Tears In Heaven

Just when you thought politically correct definitions of terrorism would drive you to homicide bombing, the Al-Arabiya network lands in hot water for refusing to call dead Palestinians "martyrs":

Al-Arabiya, the self-styled moderate alternative to Al Jazeera, is the year-old all-news satellite affiliate of the Middle East Broadcasting Co., which is owned predominantly by Saudis. In the jihadist mind-set, the Saudis are an infidel regime and are therefore legitimate targets of violence just like American crusader forces and Jews. The Palestinian Authority, maybe showing more of its jihadist colors than it intended, thus concludes that recent terrorist operations in Saudi Arabia have led Al-Arabiya to avoid language about Palestinians that might in any way be construed to glorify armed attacks on the Saudi kingdom. It's hardly surprising that the Palestinian Authority, accustomed to controlling its own press, sees state interference where there isn't any.

Comments

[Andrew]

It says loads about the distance the post-Christian world has traversed, that in our culture the term "martyr" nowadays usually carries pronounced undertones of irony, and even disapproval.

Every cause still has it martyrs, I suppose...but Libertarianism fewer than most.

I believe that martyrdom may have a specific meaning in the culture of Islam-- in paradise you get extra virgins, a special hat, something.

[Warren]

Give me Liberty or give me death.

[AJMB]

I'll start calling dead Palestinians martyrs when the Palestinian Authority starts referring to dead Jewish civilians as victims of terrorism. Holding my breath starting . . . . . NOW!

[rst]

Is this any surprise? Arafat has always been every bit the terrorist that Sharon ever was. For Fatah to pressure the media, and back that pressure up by beating a journalist, is to be expected. I'm glad there's a source over there that at least offers more secular, event-based news rather than tries to dress up the stories for easy digestion by an indoctrinated audience.

[AJMB]

Still holdingmy breath. Vision burring. Spelling off.........

[AJMB]

SAD PSCd e35 y[phbb . . . Oh the hell with it!

[Jason Clouse]

Been reading "Allah is in the House," huh AJMB? 🙂

[AJMB]

Allah likes rap?

[mak_nas]

i think its very safe indeed to say there is nothing inherently islamic with suicide bombings. you needn't look far to find a multitude of examples around the world.

individual desperation, not any specific religion, makes suicide bombing workable. and -- because it is so damn effective, after all -- there will always be groups willing to exploit such individuals for their own ends.

[rst]

At issue is not the motivation but the perception. Whether they are doing it as an atheist, a Muslim, or a horny kid who can't wait for his 72 virgins, doesn't matter. The intent is to get the people who read and watch the news to view them as martyrs. A secular outlet undermines that.

[ed]

72 virgins.
One for each body part.

[dhex]

secular martyrdom exists.

"let's roll" and other candyland foxhole fantasies.

[rst]

"let's roll" and other candyland foxhole fantasies.

Exactly. A dead body is a dead body. We make the martyrs posthumously in recognizing them as such. Nothing objective makes them so. Islamic and secular groups alike know this, and know that the power of the martyr is not in the label alone but in how many use it. If people stop referring to them as martyrs, the whole concept of martyrdom in jihad is, uh, martyred.

And it's a spiderhole, dammit.

[ed]

"Allah likes rap?"

Wouldn't surprise me. Evil is as evil does.

[Douglas Fletcher]

If that's really rap, shouldn't it be 'Allah be in the house?'

Just trying to keep up on the latest fads.

[dhex]

you people are so fucking caucasian sometimes it hurts to read. 🙂

rap jokes are so steve martin.

[ed]

dhex:
I just like to throw the occasional bomb myself.
Nothing personal.

[dhex]

of course it's not personal. but there are so many posters on the board who sound like the racist caricature of white people in a bad martin lawrence movie, screaming "the roof is on fire" and running for their lives.

i mean, the cristal n' bling era of hip hop is as painful as the anticon school of polysyllabic backpacking but neither hurt as much as "bringing down the house."

[joe]

Considering that suicide bombing attacks have been carried out by the atheiest, communist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, I think the spin that this demonstrates the PLO's "jihadist colors" is a little weak.

[Will Spencer]

"Martyr" should be a term of condemnation, not approbation, when the martyr is voluntarily throwing away their life for the purpose of taking a group of shoppers or students with them.

If a person was executed by the enemy or killed in combat, I can see how we should honor their sacrifice.

Blowing yourself up to get 30 seconds of TV time -- not an admirable act.

[Andrew]

Joe--

I have heard you say this sort of thing before-- "True Marxists would never do THAT = (fill in the blank)"-- and it is tautologically true, only in that True Marxists never do anything save conduct seminars...but Real Marxists act like the PFLP all the time, and trade in the most odious sorts of atavism.

That a theory cannot endure any friction with reality does not credit the validity of the theory.

Are you coming from the same place as, perhaps...Ken Macleod? Another writer who sweepingly ignores the world's experience with revolutionary violence, and sees "promising popular rebellions" all about us.

[joe]

I'm not claiming "true Marxists would never do that," just refuting the author's implied assertion "only jihadist fundies would do that." The utilization of suicidal tactics is not limited to jihadists - look at the mass waves of Red Army conscripts that hurled themselves at German positions.

So what I'm saying is, "true Marxists" would absolutely do that.