February 02, 2003

God punished Columbia because an Israeli 'spy' was on board, Palestinians say

God punished the space shuttle Columbia because its crew, which included an Israeli astronaut, was on an espionage mission against the Arab and Muslim nations, some Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip told The Jerusalem Post today.
[...]
"They were sent to space to spy on the Arabs and Muslims,"said Rudainah Salman, a 28-year-old schoolteacher from Ramallah. "I have no sympathy for the astronauts because they were doing something bad to us. Allah punished them because of their bad intentions. I hate the Americans and the Israelis because of what they are doing to our people."

Salim Najjar, a mosque preacher from a village near Jerusalem, told a group of Muslim worshippers that a "divine omnipotence" was behind the tragedy.

"This is a message from God to America and Israel that they must stop their aggression against the Arabs and Muslims," he said. "Israel and America are trying to control the world through their arrogance and with the help of military force. On Saturday they were reminded that God is there to protect the believers, the people of the Prophet Mohammed, God s blessing and peace be upon him."

At the Kalandya refugee camp south of Ramallah, a group of young men sitting in a small restaurant said they felt happy when they heard the news of the space shuttle explosion.

"We heard that the Israeli was a pilot in the Israeli air force who had participated in the attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor," said Jamil Shehadeh, a 22-year-old mechanic. "God is great because this pilot has now been punished for the crime which he committed. I wish we will have more disasters like this in the US and Israel. Who do the Americans and Israelis think they are?"

One of his friends, Ayman Dweik, 19, said he heard "somewhere on TV" that the Columbia explosion was the first in a series of disasters that are expected to hit the US.

"They said on TV that the next strike is going to be when the sea opens and swallows one of the American warships that s on its way to attack Iraq. This is the will of Allah, that all the enemies of Islam shall be destroyed. People here say that the shuttle was on an espionage mission to gather information on the Arab and Muslim countries," Dweik said.

What can I say that doesn't include bad language about people that are this ignorant, prejudiced and gullible, as well as morally hateful?
Just reading and blogging this made me so furious and upset....
Arafat tried to cover up this kind of reaction and went through the motions of being decently sorrowful about the Columbia disaster, as he pretends to do everything else that is decent, but these responses got out anyway.
Yes, why shouldn't you jihadi Muslims be at liberty to kill all the "infidels" and "enemies of Islam"--Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, even atheists-- that you feel like?
Why? Because every human life is precious, not just Muslim lives.
That is why we mark each person's earthly passing, regardless of their religious beliefs.
I knew the "Arab street" would have this reaction, but I'm still sick that it did.
The adherents of the "Religion of Peace" still have lots of work to do to reform and change their now murderous credo:
if you believe that the only way to deal with non-believers of your faith is to for them to be killed, you don't have much of a belief system.