Geller again “knows” identity of criminals, this time the Bulgarian Bus Bomber - update

Sheila Musaji

Posted Jan 19, 2013      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version
Bookmark and Share

Geller again “knows” identity of criminals, this time the Bulgarian Bus Bomber

by Sheila Musaji


In July of 2012, criminal terrorists carried out an attack in Bulgaria.  A bomb was placed on an Israeli tour bus and at least 5 Israeli tourists were killed. This was a tragedy, and like all terrorism, reprehensible.  Whoever carried out this act and with whatever twisted justifications.  There is NEVER a justification for such acts. 

The investigation has been lengthy and for the past 6 months there has been a lot of supposition, but very few facts released to news media.

The Bulgarian bus bombing was a criminal act, and whoever was responsible needs to be caught, tried, and punished under the law.

Today, Pamela Geller published an article with the title #myjihad in Bulgaria: Hezballah behind #savage Bulgaria bus bombing.

The title makes a specific charge against a specific group, and sounds as if the evidence is now in.  However, Geller only makes her claim in her title and adds the statement “Jihadists targeting Jewish women and children on holiday on a bus in Bulgaria. Islamic Jew-hatred, their reason for living, their reason for dying.” and provides links to three articles.  I read the articles, and here are the only facts they contain:

1) Israelis blamed on Lebanon’s Hizbullah terrorists and Iran. Bulgaria has said the bombing was plotted outside the country and carried out by foreigners. 

2) A report is being prepared by Bulgaria and “The conclusions of the report are expected to have a significant impact on whether the EU finally adds Hizbullah to its list of terrorist organizations, something the U.S. has already done and which Israel has been pushing for more than a decade. Such a move could lead to the freezing of Hizbullah’s assets in Europe.” 

3)  The spokesperson of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, Vesela Cherneva, said that the results of the investigation are not ready to be announced in public.

I did a quick news search and found a Jerusalem Post article Bulgaria:// No Hezbollah link to deadly terror attack which says

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry denied on Friday a report saying that the probe into the Burgas bombing links Hezbollah to the attack.

On Thursday, Channel 2 reported that the investigation report found the Lebanese terror organization was behind the deadly bombing that killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver.  However, on Thursday a contradicting report appeared in Bulgarian media saying Bulgaria has no evidence of Hezbollah’s involvement in the bombing. The report, citing officials in the Bulgarian Interior Ministry, added that the bomber’s suspected Arab accomplice had a link to al-Qaida in the past.

The Bulgarian investigation report also states that the Europol has successfully identified three out of the four suspected of committing the attack, Channel 2 reported. The three allegedly entered Bulgaria through neighboring countries using fake identifications.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov declined to comment on the report in Israel media, while Yigal Palmor, spokesman for the MFA, told the Jerusalem Post on Friday, “we will not make any comments before the Bulgarian government divulges its conclusions and states its position.” ...

The bottom line is that Geller is simply making claims based on nothing at all.  Even if Muslims were involved it would still be a criminal act of terrorism and not jihad.  Even if the terrorist claimed an “Islamic” justification or called it jihad, that would not make their claim true. 

Since Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, the dynamic duo of hate have come up with so many fake stories in the past few weeks all using the #MyJihad hashtag, I doubt that this one is any more accurate.

Here are just a few of these recent hate pieces.  If you click on the titles of the posts, it will take you to a response to the particular claim.

- The #MyJihad campaign was accused of inspiring a Chicago bus threat

- #MyJihad: Egyptian Cleric Warns Christian Women: If You Don’t Wear a Veil You’ll Be Raped

- #MyJihad: Muslim cleric tells converts to bury their Christian parents as if they were dead dogs

- #MyJihad in Serbia: Kosovo Muslims destroy Serbian Orthodox monastery

- Jordan: Muslim leader says democracy is forbidden in Islam #MyJihad

- Widely distributed Muslim text shows lie of Hamas-linked CAIR’s #MyJihad campaign

- #myjihad:Hamas-linked CAIR refuses to explain its claim that Muslims discovered America

- #MyJihad Lies Exposed: The Real Meaning of Jihad, from Islamic Sources

#MyJihad in Paris: Muslims Harass, Attack Christian and Jewish Neighbors, Police Refuse to Help

- Ali Sina: “#MyJIhad Putting a Happy Face on Evil”

- #MyJihad Saudi Cleric calls for gang rape of Syrian women

- Islam and Nazis are the same #MyJihad

- #MyJihad 270 million victims of over a millennium of jihadi wars

- #MyJihad 17,000+ “Islamic terrorist” attacks since 9/11, etc.   

- An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal 4 the Brotherhood in N. America #MyJihad

- How Muslims Created Islamophobia #myjihad

- Is CAIR, named an unindicted co-conspirator in largest Hamas terror funding case, really the best group to have organized #myjihad?

- #MyJihad for ONE Muslim to speak out against terrorism

- #MyJihad is a CAIR project

- #MyJihad to stop creeping Sharia

- #MyJihad to close all mosques 80% of mosques are radicalized

- #MyJIhad Muslim anti-domestic violence campaigns are “deception & denial”

- #myjihad Sharia Enforcers: Hooded ‘Muslim Patrol’ remove alcohol from drinkers and tell women to cover up as they stalk London

- #myjihad in France: Jihadist bomb threat forces evacuation of Lyon metro

- #MyJihad only Muslims murder in the name of religion


UPDATE 7/29/2013

It has now been reported that Canadian suspect in Bulgaria bus bombing likely triggered explosion prematurely, killing his relative and five Israelis.  “Bulgarian authorities allege Hassan El Hajj Hassan, 25, who emigrated from Lebanon to Canada as a child, is a Hezbollah operative involved in last year’s bombing of a bus at an airport on Bulgaria’s coast that killed five Israeli tourists and their local driver.”

Therefore, it is possible that in this particular case, the Islamophobes may have accidentally been correct, and there may be a Hezbollah connection.  If this man, and any accomplices are found guilty, they deserve to receive the maximum punishment that the law allows. 

It has further been reported that the EU agrees to put Hezbollah’s military wing on terror list “European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to blacklist Lebanese militant group Hezbollah’s armed wing, holding it responsible for terror attacks in Europe including a bus bombing in Bulgaria in which five Israelis were killed.”

This is a good thing. 


**************

RESOURCES FOR DEALING WITH ISLAMOPHOBIA SUMMARY

The Islamophobia Industry exists and is engaged in an anti-Muslim Crusade.  They have a manifesto for spreading their propaganda, and which states their goal of “destroying Islam — as a culture, a political ideology, and a religion.” They produce anti-Muslim films.  They are forming new organizations and coalitions of organizations at a dizzying speed, not only nationally, but also internationally.   They have formed an International Leadership Team “which will function as a mobile, proactive, reactive on-the-ground team developing and executing confidential action plans that strike at the heart of the global anti-freedom agenda.”

Currently, the Islamophobia Industry is engaged in a full-scale, coordinated,  demonization campaign against American Muslims and Arabs. In just the past few months we have seen a series of inflammatory provocations:    There was the Innocence of Muslims film Titanic, a German satire magazine plans an “Islam” cover article to be published later this month.   Charlie Hebdo, a French satire magazine published an issue with inflammatory cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.   Newsweek published their ‘Muslim Rage’ cover.  Terry Jones held a “trial of Prophet Muhammad”.  SION held a “global” gathering in NYC to plan propaganda strategy.  A group in Toronto publicized a “walk your dog at the mosque” day.   AFDI/SIOA has run a series of anti-Muslim ads on public transportation across the country.   AFDI/SIOA are planning to run 8 more anti-Muslim ads.  There are three more films on Prophet Muhammad in the works by Ali Sina, Mosab Hassan Yousef and Imran Farasat.   They are even bringing their hate messages into public schools.

Daniel Pipes is encouraging publication of “A Muhammad cartoon a day”, and says “So, this is my plea to all Western editors and producers: Display the Muhammad cartoon daily, until the Islamists become accustomed to the fact that we turn sacred cows into hamburger.”.  Pipes joins Daniel Greenfield (aka Sultan Knish) who published an appeal on David Horowitz’ Front Page Magazine Is It Time for ‘Make Your Own Mohammed Movie Month’?.  And, both are following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Pamela Geller, who promoted just such a plan back in 2010 with her promotion of Draw Muhammad Day, even after the cartoonist who drew the first cartoon and suggested the idea, Molly Norris apologized to Muslims and asked for the day to be called off, and American Muslims had issued a defense of free speech.    None of this is surprising as one of the Islamophobes laid out their strategy as “The Muslims themselves have shown us their most vulnerable spot, which is the questionable (though unquestioned) character of the ‘Prophet’ himself. We need to satirise and ridicule baby-bonking Mo until the Muslims fly into uncontrollable tantrums, then ridicule them even more for their tantrums, and repeat the process until they froth at the mouth and steam comes out of their ears.”

The Islamophobia of these folks is very real, it is also strikingly similar to a previous generations’ anti-Semitism, and it has predictable consequences.   The reason that this is so obvious to so many is that rational people can tell the difference between legitimate concerns and bigoted stereotypes.

Sadly, the Islamophobic echo chamber has been aided by some in the Jewish and Christian clergy, and even by some of our elected representatives, particularly in the GOP.

The claim that the Islamophobes are “truth-tellers” and “defenders of freedom” who actually “love Muslims” and have never engaged in “broadbrush demonization” or “advocated violence”, or that nothing that they say could have had anything to do with any act of violence,  are nonsense.  The claim that they are falsely being accused of Islamophobia for no reason other than their legitimate concerns about real issues and that in fact there is not even such a thing as Islamophobia, or their claim that the fact that there are fewer hate crimes against Muslims than against Jews or that some Muslims have fabricated such crimes “proves” that Islamophobia doesn’t exist,  or that the term Islamophobia was made up by Muslims in order to stifle their freedom of speech, or that anti-Muslim bigotry is “not Islamophobia but Islamorealism” are all nonsense

These individuals and organizations consistently promote the false what everyone “knows” lies about Islam and Muslims (including distorting the meaning of Qur’anic verses, and distorting the meaning of Islamic terms such as taqiyya, jihad, sharia, etc.).  Islamophobes falsely claim to see “JIHAD” PLOTS everywhere, particularly where they don’t exist.   They, like Muslim extremists, don’t understand the true meaning of the term jihad.  The Islamophobes have uncovered countless examples of “shocking”, non-existent Muslim jihad plots.

Islamophobes generalize specific incidents to reflect on all Muslims or all of Islam.    Islamophobes consistently push demonstrably false memes such as:  - we are in danger from creeping Sharia, - the Muslim population is increasing at an alarming rate, - 80% of American Mosques are radicalized,  -  There have been 270 million victims of “jihad”  -  There have been 17,000+ “Islamic terrorist” attacks since 9/11    - Muslims in government are accused of being Muslim Brotherhood plants, stealth jihadists, and creeping Sharia proponents and should be MARGINALIZED or excluded.  Muslim and Arab organizations and individuals are connected to the infamous Muslim Brotherhood document or the unindicted co-conspirator label, or accused of not condemning Hamas, telling American Muslims not to talk to the FBI, of being “Jew haters”, etc.

When Islamophobes are caught in the act of making up or distorting claims they engage in devious methods to attempt to conceal the evidence. 

When Islamophobes are caught in the act of making up or distorting claims they engage in devious methods to attempt to conceal the evidence. 

There is a reason that many, even outside of the Muslim community see such demonization of Muslims as Islamophobic.  There is a reason that the ADL has stated that Brigitte Gabriel’s Act for America, Pamela Geller & Robert Spencer’s Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA), David Yerushalmi’s Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE)  are “groups that promote an extreme anti-Muslim agenda”.  There is a reason that The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated SIOA as a hate group, and that these individuals are featured in the SPLC reports Jihad Against Islam and The Anti-Muslim Inner Circle.  There is a reason that these individuals and organizations are featured prominently in: — the Center for American Progress reports “Fear Inc.” on the Islamophobia network in America and Understanding Sharia Law: Conservatives skewed interpretation needs debunking. — the People for the American Way Right Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism.  — the NYCLU report Religious Freedom Under Attack:  The Rise of Anti-Mosque Activities in New York State.  — the Political Research Associates report Manufacturing the Muslim menace: Private firms, public servants, and the threat to rights and security.  — The ACLU report Nothing to Fear: Debunking the Mythical “Sharia Threat” to Our Judicial System — in The American Muslim TAM Who’s Who of the Anti-Muslim/Anti-Arab/Islamophobia Industry.   There is a reason that the SIOA’s trademark patent was denied by the U.S. government due to its anti-Muslim nature.   There is a reason that these individuals and organizations are featured in just about every legitimate report on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred. 

See Resources for dealing with Islamophobes for many more reasons that these people cannot be trusted.



Sheila Musaji is the founding editor of The American Muslim (TAM), published since 1989.  Sheila received the Council on American-Islamic Relations 2007 Islamic Community Service Award for Journalism,  and the Loonwatch Anti-Loons of 2011: Profiles in Courage Award for her work in fighting Islamophobia.  Sheila was selected for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Muslim 500: The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims published since 2009 by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan.    Biography  You can follow her on twitter @sheilamusaji ( https://twitter.com/SheilaMusaji )

Permalink