Posted on 04/17/2007 8:54:20 PM PDT by LdSentinal
All at once, the world went searching for the meaning of "Ismail Ax".
Those two words, written in red ink on one arm of Cho Seung Hui, the 23-year-old Virginia Tech student suspected of the campus shooting spree, set off a massive internet hunt by the public for clues to what might have motivated the nation's worst mass killings.
Almost as soon as the Chicago Tribune's website reported that detail, which was then picked up by news organisations around the world, the blogosphere filled with theories about the possible meaning of "Ismail Ax." Hundreds of bloggers speculated on a link to Islam or to literature; thousands offered their opinions and millions read the commentaries, according to Technorati.com.
The rapid search and response of that term offered another snapshot of how quickly the web disseminates information and connects people.
On Monday, compelling mobile phone videos of the scene at Virginia Tech raced across the web. The next day, the internet provided reflection and a search for answers.
At Facebook.com, a social networking site popular with college and high school students, hundreds of impromptu memorials to the victims were posted, many adorned with a black ribbon circling the school's logo.
Yahoo reported that "Virginia Tech shooting" was the most searched term on its site. Traffic at news organisation sites also surged. At ChicagoTribune.com, the report about Ismail Ax and other details set off the busiest hour in the site's history, with 524,000 page views during the early afternoon.
Internet users seemed particularly curious about what Cho might have meant by the phrase.
Technorati.com, a web site that tracks the blogosphere, said that by late afternoon Tuesday, there were nearly 300 blog posts regarding Ismail Ax.
The phrase was the 10th most popular search counted by Technorati. With two other terms related to the Virginia Tech killing in its top 10, that meant that millions of people got online and did a search of those or very similar words, said Derek Gordon, Technorati's marketing director.
"To raise into the top 10, there are initially tens of thousands of searches, then hundreds of thousands, then millions," Gordon said.
There were other reactions. A TV repair shop owner in Corpus Christi, Texas, registered the domain name http://www.ismailax.com the morning after the shootings.
"I guess I'm a professional domainer," said Raymond Patterson, who registered the site five minutes after he heard the phrase "Ismail Ax" mentioned on a Fox News broadcast. "When I hear a name, I register it. I have about 200 names right now."
Patterson said he had no intention of making "blood money" from the site.
As for the term's meaning, one popular theory spreading across the web comes from a story in the Koran, the holy book of Islam, about Ibrahim and his son, Ismail. This theory picked up speed because many bloggers wondered if the actions at Virginia Tech could be related to terrorism.
In Islam, Ibrahim is known as the father of the prophets and, upset that people in his hometown still worshiped idols and not Allah, he smashed all but one statue in a local temple with an ax. Ibrahim's son is Ismail, who also became a prophet. Ibrahim is Arabic for Abraham, who plays a significant role in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Two theories come from literature, where Ismail is spelled Ishmael.
In one, tied to James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Prairie," Ishmael Bush is known as an outcast and outlawed warrior, according to an essay written in 1969 by William H. Goetzmann, a University of Texas History professor. In Cooper's book, "Bush carries the prime symbol of evil - the spoiler's axe," the professor wrote.
Also, the narrator from Moby Dick, Ishmael, is considered an enigma who is well educated yet considers his time on a whaling ship worthy of time at Yale or Harvard, according to education site Sparknotes.com.
Cho was an English major at Virginia Tech.
Other theories speculate that Ismail Ax could be a reference to Cho's nickname on a video gaming site or that it is a misspelling of Turkish hip-hop artist Ismail YK.
Gordon of Technorati said the rapid rise on the internet of a term like Ismail Ax is not unusual. But it typically happens around terms in pop culture "like iPhone in January and, in March, Sanjaya and American Idol.
"It's nice to see that people also pay attention to the stuff that really matters," he said.
Cho indicated in his letter that the end was near and that there was a deed to be done, the official said. He also expressed disappointment in his own religion, and made several references to Christianity, the official said.
It’s probably the name of some garage band in his neighborhood.
“his own religion” is apparently NOT Christianity, then. Wonder what it is?
Seung expressed disappointment for Christianity in his note before the bloodbath.
Ismail
Ax
I
Islam
Ax
Bob Marley’s Small Axe
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+marley/small+axe_20021665.html
Hmmm....reference to Ismael and his ax, a story known to Muslims.
Attacks made on Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 16th.
Kills a prof who was a Holocaust survivor.
Shoots unarmed innocent civilans en masse.
No, no religion of peace angle here. Move along now......
‘Islamic’?
Sorry, but I don't buy that for one minute. Of course he registered it for a reason, and what would that be, certainly not out of goodwill.
just some word and letter play..
what was his field of study? he was a senior.
Christian Ishmael = Jealous, hateful, evil
Muslim Ishmael = Kind, innocent
The Isaac parts get swapped basically. The Christian Ishmael is vindictive and angry at Abraham for favoring Isaac.
English. And a 23 year old senior.
“He also expressed disappointment in his own religion, and made several references to Christianity, the official said.”
This is extrememly obscure, and poorly written. Yes, it could mean he is disappointed in Christianity, but what it says is, He is disappointed in his OWN religion? and then makes references to Christianity.
In any case, my personal guess is the guy was inhabiting his own fantasy world. Who knows what he thought his religion was.
Ishmael- God listens
ax- symbol of bloodshed (a more brutal weapon than a sword... suggesting carnage)
God Listens to Carnage.
Ok I mean Jewish, not Christian but the story does get re-cast between faiths.
Interesting... sad to say, but your thoughts sparked one in my mind. Maybe our literate friend felt compelled to (or got wrapped up in) a “Da Vinci Code” like murder mystery?
(PS, find Ismail.....)?
My theory is that it translates to “Ishmael acts”... Ismael being the son born to Abram on the wrong side of the sheets. Maybe he felt alienated or denied like Ishmael.
Ismail Ax meet Occam’s Razor
One more thing, I for one am thoroughly sick of seeing policemen dressed in combat fatigues. It isn't done out of necessity, it is a childish and dangerous game of playing soldier. It effects they way they handle incidents like the one at VTech and how they relate to the public. They're in "hostile territory" where every "civilian" might be the "enemy", and where it is necessary to organize a "combat patrol" before they can respond to incidents like this one lest the potential "enemy population" turn on them.
What’s with the chicago paper getting all the info?
when did ‘holocaust remembrance day’ begin? i never heard of it. i rather thought every day was ‘holocaust remembrance day’.
The Ismailis, followers of Ismail were assassins. And those who ignore the reference and say this Cho POS was a pure nutter are dreaming. Cho carried chain with him, and lock chained exits shut. He was not a raving nutter. He killed with practised skill and precision, executing many by lining them up and shooting them in the back of the head.
THESE ARE NOT THE ACTIONS OF A PURE NUTTER AS THE PRESS WANTS TO MAKE OUT.
Ismailis:
It is not known why their contemporaries give the name Assassins to the Nizari Ismailis who become promiment in the 11th century. All that is certain is that the political activities of the Nizari amply justify the subsequent use of ‘assassin’ in its modern meaning.
The Assassins first show their hand when they begin to seize strongholds in Persia in the late 11th century, particularly the almost impregnable fortress of Alamut. In the 12th century they also acquire bases in Syria.
The Assassins train terrorists and employ a network of secret agents in the camps and cities of their enemies. These enemies are legion. Foremost among them are the Seljuk Turks and the caliphs in Baghdad (the Assassins murder two caliphs). But the terrorists also act against their fellow Ismailis, the Fatimids in Cairo. They assassinate at least one prominent crusader. Most eccentrically of all, they make two attempts on the life of Saladin.
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab17
There are several hundred thousand Musta’lian Isma’ilis in the world today (Momen 1985, 56). There are some 20 million Khojas, of whom 2 million live in Pakistan (Halm 1991, 191). Historically the headquarters of the Nizaris has been the fortress of Alamut in the Elburz mountains of northern Iran. Today there are Nizari communities in Pakistan, North-west India and the Chinese province of Sin-Kiang. The Khojas are mainly to be found in Gujarat and the Punjab. There are also Khoja communities in East and South Africa, Ceylon and Burma.
Whether Cho was a Muslim convert Ismaili,or just a rage freak will come out soon. He was not a nutter, but a premeditating stone cold blooded killer.
AV
How about a different take. A-X is the English equivalent of Alpha and Omega - Beginning and end.
Ismail, the father of Islam could be the beginning and end? Islam is the all of everything?
Just wondering.
Oldplayer
Conversion to Ismaili Islam is highly improbably. The Ismailis or Shi’ite Seveners, who regard one Ismail, deposed as Imam for drunkenness, as the last legitimate Imam, and who did, indeed spawn the cult of the Assassins
1. Are now found essentially only in Pakistan, where they form a significant part of the professional class,
and
2. Have been quite peaceful since they were dealt a hideous defeat by the Mongols. Their current leader is the Aga Khan, and so far as I can tell there have been no incidents of Ismailis committing acts of terrorism since at least the end of the 19th century.
A-Z or A-O would be more natural English equivalent of Alpha-Omega (though the 1st and 24th letters would be A and X respectively).
Yours seems an unlikely reading.
Ping to you bro! Discussions later, or I tell Mrs. EB what she suffers from! ;)
Hmmm... again, a textbook in a deranged mind...
What if he indeed was copying these assassins? What if he wanted to be known as “the last of a kind”?
A book in such a mind... knowledge in the wrong hands.
I got this info in an email:
ISMAIL AX: AMERICA’S BESLAN
THE KILLER’S NOTE WAS SIGNED ISMAIL AX (FOX news). It would certainly explain the delay in releasing his name. In the note he was railing against “debauchery” and “rich kids.”
The Father of the Prophets
He said to the statues, joking; then with his ax he destroyed all the statues except one, ... Ibrahim and Ismail kept on calling people to worship Allah.
CNN reports the following; VT shooters guns had serial numbers filed off, the assassination of 32 VT students and facility was pre-planned and carried out with “hired hit-man professionalism.”
“Even among the less serious injuries, Cacioppo said, “we saw one patient that had a bullet wound to the wrist, one to the elbow and one to the thigh. We had another one with a bullet wound to the abdomen, one to the chest and one to the head.”
A source familiar with the investigation said the weapons found at Norris were a Walther .22-caliber semi-automatic and a 9 mm Glock — both with the serial numbers filed off.
Watch how quickly these guns can be fired, reloaded.
Mentally ill, that’s what they are going with here. What an insult to the mentally ill.
Let the American people see the writings they are talking about that were so disturbed. Let the American people decide. Stop deceiving us and lying by omission.
This took great planning and skilled marksmanship.
News reports also said that he may have been taking medication for depression, that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic, and that he left a note in his dorm in which he railed against “rich kids,” “debauchery” and “deceitful charlatans” on campus.
UPDATE: A bomb threat note was found near the killer. And there’s more.
Cho also died with the words “Ismail Ax” in red ink on one of his arms.
The New York Post expounds on the significance of “ISMAIL AX” here: The reference may be to the Islamic account of the Biblical sacrifice of Abraham, where God commands the patriarch to sacrifice his own son. Abraham begins to comply, but God intervenes at the last moment to save the boy.
In the Jewish and Christian traditions, the son is Isaac, father of the Jewish people; in Islam, it is his brother, Ismail (Ishmael in Hebrew).
Abraham uses a knife in most versions of the story, but some accounts have him wielding an ax.
A more obscure reference may be to a passage in the Koran referring to Abraham’s destruction of pagan idols; in some accounts, he uses an ax to do so.
UPDATE: The Smoking Gun has a copy of the killer’s play that got him referred for counseling.
The rest of the media is focusing on emotion and politics, so they tend to overlook boring stuff like info.
Verse 12 is why we have so many problem's with the descendants of Ishmael and the religion that they created.
This is Spiritual Warfare and there is Evil in the world and there always will be until The Second coming.
Genesis 16 Hagar and Ishmael 1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me." 6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. 7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, "Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" "I'm running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered. 9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her." 10 The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count." 11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, [a] for the LORD has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward [b] all his brothers." 13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me," for she said, "I have now seen [c] the One who sees me." 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi [d] ; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
“One more thing, I for one am thoroughly sick of seeing policemen dressed in combat fatigues. It isn’t done out of necessity, it is a childish and dangerous game of playing soldier.”
What’s your problem? They’re the most practical dress if you are going to be climbing and crawling over things. They allow plenty of freedom of movement. They have large pockets for carrying extra gear and some even have built in knee and elbow pads.
Name some other easliy available clothing for the purpose. The regular uniforms are nowhere near as durable, usually require dry cleaning and cost two to three times as much.
> One more thing, I for one am thoroughly sick of seeing policemen dressed in combat fatigues. It isn’t done out of necessity, it is a childish and dangerous game of playing soldier. It effects they way they handle incidents like the one at VTech and how they relate to the public. They’re in “hostile territory” where every “civilian” might be the “enemy”, and where it is necessary to organize a “combat patrol” before they can respond to incidents like this one lest the potential “enemy population” turn on them.
Amen Roger that
Totally agree with you about police in fatigues and the attitudes associated with this. While some are using this event to call for gun control I also heard someone on TV trying to use it to call for more funding for SWAT teams.
Agreed, for the reasons you stated.
Does she write it in red ink on her forearm?
PLEASE SITE OR LINK A SOURCE FOR THIS CLAIM !!
I’m not sure what the original source is, but the info that it was his video game ID is reported here:
<< The words “Ismail Ax” were found inscribed on his arm in red ink, apparently a reference to his Xbox 360 gamertag. Friends said Cho would stay in his room and play Battlefield 2 for hours. Xbox Live have removed the gamer tag. >>
http://charleypatton.blogspot.com/
Of course, that begs the question as to why he chose “Ismail Ax” as his gamer tag. I think it extremely unlikely it has anything to with a Turkish doctor, James Fenimore Cooper or Herman Melville.
I find clearly out-of-shape policemen in combat gear to be off putting, too.
From the link you provided:
He also expressed disappointment in his own religion, and made several references to Christianity, the official said.
It doesn't say that he was Christian, or that he was expressing disappointment in Christianity.
Is this a common thing to do?
Notice first victims Myspace page.
See pic of guy with cigar in left hand and take note of his right arm.
Tell me what you see. I see RED ink symbol on his arm.
Is this some joke or coincidink?
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=19406792
Not that I know of, but her constant oiling of her quad .50's and working the bolt back and forth is starting to concern me.
Does having flames tattooed on her inner thigh mean the same as red ink?
I don't know, I'll have to consult my resident "gamer"...(his gamer tag is rather "graphic" too.)
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