Middle East: Saddened by Mumbai Attacks

Amid the sadness and shock at the Mumbai attacks, bloggers across the Arab world are posing many questions.

Bahraini Hasan Hujairi is very saddened by the news. He writes:

I’ve been very saddened by the news of the recent terrorist attacks in the city of Mumbai. I cannot imagine any reason that would justify carrying out such a terrible and mindless act.
My heart goes out to those affected both directly and indirectly by this tragedy.

From Dubai, UAE, Seabee poses a lot of questions and here are some of them:

I simply don't understand anything to do with the obscene killings in Mumbai.

I don't understand the mentality of people who randomly take innocent lives. The vast majority of the dead and injured are Indians, hotel workers, train travellers, people simply going about their daily business.

We're told that Americans and British tourists were specifically singled out in some instances. Yet many of them may well have opposed their governments’ policies, so what does the simple fact of citizenship have to do with anything?

I don't understand how a country which has had so many terrorist attacks over recent years can have been so unprepared.


Rantings of an Arab Chick
too is annoyed and writes:

It goes without saying that my heart goes out to the victims of the terror attacks in Mumbai, those who made it and those who didn't. I don't believe that justice is always meted out and that punishment always falls upon those who deserve it, but I can sure as hell wish for it.

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia wonders:

In any hostage situation there should be hostages , kidnappers, negotiators and demands where as in the latest Mumbai terrible terrorist acts there were hostages,Kidnappers and forces but no negotiators or demands !!??

What were the kidnappers demands ?? They did not take that big number of hostages for nothing !!?? The demands will indicate the identity of the kidnappers so why the Indian government does not announce these demands now !!??

There is something I don’t understand and Please Pardon my question but how on earth 10 people only cause all that destruction in Mumbai in one day or rather three days or even how 10 people can control a hotel in the size of Tag Mahal for three days !!?? This is what the authorities in India said !!??

An Egyptian [Ar] is appalled with the lack of interest among bloggers from Egypt and the rest of the Arab world. He notes:

انا بتابع اكتر من 100 بلوج مصري و عربي طبعا 99% منهم بتوع مسلمين
ماشفتش ولا واحد كتب عن هجمات مومباى ياترى عاملين ودن من طين و أخرى من عجين ليه؟
بس بصراحة سمعة المسلمين بقت وحشة اوى بعد الموضوع ده
I have been following more than 100 Egyptian and Arab blogs, and of course 99 per cent of them, belong to Muslims. I haven't seen a single one of them writing about the Mumbai attacks. I wonder why they are totally ignoring it?
The truth is that the reputation of Muslims has become very bad after this attack.

Still in Egypt, ~W~, who writes at I Wanna Hold Your Hand, posts a discussion she had with her neighbour on the attacks. Here's the beginning of the discussion:

Me (pointing to the newspaper on her coffee table): Terrible events. I am so upset. I do not know what these terrorists are thinking when they kill innocent people in the name of Islam.
AS : They think they are fighting in the name of God, and they may have a point.

Follow the link above to read the rest of it.

At the online forum, Omania2.net one reader writes:

كم هو مخجل ألا يدين الأفراد والمجتمع والمؤسسات وعلماء الدين الأعمال الإرهابية التي يرتكبها بعض الوحوش بإسم الإسلام …. هناك بعض الدول أدانت التفجيرات مثل قطر والإمارات وباكستان ولكن على الصعيد الشعبي لم نرى شيئا …. بينما الواجب أن يستهجن المجتمع المدني في الدول الإسلامية هذه الأعمال وأن يتبرأ المسلمون من مثل هذه الأعمال التي تلصق على الإسلام والإسلام براء منها ….
It is a shame that individuals, society, organisations and clergymen have not condemned the acts of terrorism committed by beasts in the name of Islam. There are some countries like Qatar, the UAE and Pakistan, which have condemned the attacks, but on a public level, we didn't see anything. It is our duty as Muslim communities to condemn these actions and Muslims should renounce these actions as they have nothing to do with Muslims and Islam.

Another commentator, Ibn Al Rahbi, said he sent cables and letters of condolences to all his Indian friends and acquaintances.

Writing on American-Palestinian Kabobfest, Will, links to the following Al Jazeera report, and says:

The violent ideology behind such senseless attacks belies the emptiness of the group's claims to be defending Muslims. While they are correct that western media and publics are generally blind to and complicit in Muslim suffering, such tactics are unjustifiable in religious, moral and political terms.

And in Kuwait, which had eight women taken as hostages at the Oberoi, bloggers breathe a sigh of relief when their hostages returned home safe.

DiLLi O MiLLi posts a newspaper clipping showing the women being recieved by officials and family at the Kuwait airport. Q8ia Mamloo7a too shares the news on her blog saying:

الحمد والشكر لله سبحانه
قرت عينكم يا أهل الكويت بسلامة المحتجزين
تم الافراج عن جميع المحتجزين الكويتيين
والامير يأمر بإعادتهم بطائره خاصه
Thanks to Allah Almighty, Kuwait rejoices at the safety of its hostages, who have been released, and the Amir (Ruler) ordered that they be returned [to Kuwait] on his private jet.

6 comments

  • Sickened by the terror in Mumbai, I must ask? “Who benefits?”
    Certainly, the ordinary citizens of Pakistan and India have no part in terror.
    The worst thing anyone can do is to retaliate against the general population.

  • hey, that’s me on global voices, hurraaayyyyyyyy, thanks Amira :)

  • Robby

    Thomas Friedman made a point – to paraphrase – when a Danish Paper printed cartoons about the prophet Mohammad, almost overnight the streets were filled with protesting Muslims, sometimes violently. Yet when these 10 terrorists in Mumbai did more damage to Islam then the cartoons could have done there were no protests. Maybe its time for the majority of Muslims to stop the kidnapping of Islam by extremists.

  • Santosh Shetty

    India is not feared in counter attack with pak, the major reason is if india attacks there will be innocent people who die in pakistan who are not responsible for this attack.

  • Manus

    Political analysis in the west has become so contaminated by geopolitical alliances and National Interests that reporting facts and relating reality are becoming nearly impossible. Putting all these conflicts happening in many different parts of the world under the banner of Global Terrorism is not only misleading but not going to resolve politically these conflicts. Most of these “terrorist” movements are an expression of grievances of what has happened and is happening on the ground, regionally. State terrorism on civilian targets or “Collateral damage” is always explained and excused, but most worryingly quickly swept under the carpet and forgotten. The issue in India is a regional one mainly emanating from the rise of Hindu Nationalism with very militant and violent methods and pro-independence Kashmiri guerrilla groups aspirations of self-rule. Whereas western media reports these violent attacks and sometimes massacres and persecution of Muslim populations as disconnected isolated events, they fail to highlight to plight and represent the sequence of events leading to the violence in these hotspots, by Hindu fanatics and the State of India.
    Hindu nationalists now make a free, instrumental use of memory, emotion, prejudice, religious difference and generalised deprivation to militantly advance their extremist agenda. They are inventing a new anti-Muslim Hinduism, which helps them form a ‘vote bank’ first to capture and then to retain political power. Muslim groups reply have been so far terrorist attacks on civilian targets inside India, and usually spectacular and highly mediatised.
    Therefore, a skewed sense of reality start to blur our understanding of what are the facts and political catalysts driving each side of the conflict. The truth of the matter is as long as the Kashmir question is not resolved and the State of India is resorting to violent methods to quench any secessionist movements in Kashmir, violence and terrorism will get worse and will be sadly with us for many years to come.

  • 26/11 was the day when we heard that our Metro City Mumbai attacked by the terrorists. Even nobody believes that why they attacked on TAJ HOTEL. I think we have to think that what are the reason behind all the attacks and eventually the term comes to our mind is “PAKISTAN”.

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