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Middle East: Saddened by Mumbai Attacks
02 Dec 2008 23:21:05 GMT
Written by: Global Voices
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
GlobalVoices
Amid the sadness and shock at the Mumbai attacks, bloggers across the Arab world are posing many questions.

Bahraini Hasan Hujairi is very saddened by the news. He writes:

I’ve been very saddened by the news of the recent terrorist attacks in the city of Mumbai. I cannot imagine any reason that would justify carrying out such a terrible and mindless act.
My heart goes out to those affected both directly and indirectly by this tragedy.

From Dubai, UAE, Seabee poses a lot of questions and here are some of them:

I simply don't understand anything to do with the obscene killings in Mumbai.

I don't understand the mentality of people who randomly take innocent lives. The vast majority of the dead and injured are Indians, hotel workers, train travellers, people simply going about their daily business.

We're told that Americans and British tourists were specifically singled out in some instances. Yet many of them may well have opposed their governments' policies, so what does the simple fact of citizenship have to do with anything?

I don't understand how a country which has had so many terrorist attacks over recent years can have been so unprepared.


Rantings of an Arab Chick
too is annoyed and writes:

It goes without saying that my heart goes out to the victims of the terror attacks in Mumbai, those who made it and those who didn't. I don't believe that justice is always meted out and that punishment always falls upon those who deserve it, but I can sure as hell wish for it.

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia wonders:

In any hostage situation there should be hostages , kidnappers, negotiators and demands where as in the latest Mumbai terrible terrorist acts there were hostages,Kidnappers and forces but no negotiators or demands !!??

What were the kidnappers demands ?? They did not take that big number of hostages for nothing !!?? The demands will indicate the identity of the kidnappers so why the Indian government does not announce these demands now !!??

There is something I don’t understand and Please Pardon my question but how on earth 10 people only cause all that destruction in Mumbai in one day or rather three days or even how 10 people can control a hotel in the size of Tag Mahal for three days !!?? This is what the authorities in India said !!??

An Egyptian [Ar] is appalled with the lack of interest among bloggers from Egypt and the rest of the Arab world. He notes:

انا بتابع اكتر من 100 بلوج مصري و عربي طبعا 99% منهم بتوع مسلمين
ماشفتش ولا واحد كتب عن هجمات مومباى ياترى عاملين ودن من طين و أخرى من عجين ليه؟

بس بصراحة سمعة المسلمين بقت وحشة اوى بعد الموضوع ده
I have been following more than 100 Egyptian and Arab blogs, and of course 99 per cent of them, belong to Muslims. I haven't seen a single one of them writing about the Mumbai attacks. I wonder why they are totally ignoring it?
The truth is that the reputation of Muslims has become very bad after this attack.
Still in Egypt, ~W~, who writes at I Wanna Hold Your Hand, posts a discussion she had with her neighbour on the attacks. Here's the beginning of the discussion:

Me (pointing to the newspaper on her coffee table): Terrible events. I am so upset. I do not know what these terrorists are thinking when they kill innocent people in the name of Islam.
AS : They think they are fighting in the name of God, and they may have a point.

Follow the link above to read the rest of it.

At the online forum, Omania2.net one reader writes:

كم هو مخجل ألا يدين الأفراد والمجتمع والمؤسسات وعلماء الدين الأعمال الإرهابية التي يرتكبها بعض الوحوش بإسم الإسلام …. هناك بعض الدول أدانت التفجيرات مثل قطر والإمارات وباكستان ولكن على الصعيد الشعبي لم نرى شيئا …. بينما الواجب أن يستهجن المجتمع المدني في الدول الإسلامية هذه الأعمال وأن يتبرأ المسلمون من مثل هذه الأعمال التي تلصق على الإسلام والإسلام براء منها ….
It is a shame that individuals, society, organisations and clergymen have not condemned the acts of terrorism committed by beasts in the name of Islam. There are some countries like Qatar, the UAE and Pakistan, which have condemned the attacks, but on a public level, we didn't see anything. It is our duty as Muslim communities to condemn these actions and Muslims should renounce these actions as they have nothing to do with Muslims and Islam.

Another commentator, Ibn Al Rahbi, said he sent cables and letters of condolences to all his Indian friends and acquaintances.

Writing on American-Palestinian Kabobfest, Will, links to the following Al Jazeera report, and says:

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The violent ideology behind such senseless attacks belies the emptiness of the group's claims to be defending Muslims. While they are correct that western media and publics are generally blind to and complicit in Muslim suffering, such tactics are unjustifiable in religious, moral and political terms.

And in Kuwait, which had eight women taken as hostages at the Oberoi, bloggers breathe a sigh of relief when their hostages returned home safe.

DiLLi O MiLLi posts a newspaper clipping showing the women being recieved by officials and family at the Kuwait airport. Q8ia Mamloo7a too shares the news on her blog saying:

الحمد والشكر لله سبحانه
قرت عينكم يا أهل الكويت بسلامة المحتجزين

تم الافراج عن جميع المحتجزين الكويتيين
والامير يأمر بإعادتهم بطائره خاصه
Thanks to Allah Almighty, Kuwait rejoices at the safety of its hostages, who have been released, and the Amir (Ruler) ordered that they be returned [to Kuwait] on his private jet.
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Global Voices Online is a non-profit global citizens' media project, sponsored by and launched from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at the Harvard Law School.

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