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| Iraq |
| How can anyone hold people in Iraq responsible for what happens in Egypt? |
| 2010-11-05 |
| [Arab News] Sunday's attack by Al-Qaeda on a Catholic church in Storied Baghdad and the slaughter of 46 worshippers has been condemned by the OIC, by Arab governments, by Iraq's Mohammedan leaders. We too condemn it. It was an act of unspeakable evil. Making it infinitely worse is the statement by Al-Qaeda in Iraq claiming responsibility. It has declared war on half a million Iraqi Christians because two Egyptian women, who supposedly converted from Coptic Christianity to Islam, are rumored to be held prisoner by Coptic monks somewhere in Egypt. The story may or may not be true. The reality may well be more prosaic and connected to the fact that Coptic women get round their church's ban on divorce by announcing they have converted to Islam and then reconvert (which is legal in Egypt) once they have secured a divorce. Whatever, the rumor is being stirred up by gun-hung tough guys for political gain. But it has nothing to do with Iraqi Catholics. Even if they and Egyptian Copts were one and the same -- they are not -- the reality is that people in Iraq have no control over what happens in Egypt and cannot be held responsible for it. To insist otherwise is no different from the twisted and bigoted thinking that demonizes all Saudis, all Arabs and Mohammedans, as bully boyz because of the involvement of 17 of them in 9/11 attacks. That is repugnant and so is what Al-Qaeda claims in Iraq. It is using the Egyptian rumor for its own deadly purposes. It has taken a leaf out of the Zionist history book, re-enacting it with barbaric enthusiasm. There is no difference between this massacre and that of Paleostinians by Zionist storm-troopers at Deir Yassin in 1948. The aim is the same, ethnic cleansing. In 1948, the aim was to terrorize Paleostinians into fleeing their homes. Today, Al-Qaeda wants to terrorize Iraqi Christians into flight. This week in Baghdad, St Mary's Church has been Deir Yassin; Al-Qaeda, the Zionists. The metaphor is not as bizarre as may seem. Al-Qaeda not only acts like the Zionists, it hands them real victories. There are Christians in a number of Arab states. They are Arab as much as the majority Mohammedans. They are an honored and cherished part of Arab society. Al-Qaeda is trying to divide Arab against Arab. And who gains the most from that? Israel. Tragically, Al-Qaeda's tactics may have some effect in Iraq. Around half a million Christians have already decamped the country in fear of their lives since the US-led invasion. Others may now well join the exodus as a result of Sunday's massacre. They know that without a government to enforce law and order and the Americans on the way out there will probably be more attacks. Horrified Americans will no doubt put the blame for this purely on Al-Qaeda. It is to blame, but so are they. Saddam Hussein's regime was a dictatorship but there was peace and harmony between Mohammedans and Christians. With the invasion, they opened a Pandora's box. Sectarianism is one of its terrible results. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 ION PAKISTANI DEFENC EFORUM > US CONTINUES TO LOSE CONTROL [+ IGA Govt. influence] IN IRAQ |IRAQI LEADERS NOT FOLLOWING US ADVICE ON GOVT. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-11-05 01:22 |