Posted on 07/07/2005 1:58:04 PM PDT by F14 Pilot
LONDON, July 7 (Reuters) - Deadly blasts in London drew shock and sympathy from Middle Eastern capitals on Thursday, some of them all too familiar with carnage on their own streets.
"We've been experiencing terrorism for 30 years," said Samira Murr, a Lebanese teacher in her 50s, in Beirut. "It's like the Madrid bombings, like the 9/11 attacks. We feel we are not safe anywhere in the world any more."
In Damascus, Syrian businessman Majed Ali said: "I really hope this is not the doing of an Arab or a Muslim because our values are 100 percent against this devilish crime. If my own brother had done this, I would disown him."
Arabic satellite channels such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya broadcast live footage of the scenes of the bombings that hit buses and underground trains, as did Lebanese and Israeli media.
Iran and Syria, both on Washington's list of states sponsoring terrorism, joined an unbroken chorus of condemnation, as did the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah guerrillas.
"The use of violence to achieve aims is condemned," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in a message to Prime Minister Tony Blair, condemned "these detested acts".
Hamas, responsible for many suicide attacks on Israelis, said there could be no justification for the London bombings.
"Targeting civilians in their transport means and lives is denounced and rejected," Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy chief of the group's political bureau, told Reuters in Damascus.
A Hizbollah statement on the blasts denounced attacks on civilians, citing humanitarian, moral and religious grounds.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom linked the attacks with the Jewish state's struggle against Palestinian militants.
"This attack shows us once again that terrorism is not Israel's problem only," he said. "Terrorism can hit everywhere and against everyone."
"WE UNDERSTAND"
Saudi Arabia's Social Affairs Minister Abdulmohsen al-Akkas said his country, battling a two-year wave of attacks by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, knew what London was suffering.
"We understand. Since May 2003 we have been experiencing the horrors of terrorist acts," said Akkas, who was visiting London.
"Whoever did it, whether al Qaeda or the animal liberation front, they are animals," saidKhaled al-Maeena, editor of Saudi Arabia's English-language Arab News daily.
"Those responsible for this have no feelings or humanity," said Hassan Bannona, a 47-year-old Saudi aviation worker. "We feel for the victims as we have also been attacked in this way."
Leading Lebanese Shi'ite Muslim scholar Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah voiced outrage. "These crimes are not accepted by any religion. It is a barbarism wholly rejected by Islam," he said.
Yemeni doorman Aref al-Haymi, 28, said the bombings showed criminals were everywhere. "Everyone must cooperate to end this terrorism instead of accusing only Muslims and Arabs."
Lebanon, where bomb blasts this year sparked memories of its bloody civil war, expressed sympathy. President Emile Lahoud said his country "shares with the British their pain".
Some Beirut television stations interrupted their morning shows on cooking and hairdressing to air live footage of bomb sites, casualties covered in blood and rescue operations.
Egypt's Foreign Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid, whose country fought Islamist insurgents who often targeted Western tourists in the 1990s, said: "It is important to be brave in facing up to the scourge of terrorism."
Morocco, hit by suicide bombings in Casablanca two years ago, said the "heinous attacks" underlined the need for united international action against those who perpetrated them.
BULL SHYT
It seems Hamas has the market cornered on justifiable bombings.
---In Damascus, Syrian businessman Majed Ali said: "I really hope this is not the doing of an Arab or a Muslim because our values are 100 percent against this devilish crime. If my own brother had done this, I would disown him." ---
all those who believe this quote stand on their head!
"If my own brother had done this, I would disown him."
Notice he says nothing about bringing him to justice. Typical muslim response.
PING!
The Middle East is filled with people who would rather bitch about things than turn in someone they know is building suicide bombs.
"Hamas, responsible for many suicide attacks on Israelis, said there could be no justification for the London bombings. "
So homicide bombings on women and children in Israel continue to be justified. Sweet. (sarc)
Yet the Saudis continue to support exactly this type of terrorism in Israel.
"Yet the Saudis continue to support exactly this type of terrorism in Israel."
Better still, they'll hold telethons to raise monies for the martyr's families. Everyone turns a blind eye when it's Israel. Now they shall reap the vast rewards of such ignorant behaviour with a measure of racism against their own.
In some Middle Eastern societies, being "disowned" by your family is one of the harshest sentences possible. There's a strong value embedded in belonging to a family--it's similar to the importance of Clans in medieval Europe (or thanes, like in Beowulf).
Still, personally, I'd want more than just him being out of my family, too.
the middle east does not feel 1/2 of 1/1000 of the amount of sympathy/upset that I am feeling right now for the UK.
"A Hizbollah statement on the blasts denounced attacks on civilians, citing humanitarian, moral and religious grounds. "
We are sick of these fascist Muslims giving lip service to feigning outrage against terrorism. They speak with forked tongues while supporting these terrorists in secret. We expect bonafide muslim nations to expunge these vermin terrorists. Gut their organizations.
Turns out you're a caring peoples. I was wrong. I thought you all were cowards that hid behind your womens sand skirts and sent your children off to die for you.
" Just woke up to this news. I want to express that my thoughts and prayers are with my fellow humans in London. I am so very sorry our criminal president has dragged you into this."
Isn't that a nice thing to say? Such nice people over at DU.
Exactly. They were dancin' in the streets when we got hit.
It seems Hamas has the market cornered on justifiable bombings.
~
I guess not enough Jews died to make them think it justifiable.
Every frickin muslim quote I've read today is about them being afraid and NOT about about how disgusting this is.
True colors.
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