<p>Upset about the current situation in Lebanon he said.</p>
<p>I have yet to read the headlines (saw the link on comcast homepage), but it reminds me of Europe.</p>
<p>I don’t think the religion of either the victims or the shooter have been verified, but we do know that he was an attention whore since he did it at 4 pm in the middle of * rush hour*
wow 29 units responded to scene- nice to know they were prepared
aid cars even came across the bridge from Bellevue</p>
<p>I believe the religion may have just been verified. Recheck the news.</p>
<p>I changed the channel I see that he is Muslim from Eastern Wa</p>
<p>“In Argentina, the Argentine government determined that Hezbollah perpetrated an attack against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires (March 1992), leading to the deaths of 29 people; the second, and deadlier, was perpetrated against the Jewish community center (July 1994), as a result of which 85 civilians were killed and some 230 were wounded.” (quoted in various sources).</p>
<p>This could have been more than an independent person working alone, as it was an attack on a similar place that Hezbollah has struck in the past. The initial accounts have the shooter leaving the building, and they must not have known what he would do next. </p>
<p>By the way, usually the Jewish Federation (where yesterday’s shooting occurred) sponsors facilities and organizations such as nursing homes and hospices, open to all faiths, and also sponsors groups like support groups for illness and grief, family counseling, etc. It is not generally a political organization. It specializes in education, health care, human welfare, community and philanthropy. From its Chicago (as an example)website:“The Jewish Federation supports more than 120 major agencies serving hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans of all faiths.”</p>
<p>I think starting a thread entititled “muslim shoots Jews” is unnecessarily divisive
We do know that the shooter was Muslim, we don’t know that the victims are Jewish- although they were around the Jewish center ( one was outside Starbucks)
He wasn’t representative of teh Muslims in the Seattle area
The interfaith community. including Islamic members has expressed solidarity for the Jewish community .</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Disagree with,
Not every answer to life’s great trauma is sit back and withhold judgment. Passive judgment may not work in every case.</p>
<p>Fact: the shooter was muslim
Fact: the shooting took place at or near a Jewish Community Center
Fact: the shooter stated he was made at Israel</p>
<p>Does it take a PHD to figure out his intended victims were Jews ?</p>
<p>The behaviour of muslim population and their tendency toward violence is mortardom is so well-known and makes the headline day-after-day. </p>
<p>Do not lessen the tragedy. Do not lesson the evil of the perpretrader. Do not throw question marks around everything. We are in the most turbulent time in history. Probably we are at the beginning of the war of civilizations. See it for what it is.</p>
<p>I didnt say his intended victims weren’t Jewish
but there is a difference between intended victims and victims whose religion has not been identified- of course I like accurate language. :)</p>
<p>My daughter attended school at the Temple de hirsh sinai, did that make her Jewish? She isn’t</p>
<p>The gunman is quoted as saying, “I’m a Muslim-American, I’m angry at Israel.” He obviously meant it as a hate crime of a Muslim against a Jew. He went to the Jewish Federation to shoot, not to a church or mosque. Seems clear to me that Jews were targeted. I do think it will be charged as a hate crime, and it should be 1st degree murder.</p>
<p>I hope he gets the death penalty, if they have in the good ol’ state of Washington.</p>
<p>The Pacific Northwest director of the American Defamation League was quoted today as saying that there were more than 300 incidents of harrassment or discrimination against Jews in the Seattle area last year, but none had been violent until today. As you recall, 2 adults and 3 children were wounded in Granada Hills at a Jewish Community Center in 1999, and a letter carrier was killed outside of the building in the general area. </p>
<p>This type of incident happens worldwide, there have been thousands of anti-Semitic incidents in Europe and other locales during the past several years (and centuries), so please don’t try to deny it. This incident was targeting Jews. And violent anti-Semitism predates the founding of the state of Israel, so it goes way beyond current politics.</p>
<p>collegialmom: Jewish philanthropy is extraordinary when you realize what a small chunk of the US pop. they represent and the countless hospitals, charities, and foundations they have funded. I can’t think of any that exclude non-Jews as beneficiaries. I don’t care if it’s divisive. Call a spade a spade. Jews are about to be targeted all over the world. We are cowards if we don’t stand with them. Edvest is right. It’s a war of civilizations.</p>
<p>but categorizing this act of a Muslim against the Jewish community in Seattle, as the Muslim community against the Jewish community is incorrect & inflammatory.
I don’t see that a individual act indicates agreement with the action anymore than I think that most local acts against Muslims indicates widespread hostility.
A man from Montana killed 6 young people at a party& put 2 more inthe hospital, 4 months ago, does that mean that those from teh heartland of our country are taking up arms against ravers?</p>
<p>The thing I don’t understand is how he got past security. When ever I go to shabbot services or the JCC up in Mercer Island (east of Seattle), there’s always at least one person guarding it from crazy extremists like this guy. You’d think that security would be especially tight now with everything going on in the middle east. </p>
<p>Overall though, its just an extremely sad event and I hope that all those injured heal quickly and that all families recieve the support they need. </p>
<p>P.S. I didn’t know your daughter attended school at TDHS. Was it at the Bellevue Campus or Seattle? (You can PM if you’d like to keep it private). I’m just curious.</p>
<p>Emerald, I don’t think anyone is saying that this guy represented the entire Muslim community. However, it is clear that the intent was to seek out Jews, whether or not those shot were actually Jewish or not. He went after the Jewish Federation, not some other spot and made a statement of rationale. That doesn’t pit the entire Muslim community against the Jewish community but clearly this horrific act involved Anti-Semitism by this particular Muslim individual.</p>
<p>This also isn’t the first anti-semitic even in the area. Back in 1997 or 1998 a bomb exploded in the parking lot of the Mercer Island JCC (West of Seattle), while the parents were picking up their children. Luckily, nobody was hurt in that incident. </p>
<p>Its unfortunate, but there is still a large concentration on neo-nazi organizations in the Pacific Northwest that resort to violence instead of other more civilized methods.</p>
<p>we do have a lot of extremists in teh Northwest- more in rural areas though
I imagine that may be because historically, we don’t have the numbers of minorities that other areas do, so that may be more attractive to those “white power” nuts, and because we generally are reserved, and “dont bother you if you don’t bother me”
We still have at least a month of summer left and already we have had at least 10 murders, that all seem disconnected from each other- makes you wonder what else is going to happen</p>
<p>
EK - It’s interesting to consider your standards for the Muslim and white communities. You seem willing to tar rural Northwesterners as rednecks but you are protective of local Muslims. I understand - it’s PC to be that way - but the reality is that America is at war with militant Islamic terrorists. We didn’t ask for this war but they brought it to us. It is now everyone’s war, including peaceful followers of Islam who might prefer not be “bothered”. In my view, Muslims especially need to stand up and renounce the actions this person took in all of their names, just as Christians denounce crimes committed by “white power” advocates in the name of Christianity.</p>
<p>Well said.</p>
<p>The killer said “I am a Muslim American, angry at Israel”. His actions were those of a hate crime. I hope he never sees the free world again.</p>
<p>I didnt say that rural northwesterners were “nuts”
BUt where do you find the large neo nazi compounds? In Bellevue?
Perhaps I am letting past knowledge re: groups like Aryan Nations in Couer d Alene or the National Socialist Movement in Montana and the sometimes extreme conservatism in less populated parts of Wa, Oregon, Idaho ,Montana & Ca influence my feeling that people go to less populated areas because they don’t want to be bothered or to have anyone bother them
Outside of Hispanic migrant and blue collar workers, I haven’t noticed many rural areas with a lot of diversity, a fact that I doubt is lost on the Neo Nazis
If a racist group wants to seperate themselves from teh mainstream society that includes diversity of race and religion, are they going to go to NYC, or are they going to go to a town where Native Americans are called blacks?
Anymore though they don’t need to physically join together- they contact each other on the internet & join the military
[We’ve</a> got Aryan Nations graffiti in Baghdad,"](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/07/neo.nazis.in.military.reut/index.html]We’ve”>http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/07/neo.nazis.in.military.reut/index.html)</p>