Selective reporting of the religion of criminals

by Sheila Musaji

There have been many stories in the past few years that attempted to demonize the religion of Islam for the actions of individual Muslims.  This habit of trolling the news for any instance of someone with a Muslim name being arrested for any sort of a crime anywhere, and then publishing articles with inflammatory titles like - devout Muslim arrested - Muslim cleric “misunderstands” Islam - Muslim savage beats wife - Islamic supremacist mistreats woman - Muslim parasite on welfare, etc. etc. etc. is becoming pervasive in the Islamophobic echo chamber.

Here are just a few examples of other such claims the Islamophobes label as “Muslim” being replicated elsewhere:

Find a Muslim somewhere who has justified their criminal actions by falsely claiming that it is Islamic, and you can find someone from another religious community doing the same, e.g. Yigal Amir who assassinated Yitzhak Rabin and proclaimed after his arrest that this was justified, even commanded, by the rulings of Din Mosser and Din Rodef, as described in the Jewish religious law.  

Find a Muslim or some group of Muslims who have celebrated some despicable act, and you can find those from another religious community who have done the same, e.g. those who consider Baruch Goldstein who massacred 30 Muslims during Friday prayers at a mosque, a “saint and righteous and holy man”.   Goldstein’s tombstone reads Here lies the saint, Dr. Baruch Kappel Goldstein, blessed be the memory of the righteous and holy man, may the Lord avenge his blood, who devoted his soul to the Jews, Jewish religion and Jewish land. His hands are innocent and his heart is pure. He was killed as a martyr of God on the 14th of Adar, Purim, in the year 5754 (1994). After his death there are annual graveside parties to celebrate Goldstein, and after the King David Hotel bombing Jewish extremists celebrated.

Find an example of some Muslim community pressuring people not to report abuse, and you can find such pressure in other communities, e.g. the NY Post reported that some victims were pressured by the Orthodox community not to bring their cases with the secular authorities.  “Agudath Israel of America, a prominent body of Torah sages, requires anyone alleging sex abuse by a fellow observant Jew to first report to its rabbis, who decide whether the case should go to secular authorities.”  The Forward reported that the community pressure is so great that the prosecutors of the 85 men charged with pedophilia did not want to release the names of the accused, “the Brooklyn district attorney’s office stated that Orthodox Jews deserve a blanket exemption from the usual public disclosure rules.”

Find an example of a Muslim who kills his wife or child in an act of domestic violence, and you can find equally repulsive examples in other communities, e.g. Rabbi Nachman Inshin, a devout Jewish Haredi man in Israel was arrested for murdering his infant daughter Fruma because his wife refused to sleep with him.  He first recited a verse from the Book of Psalms, and then killed the baby by slamming her head against the floor several times.  He said “she is in my hands, slaughtered like a chicken”.  Find an example of the specific form of domestic violence labeled “honor killing” and you can find numerous examples from other communities. 

Find examples of extremist Muslims attempting to enforce their restrictive views of Sharia on others, and you will find examples in other communities.  For example, Jewish groups have engaged in activities that attempt to enforce their view of the requirements of halakha on other Jews and even on non-Jews. - Modesty patrols of ultra-orthodox Jews beat a woman for “consorting with men”  - They hurled stones at women for such “sins” as wearing a red blouse, and attacked stores selling devices that can access the Internet. - two ultra-Orthodox Jewish newspapers altered a photo of Israel’s new cabinet, removing two female ministers. - Three gay people were stabbed by ultra-Orthodox Jew at Jerusalem gay parade - Spitting attacks by Orthodox Jews on Christian clergy becoming a daily occurrence in Jerusalem - In Hadera, Israel, a rabbi and 3 of his students were arrested for vandalizing a school to keep it from opening, and for physically blocking female students from entering the building.

Find Muslims not respecting places of worship or destroying them, and you can find examples from other religious communities.  For example, Jews have destroyed or vandalized (or carried out attacks on) churches and mosques and religious sites in Israel and Palestine (e.g. Arson which destroyed a West Jerusalem Baptist Church - Muslim Cemetery in Israel Vandalized by Jewish Extremists - Settlers attack West Bank mosque and burn holy Muslim books - Attempt to storm the al Aqsa mosque Offensive, anti-Christian graffiti was sprayed in Hebrew on the wall of the Church of the Dormition.  Vandals also defiled the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem writing “Death” and “Death to Christians” on its walls. - ‘Price tag’ vandals consistently escape prosecution.  Among the most notable cases are the mosque arson in Beit Fajr, the raid on the Binyamin Spatial Brigade and mosque arsons in the villages of Qusra and Burqa, in Neve Shalom, Kafr Jaba and Jelazon. No indictments or arrests were made. In fact, only a small number of indictments have been filed in relation to “price tag” incidents in the past few years, in sharp contrast to the growing scope of the phenomenon itself.  - Eliran Golan, planted several homemade bombs in Haifa, targeting local Arab citizens. One of the bombs, planted in a mosque in the predominantly Arab Halisa neighborhood in Haifa, killed an Arab worshipper.  Baruch Goldstein an American Israeli doctor opened fire at a mosque in Hebron during Friday prayers and killed 30 Palestinians. - Alan Goodman, a U.S. citizen, attacked Palestinians at al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, killed a Palestinian Waqf guard and injured several Israeli policemen. Goodman, went into Al Aqsa with an M-16 rifle and opened fire on worshippers. In November 1997, the Israeli government released Goodman. Unrepentant, Goodman boasts, “I fulfilled my mission.”

Find an example of some Muslims somewhere engaging in cultural practices like child marriage, and you can find examples of members of other religions following the same practices.  For example, Jewish community child marriages including a 1995 case in Monsey, NY **, a 2011 case in Israel **, and in 2003 of 20 underage couples in Israel **  A Jewish site called “Ask Moses” says that In ancient (and not so ancient) times, marriage was often-times celebrated at a rather young age. Although we do not follow this dictum, technically speaking, a girl may be betrothed the moment she is born, and married at the age of three.2 A boy may betroth and marry at the age of thirteen.3 2. Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 37:1.  3. Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 43:1.

Find an example of an American Muslim terrorist, and for every one, there are many more non-Muslim terrorists.

Find an example of any sort of despicable crime committed by a Muslim and you can find the same sort of crimes committed by non-Muslims.  Rabbi Gavriel Bidany arrested for groping a female passenger on a flight from Tel Avid to New York.  - Levy Aron, an Orthodox Jew was arrested in New York for murdering and dismembering a child.  -   - Rabbi Bryan Bramley arrested outside Temple Beth Shalom Synagogue in Gilbert, Arizona for raping a 7 year-old girl.

Find an example of an interpretation by some Muslim scholar that penalizes Muslim women in some way, and you can find examples from other religious communities. For example, under Jewish law, only a husband can grant a get [Jewish divorce]. A wife has no such right. ** & **

The list could go on and on.  It would be a waste of time to list the hundreds and perhaps thousands of such cases here.  The bottom line is that there are disgusting perverts, bigots, criminals, and just plain crazy people of every religious persuasion (and no religious persuasion), and they deserve to be punished by law enforcement.

What is different about all such cases of non-Muslims committing such crimes is that the headlines will not include the religion of the perpetrator, and Islamophobes will take no notice of such crimes at all.

This sort of selective reporting of Muslim crimes is The big lie about Muslim exceptionalism.  Muslims are no more violent than any other religious group.  The Qur’an is no more violent than the Bible.

Pamela Geller claims that Jews and Christians are simply not murdering people and justifying the murders by quoting their Scriptures.     Never do we see Jews slaughtering in the name of HaShem or Christians in the name of Jesus Christ.

Here are just a few examples that prove that these statements are propaganda and lies:

— In Uganda,  American Evangelical Christians have pressed for the death penalty for homosexuality on the basis of Leviticus 20:13.  **  This law was endorsed by Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council, which is a Christian lobbying group in the U.S. **
— In Uganda, The Lord’s Resistance Army, is a Christian terrorist guerrilla army engaged in an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government.  It forces children to be child soldiers and has carried out crimes against humanity; including massacres, abductions, mutilation, torture, rape, and forced child labor as soldiers, porters, and sex slaves.  A quasi-religious movement that mixes some aspects of Christian beliefs with its own brand of spiritualism, it is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, primarily of the “Holy Spirit” which the Acholi believe can represent itself in many manifestations.  LRA fighters wear rosary beads and recite passages from the Bible before battle.  **  The NYT reports that “...  Mr. Kony’s fighters wear rosary beads and recite passages from the Bible before battle.  Kony says he is fighting to impose the Ten Commandments on Uganda.”
— The terrorist group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in India has the motto ‘Nagaland for Christ’.  **
— The terrorist group, the National Liberation Front of Tripura is an explicitly Christian terrorist group in India, forcibly converting people.  They want to expand what they describe as the kingdom of God and Christ in Tripura **   The BBC has reported that the Baptist Church of Tripura is supporting them financially and ... The NLFT is accused of forcing Tripura’s indigenous tribes to become Christians and give up Hindu forms of worship in areas under their control, and they have issued a ban on the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Saraswati Puja.
— Anders Behring Breivik who carried out a terrible terrorist act in which 77 were killed and over 200 injured identified himself as a “Christian Crusader who was defending Norway’s traditional Christian values. **  [Pamela Geller Shamelessly Attacking the Memory of Norway Terror Victims and Debbie Schlussel “out-hated” Geller.]
— The Hutaree was a Christian militia group plotting terrorist acts, and they were not an isolated phenomenon.  **
— On the FBI’s official website, there is a chronological list of all terrorist attacks committed on U.S. soil from 1980 to 2005.  That study concludes that of all acts of terrorism within the U.S. during that period 7% were committed by Jewish extremist and 6% by Muslim extremists. 
— In the U.S., the Army of God has carried out a number of terrorist attacks against abortion clinics and doctors in the U.S. including bombings, arson, and murder.  They regularly justify their criminal actions by their “Christian” beliefs.
— The goals of the KKK included, from an early time on, an intent to “reestablish Protestant Christian values in America by any means possible,” and believe that “Jesus was the first Klansman.   Their cross-burnings were conducted not only to intimidate targets, but to demonstrate their respect and reverence for Jesus Christ, and the lighting ritual was steeped in Christian symbolism, including the saying of prayers and singing of Christian hymns **
— In Ireland during the “troubles”, numerous acts of terrorism were carried out by Protestants and Catholics claiming a religious justification.  For example, a Grand Protestant Rally in Ballymena started with a prayer, and the event was followed with a murder of a Catholic “enemy”. **
— An academic paper Christian Churches and Genocide in Rwanda by Timothy Longman prepared for Conference on Genocide, Religion, and Modernity of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum notes that

My own research in Rwanda in 1992-93 and 1995-96 confirms these conclusions. According to my findings, church personnel and institutions were actively involved in the program of resistance to popular pressures for political reform that culminated in the 1994 genocide, and numerous priests, pastors, nuns, brothers, catechists, and Catholic and Protestant lay leaders supported, participated in, or helped to organize the killings.(4)  ...  The church was implicated in the genocide in numerous ways. People who sought sanctuary in church buildings were instead slaughtered there. According to some estimates, more people were killed in church buildings than anywhere else.(30) At one parish where I researched, the communal mayor reports that 17,000 bodies were unearthed from one set of latrines alongside the church. Numerous Tutsi priests, pastors, brothers, and nuns were killed, often by their own parishioners, sometimes by their fellow clergy. While the failure of the population to respect the principle of sanctuary cannot be blamed on the churches, the failure of the church leadership to condemn massacres on church property and attacks on church personnel in the years preceding the genocide clearly undermined the principle of sanctuary in Rwanda ...  There are numerous examples of clergy who turned people over to be killed. In one incident in May, the Catholic archbishop himself turned over to a death squad a number of nuns and priests gathered at the cathedral at Kabgayi.(32) In several cases I investigated, clergy participated in death squads. In some cases, clergy helped to locate parishioners who were in hiding.(33)

— James Kopp murdered Dr. Barnett Slepian quoting Chistian beliefs
— John Salvi killed two receptionists in two abortion clinic attacks in Brookline, MA
— Cody Crawford was arrested for firebombing the Salman Alfarisi Islamic Mosque in Corvallis, Oregon. He called himself a “Christian warrior”.
—Justin Carl Moose plotted to bomb abortion clinics. The FBI alleges he referred to himself as the “Christian counterpart to (Osama) bin Laden”
— On October 1, 2005, Joel Henry Hinrichs III, a Christian college student at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK detonated a large bomb made of TATP outside of a packed football stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.
— Actor Michael Brea (of Ugly Betty program) arrested for murdering his own mother with a samurai sword while reciting Biblical passages.
— A number of terrorist attacks were attributed to individuals and groups with ties to the Christian Identity and Christian Patriot movements, including the Lambs of Christ
— The motive for anti-abortionist Scott Roeder murdering Wichita doctor George Tiller on May 31, 2009 was a belief that abortion is criminal and immoral, and that this belief went “hand in hand” with his religious beliefs
— Christian Identity is a loosely affiliated global group of churches and individuals devoted to a racialized theology that asserts that North European whites are the direct descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, God’s chosen people. It has been associated with groups such as the Aryan Nations, Aryan Republican Army, Army of God, Phineas Priesthood, and The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord. It has been cited as an influence in a number of terrorist attacks around the world, including the 2002 Soweto bombings in South Africa
—  Roberto Sandalo arrested in Italy, allegedly the leader of a Christian anti-Islamic terrorist movement called Fronte Combattente Cristiano or ‘Fighting Christian Front’.The mysterious group has been responsible for bomb attacks against Islamic centres and mosques as well as death threats to Muslims.  Sandalo has justified his actions as a fight in the name of Jesus against ‘Islamofascism’. **
— Yigal Amir who murdered Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin proclaimed after his arrest that this was justified, even commanded, by the rulings of Din Mosser and Din Rodef, as described in the Jewish religious law, or halacha. **
— At a Batyam rally in Israel, protestors shouted ““Any Jewish woman who goes with an Arab should be killed; any Jew who sells his home to an Arab should be killed.” **
— Rabbi Saadya Grama, an alumnus of Beth Medrash Govoha Yeshiva in Lakewood, N.J. has published a book that attempts to employ classical Jewish sources in defense of a race-based theory of Jewish supremacy. In this book he argues that gentiles are “completely evil” and Jews constitute a separate, genetically superior species. **
— Rabbi Mordechai Eliahu said “According to Jewish war ethics, an entire city holds collective responsibility for the immoral behavior of individuals. In Gaza, the entire populace is responsible because they do nothing to stop the firing of Kassam rockets.” **  He also proposed “hanging the children of the terrorist who carried out the attack in the Mercaz Harav yeshiva from a tree.” **.  He also said that according to Jewish law there is no moral prohibition against the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza.**
— Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu delivered a eulogy for the terrorist Meir Kahane and said that “there was absolutely no moral prohibition against the indiscriminate killing of civilians during a potential massive military offensive on Gaza” because “all citizens are collectively guilty,” based on readings of Genesis 34 and Kings 9,14. **
— Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu on the Moriah site (which posts Rabbis responses to questions said that the members of the Jewish terror underground were “completely righteous.” He also said, “I don’t think they are lowly murderers. Heaven forbid! They have already paid their price to society. They sacrificed many years for the people of Israel. Among us, in Judaism, there is justifiable murder. Killing a murderer is justified.”  He based this on Jewish law. **
— Rabbi Yousuf Falay called for the extermination of all Palestinian males over 13 years old. “We have to make sure that no Palestinian individual remains under our occupation. If they (Palestinians) escape then it is good; but if anyone of them remains, then he should be exterminated”. **
— Five Towns Jewish Times, a Long Island, NY newspaper published an article that defended killing Muslims **
— Fountains of Salvation, an Israeli Orthodox “family magazine,” suggested that Israel will create death camps for Palestinians in order to wipe them out like Amalek - “It will be interesting to see whether they leave the assembly of the Amalekites [Palestinians] in extermination camps to others, or whether they will declare that wiping out Amalek is no longer [historically] relevant. Only time will tell…”  This refers to 1 Samuel 15:3. This is basically saying Palestinians to the ovens.  **
— Rabbi Manis Friedman, of Chabad of Minnesota said he “doesn’t believe in Western morality” and “The only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way: Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle).” Again referring to Biblical verses.  ** and **
— Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, author of a book ( Baruch the man ) glorifying Hebron terrorist mass murderer Baruch Goldstein said that revenge and terrorism are purifying. Jews are encouraged to take revenge against those who harm them to recover their inner power after centuries of humiliation. Revenge, he argues, “is stressing my positive essence, the truth in my being. . . . It is like a law of nature. He who takes revenge joins the ‘ecological currents of reality.’ . . . Revenge is the return of the individual and the nation to believe in themselves, in their power and in the fact that they have a place under the sun and are no longer stepped on by everybody.” ** - He also said “If you saw two people drowning, a Jew and a non-Jew, the Torah says you save the Jewish life first,” - and “If every simple cell in a Jewish body entails divinity, is a part of God, then every strand of DNA is part of God. Therefore, something is special about Jewish DNA…If a Jew needs a liver, can you take the liver of an innocent non-Jew passing by to save him? The Torah would probably permit that. Jewish life has an infinite value.” **
— Shmuel Hacohen, a teacher in a Jerusalem college, said: “Baruch Goldstein was the greatest Jew alive, not in one way but in every way…There are no innocent Arabs here…He was no crazy…Killing isn’t nice, but sometimes it is necessary.” **
— A group of Rabbis declared that the Halacha (Jewish religious law) commands the killing of innocent Palestinian civilians if this helps to save Jews. The declaration is signed by the heads of the “Arrangement Yeshivot”, the West Bank settlement rabbis and other religious leaders. They were later joined by one of the two chief rabbis (the Sephardic one). ** 
— Rabbis connected with a movement to resurrect the Sanhedrin have issued a halachic opinion implying that OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh deserves to be killed. They said in their halachic ruling that Naveh was guilty of being a moser, a Hebrew word that can be roughly translated as an informant or traitor. The rabbis see the Olmert government as the equivalent of a gentile enemy that “evilly and violently expels and causes mental and physical damage to Jews.” Maimonides ruled in his Mishneh Torah: “It is permitted to kill a Jewish moser anywhere, even today when rabbinic courts are not permitted to decide on capital punishment matters.” ** 
— Rabbi Avraham Hecht (chief rabbi of Congregation Sh’are Zion in Brooklyn and at the same time president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, a national organization of 540 Orthodox rabbis) said that surrendering any of the Land of Israel violated halakah (Jewish law), and anyone who did so could be killed as a rodef, “one who pursues a Jew trying to kill him.” “All I said was that according to Jewish law, any one person—you can apply it to whoever you want—any one person who willfully, consciously, intentionally hands over human bodies or human property or the human wealth of the Jewish people to an alien people is guilty of the sin for which the penalty is death. And according to Maimonides—you can quote me—it says very clearly, if a man kills him, he has done a good deed.” **
— Jewish underground group set off car bombs that crippled two Palstinian mayors, and plannned to bomb five Arab commuter buses and and blow up Al-Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem, partly in hopes of provoking a war so cataclysmic that it would hasten the arrival of the Messiah. **
...  Rabbi Colonel Eyal Karim of the Israeli IDF implied that rape is allowed in war. When asked a question about this he said “The wars of Israel […] are mitzvah wars, in which they differ from the rest of the wars the nations wage among themselves. ** 
— Rabbis at Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem granted rabbinical approval to avenge Jerusalem yeshiva attack by an attack on a senior official at the Temple Mount mosque (who had nothing to do with the yeshiva murders). **  Mercaz Harav extremist Yeshiva teaches that “non-Jews living under Jewish law in Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) must either be enslaved as water carriers and wood hewers, or banished, or exterminated.” **
— Rabbi Marzel, leader of the Jewish National Front party and was affiliated with Meir Kahane & acting spokesman for Kach terrorist organization for 10 years. He called on his supporters to kill journalist Uri Avnery, and called for a religious war against homosexuals. http://www.redress.btinternet.co.uk/gush_shalom15.htm
— Rabbi Jaacov Perrin said during his eulogy of the terrorist Baruch Goldstein “One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail” ((New York Daily News, Feb. 28, 1994, p.6) **
— Purim party in Israel 2010 praises Baruch Goldstein ** - Militant Jews gathered at the grave of Baruch Goldstein to celebrate the sixth anniversary of his massacre of Muslim worshippers in Hebron. **
— Rabbi Itzhak Shapira was arrested for firebombing a mosque. Rabbi Shapira published a book entitled The King’s Torah in which he claimed that it was permissible under Jewish law for a Jew to kill a non-Jewish civilian (including a child). ** The book, called Torat ha-Melekh (“the Teaching of the King”) deals with the killing of Goyim. It says that in peacetime, Goyim should generally not be killed – not because of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” which, according to the book, applies to Jews only, but because of God’s command after the Deluge (Genesis 9:6): “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man.” This applies to all Goyim who fulfill some basic commandments. However, the situation is totally different in wartime. And according to the rabbis, Israel has been at war since its foundation, and probably will be for ever more. In war, in every place where the presence of a Goy endangers a Jew, it is permitted to kill him, even though he be a righteous goy who bears no responsibility for the situation. It is permitted – indeed, recommended – to kill not only enemy fighters, but also those who “support” or “encourage” them. It is permitted to kill enemy civilians if this is helpful for the conduct of the war. **   He also advocated the expulsion or genocide of all male Palestinians above the age of thirteen. **   He also said “It is permissible to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation,” he wrote, adding: “If we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven commandments - because we care about the commandments - there is nothing wrong with the murder.” **  He also encouraged the use of Palestinians as human shields ** and preaches slaughter of gentile babies **

An article about such “police blotter” coverage of Islam and Muslims on Spencerwatch notes

“A police blotter is a listing of the police investigations, calls, and actions in a particular city or town. It is public record. Here is an example of one from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Now, Colorado Springs is a nice town. In fact, in 2006 it was listed as one of the Best Places to Live in America. Yet, if you only judged the town of Colorado Springs by its police blotter, a much different picture would emerge in one’s mind.

...  What about the United States? Most people around the world would jump at any chance to get to live and raise their families in the United States. This is truly a wonderful country, full of freedom, and opportunity, and tolerance. It is a place that Robert Spencer and his other Islam-hater friends want to fundamentally change with their hate speech and rhetoric.

Yet, if the only thing by which America would be judged is her crime statistics, a very different picture would emerge:

In 2009, there were 1,318,398 violent crimes in the United States; 15,241 murders; 88,097 forcible rapes; 408,217 robberies; 806,843 aggravated assaults; 9,320,971 property crimes; 2,199,125 burglaries; 6,327,230 larcenies; and 794,616 motor vehicle thefts. This is according to the FBI.  Is this an accurate picture of the reality of America?  Is America reflected in the actions of her criminals?  Of course not. In fact, looking at the numbers is actually deceiving, because, in reality, violent and property crimes are actually down in the United States last year. But, one wouldn’t realize that if he or she solely focused on the numbers.

This need to stop!  The American and British Muslim communities have not responded in kind with sensational articles with bold headlines screaming Christian or Jewish murder/pervert/etc. And, that won’t happen, because we know that such a tactic would be wrong, and that these individuals are not representative of Judaism or Christianity, or any religion they claim.

This was taken from a longer article The big lie about Muslim exceptionalism which was updated today after the Woolrich murder.  I decided that the information needed to also be broken down by category to take away any excuse that Islamophobes might have for endlessly repeating the same lies and mischaracterisations.