Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Elder of ZiyonA highly respected Muslim leader in Norway supports suicide bombers if the aim is to kill enemies.
Basim Ghozlan, the manager at Det Islamske Forbundet, one of the largest Muslim organizations in Norway, stated that suicide bombers are accepted if they kill enemies.
«If the goal in itself is accepted, than this should also be accepted,» Ghozlan said to the Norwegian radio channel Kanal 24.
In a Q&A section at the Muslim website islam.no, Ghozlan respond to a young boy who asked about suicide bombers. The Muslim leader answered the boy’s question by defending the use of suicide bombers.
«If you attack a cruel enemy, then it’s not a coward way, rather the opposite. The people who do this are actually very brave,» Ghozlan answered.
He stressed that for example Israel claims that all settlers are legitimate goals for suicide bombers.
Must not strike the innocent
«Suicide in order to hit the enemy: if the war is legal, seen from Islamic point of view, and if you do not have any other way of striking the enemy than by giving your own life, this is allowed.
The demand not to hit the innocent must not be forgotten. Unfortunately, we see in many cases that suicide bombers hit many more innocent than they wish to. In Iraq innocent people are killed almost daily because of such blind bombs. This is no jihad. The Prophet never urged anyone to do anything like that.
If it happens in occupied areas where the suicide bombers attack settlers and soldiers, it is another issue. The situations have to be discussed separately,» Ghozlan wrote in his answer to the boy.
Frightening
«I almost become a little scared when I hear this,» said Petter Eide at Amnesty International Norge.
He stated that Ghozlan’s statements are completely unacceptable.
«What he says is that he is actually legitimates murder,» Eide said to Kanal 24.
He urges Muslims in Norway to reject Ghozlan’s statements.
«I really hope the Muslim environment in Oslo address these statements because they are completely unacceptable,» Eide said.
Frida Nome, an expert in Middle Eastern issues, said that she did not think these statements were shared by most Muslims.
«I don’t think Muslims in general support this,» Nome said. «I think it’s odd that he dare say this in Norway.»
Note the willful blindness exhibited in the two latter quotes. - EoZ
