Arab sect in a far off land that few had heard of. It might have gotten a similar response, although the Middle East is more familiar to Westerners than is Africa, so that would have raised the level of interest somewhat.

A relatively small number of violent extremists has tarred entire an entire ethnicity. It sucks...

Exactly.

Reminded by Andre Glucksman when he says

"Why do the 200,000 slaughtered Muslims of Darfur not arouse even half a quarter of the fury caused by 200-times fewer dead in Lebanon? Must we deduce that Muslims killed by other Muslims don’t count - whether in the eyes of Muslim authorities or viewed through the bad conscience of the west?"

[Connor MacLeod]

maybe you misunderstood me mate. My point was, an Arab or Muslim killer is worldwide news, a 'normal' non muslim Killer isn't.

Do you live in San Diego, CA?

[medicineman]

maybe you misunderstood me mate. My point was, an Arab or Muslim killer is worldwide news, a 'normal' non muslim Killer isn't.

Do you live in San Diego, CA?

What a strange question. Is that a joke or is it a serious question?

If it is serious, then no, I don't.
May i ask why you wonder?