Posted on 11/12/2002 7:35:12 AM PST by BallandPowder
A hateful message created by a vandal has been popping up since Thursday in the guest book at the Web site of the Muslim Student Organization at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Officials at the organization denounced the act and said they’re trying to purge the message as soon as possible.
"It’s a reflection of hatred and ignorance against Muslims," said Alaa El-Burin, president of the organization. "We’re doing what we can to get rid of it."
The pop-up message reads "Death to the Islamic Infestation." Once clicked, it directs the Internet browser to Stopislam.com, an Internet site owned by an independent group of individuals around the world who oppose the religion of Islam.
El-Buri said she wasn’t shocked by the incident. Twice in the last two months, Stopislam.com popped up when the student organization’s Web site was trying to load its own home page, El-Buri said, noting similar happenings before Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
This time, Todd Krupa, communications officer of MU’s Information and Access Technology Services, said someone has posted a message –– like any other message - in the guest book, but it has been encrypted to trigger the pop-up window that contains the hate message linking to Stopislam.com.
"It’s not hacking by any stretch of the imagination," Krupa said.
"I’m not going to say it’s common, but it’s not odd to have" an encrypted message in "a guest book, because it’s really easy to do," he said.
The department will alert the campus police if there is a computer crime, but in this case, Krupa said, "You post a message and play a game … It’s unfortunate with the content."
To solve the problem, the student organization can remove the message, Krupa said. To prevent similar happenings in the future, he suggests getting rid of the guest book or setting up a transient space where a Web administrator can screen incoming messages before posting them online.
Meanwhile, El-Buri said officials at the Muslim Student Organization plan to discuss how to make their Web site more secure. She also complained about the general hostility toward Muslims and noted a recent speech on campus by Ann Coulter, a best-selling author and television commentator known for her conservative views.
Coulter, invited by the Mizzou Intercollegiate Studies Institute, spoke to more than 200 people at the MU School of Law in September. "She made really bad jokes" about Muslims, "like, invading them and converting them into Christianity," El-Buri said. "She was rude and loud."
Ann Coulter BUMP..Didn't know she was in Missouri recently!
I guess she hasn't realized that Islam has declared war on civilized society.
And I thought seeing people jump to their death on fire was awful. But somebody called some Muslims names! I don't know if I can possibly go on with my life.
I guess I'll have to watch the hour-long Dateline special that will address this world-shattering incident. If I miss that, I'll try to catch the expanded edition of Nightline about it. If I miss those, I'll be sure to watch the Donahue Town Hall, so I can see people cry because somebody called somebody in their ethnic group a less-than-polite name. Of maybe I'll catch Linda Ellerbe's expose on PBS about this disturbing trend.
Sounds ok as far as it goes.
The cult of islam is an infestation and it would be best for mankind if it would just die.
Thank you allah...make it happen.
We need to shame them, not poke sticks at them. Coulter did not want any law abiding muslims to get death threats. That is not her style. Nor is it mine.
This is a trap. You got suckered. Bin Laden's goal is to make the 5% of our population that is law-abiding Muslim turn violent.
Islamic infestation. I kind of like the sound of that. Clear, Concise and Correct.
I have one question though. Where was the supposed hate message?
God Save America (Please)
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Unlike, say, these two beauties... |
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