Geller and Spencer Turn Belgian Shooting Tragedy Into an Islamophobic Hate Fest

Sheila Musaji

Posted Dec 14, 2011      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version
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Geller and Spencer Turn Belgian Shooting Tragedy Into an Islamophobic Hate Fest

by Sheila Musaji


There has been a tragic shooting attack in Belgium by a man named Nordine Amrani who was a convicted criminal who had previously been sentenced to 58 months in prison for weapons and drug convictions.  Four people were killed in the attack and another 75 wounded.  Police have also found a woman’s body in a shed belong to the perpetrator. 

It was only two days ago that I wrote about Pamela Geller’s lies about the Hollywood Shooting Tragedy and how they were amplified by the Islamophobic Echo Chamber.

Pamela Geller has posted an article Belgium Grenade Attack By Muslim[s]: 4 dead, 75 wounded.  And her partner Robert Spencer has posted an article Belgium:// Grenade attack outside courthouse linked to sentence in honor killing case.

Geller’s title makes it clear that she knows who the criminal was - a Muslim or Muslims.  Spencer’s title notes a supposed link to an “honor killing case”.  It seems as if these folks know what has happened and have facts.

Geller refers to the Telegraph report in her article.  Spencer’s lede says Not many details as of yet, but the Telegraph notes a link to an honor killing case that could indicate that this was yet another act of violence by Misunderstanders of the Religion of Peace.  The “could indicate” is the clue that things may not be as clear as his title suggests. 

Spencer reprints a a Telegraph article which includes this statement “The Karachi Post in Pakistan claimed that the attack was linked to a sentence in an honour killing case. It said the parents of Sadia Sheikh were sentenced on Monday when there had been a bomb alert in the court.”  This is his “proof” of the honor killing link, and to make sure you don’t miss it, he has put this passage in BOLD. He adds an Update:  One of the attackers was named Nordine Amrani. (Thanks to Robert for the link.) This is a Muslim name. Nordine = nur deen, light of the religion, and Amrani is related to Imran, the father of Moses according to the Qur’an (cf. sura 3, “The Family of Imran,” ahl-e-Imran).

There are a few difficulties with Geller and Spencer’s reporting. 

If you go to the Telegraph article in question you will see that this passage is not in the article.  Either it was never there, or it has been removed.  If it has been removed, there is no notice that the article has been updated or corrected.

Anorak reports  that the Washington Post had also initially picked up this reference from Karachi Post, but had later made a correction saying ”(Officials later said the case was in no way linked to the attack, and the Karachi Post admitted they used the attacks as efforts “highlighting the evil of honor killing.”)”   The Karachi Post, by the way is not a newspaper but a twitter account as the Washington Post did correctly note.  Anorak notes other sites that incorrectly quoted the spurious Karachi Post twitterer. 

As both Geller, and Spencer are fond of saying, Islam is not a race.  Therefore, the fact that the perpetrator of this crime had a name that is definitely an Arab name, and might be a Muslim name has nothing to do with anything except some connection through his heritage.  Amrani has been reported to be of Moroccan heritage.  The National reports that acquaintances of Amrani told the police that he was not a Muslim.

Loonwatch has reported that

Apparently the loons are unaware that Amrani is typically a Mizrahi Jewish surname. It is reckless to guess because names can be deceiving, but if Amrani’s Jewish origin is confirmed, will the loons suddenly agree with us that the religious and ethnic heritage of the perpetrator shouldn’t be relevant?

As the bigots are fond of pointing out, Nordine Amrani is of Moroccan extraction, though he was born and raised in Belgium. According to an article in the New York Times, Amrani considered himself Belgian, didn’t speak a word of Arabic, and was not a Muslim.

In the absence of facts, it seems anti-Muslim bigots just manufacture whatever sensational headlines suit their hateful agenda. Authorities say the attack is not religiously motivated:

Not content to stop with one hateful article, Geller posted a follow-up article titled More on Muslim Gunmen in Belgium which is simply a reprint of an article by the disreputable Ali Sina of Faith Freedom International.  Ali Sina identifies the shooter as a Muslim with no documentation for that statement, and says this is why he carried out this crime “Of course there is an explanation.  Amrani was a Muslim and he was waging his personal Jihad against the infidels.”  Ali Sina goes on to say in his article that Two days earlier, another Muslim, calmly pointed his handgun and opened fire on passing cars near Vine Street and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood while shouting Allahu Akbar. He injured one passerby before being killed by the police. In both cases the media refused to identify the killer as Muslim terrorist.  This is the same absolutely false claim generated by Pamela Geller and refuted by me right here on TAM in the article Pamela Geller Turns Hollywood ShootingTragedy Into an Islamophobic Hate Fest.

Another article in The Telegraph that gives a lot of background on Amrani reports that His family lawyer, Abdelhadi Amrani in Brussels, who is not related to the killer, said that he had grown up in foster homes after being orphaned at an early age.  “I remember a man deeply marked by loss of his parents. He lost his father and mother very early. He was marked by fate. I would add he was a very smart boy, gifted. Nordine often spoke of his desire to start a family. He was to be married in Liege with a nurse,” she said.  Miss Amrani, the lawyer, dismissed any possible terrorist motives for the attack. “He did not feel at all Moroccan. He did not speak a word of Arabic and was not Muslim. What he said is that he felt a Belgian,” she said. “He was crazy about weapons but as a collector. He felt he had not had much luck in life and felt unfairly treated by the courts. This was a ‘ras-le-bol’ of a tormented soul: estranged from justice, and against society.”

An individual born in Belgium, of Moroccan heritage (his father was Moroccan and his mother Belgian), who does not Speak Arabic, thinks of himself as Belgian, was raised in foster care, and said he was not a Muslim - and yet, Geller and company identify this person as a Muslim.  This seems to be a direct contradiction to one of their common memes “Islam is not a race”. 

It seems that once again this Islamophobic dynamic duo and their cohorts is engaged in lies which they call truth-telling.  We’ll see if they just ignore this uncomfortable fact or once again attept to conceal evidence of this truth-telling, or simply disappear the articles.

 

 

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