↓
 
Home » A surprise but not a surprise: shooting in Seattle

A surprise but not a surprise: shooting in Seattle

The New Neo Posted on by

A man opened fire at the Jewish Federation building in Seattle today, killing one woman and wounding four others. He identified himself as an “American Moslem,” and said he was upset about “what was going on in Israel.”

I assume he meant what was going on in Lebanon at the hands of Israel; I sincerely doubt that Katusha rockets raining on Haifa are his main concern.

The shooter was, according to the head of the FBI’s counterterrorism efforts in Seattle, an individual acting alone, with “nothing to indicate it’s terrorism related.”

I’m not sure why an individual acting out a political grudge and declaring himself clearly in such fashion wouldn’t be considered a terrorist, unless terrorism is, by definition, an organized group endeavor.

It’s no wonder that this happened. It’s a wonder it hasn’t happened more often. And in fact, Hezbollah itself has been connected to the worst incidents of attacks on Jewish institutions outside of the Middle East, the most flagrant being the 1994 bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, which killed 100 people and wounded twice that many.

It’s been my understanding that, in the wake of 9/11, many synagogues in this country have quietly beefed up security. It only makes sense. Perhaps the Jewish Federation of Seattle, which is mainly a fund-raising organization, hadn’t seen the need to do so up till this point. My guess is that that will change.

Comments

A surprise but not a surprise: shooting in Seattle — 29 Comments

  1. “The shooter was, according to the head of the FBI’s counterterrorism efforts in Seattle, an individual acting alone, with “nothing to indicate it’s terrorism related.”

    I’m not sure why an individual acting out a political grudge and declaring himself clearly in such fashion wouldn’t be considered a terrorist, unless terrorism is, by definition, an organized group endeavor.”

    Well, individuals acting out in this way are not usually declared as terrorists by newspapers. Consider, for example, the following news article from the New York Times. Notice that the perpetrator is not described by the NYT as a terrorist in the article:

    “GUNMAN SLAYS 20 AT SITE OF MOSQUE, ISRAEL REPORTS SAY”

    New York Times,
    Feb 25, 1994
    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9B00E6DF1F3BF936A15751C0A962958260

    “A gunman described as a Jewish settler opened fire early today on Muslims praying at a holy site shared by Jews and Muslims, killing at least 13 Palestinians and wounding more than 60, reports said.

    “Israel Radio said the man was a settler dressed in an army uniform who opened fire on Muslims praying in a crowded mosque at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the site where Abraham is believed buried. Reports from Palestinians said the settler was overpowered and killed by people in the crowd.

    “Both Jews and Muslims worship at a mosque and synagogue there.

    “An Israeli soldier turned an Associated Press reporter away from the mosque, saying: “Go away. We’ve killed 30 Arabs.” ”

    http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9B00E6DF1F3BF936A15751C0A962958260

    Morris

  2. morris, you’re becoming a bother go away or be taken away. Your call.

  3. Well, we got the Jeep Jihadi who was such an inept that he missed, but not for lack of trying.

    I think we’ll see a slow steady uptick in the next year or so as the unhinged and the attention seekers see it as their “opportunity”.

    The actual definition of terrorism lies in the motivation of the actor and is defined by the FBI as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives”. I think that by this definition and going on the early media reports, it appears as if the Seattle jihadi fits this definition so he can be called a “terrorist”.

    Right now, the case is still in the jurisdiction of the State of Washington and will probably stay there with enhancements added for a “hate crime”. It may be taken over by Federal authorities if it looks like he is going to try to turn his trial into a media circus.

    I hate to say this, but actually a few of these “incidents” will probably do more good than harm in getting US citizens on board with what we face and what must be done. And, we can predictably expect the left to advance the “root causes” arguments along with the usual twists on Rovian tactics of using “provocateurs”.

    Given what is going on in the world, the polarization of domestic opinion will continue until just a few shrieking moonbats like morris are left. As far as polarization is concerned, we ain’t seen nothing yet.

    Would it be too much to hope for that the Seattle shooter’s “criminal record” turns out to be linked to Hezbollah’s criminal enterprises in the US. If it is, the MSM won’t know whether to sh*t or go blind. They’ll spin it like a frisbee.

  4. In this one instance, Morris actually makes an at first sight plausible claim — which, to paraphrase and generalize it a little, is that there’s a difference between evil and insane. Real terrorists are the former — i.e., the evil — who attempt to spread fear through a population as a means of bringing about their desired social/political change, as the FBI definition indicates; lunatic murderers on the other hand, driven by personal demons of hate, rage, or, often enough, mere anomie (e.g., Columbine), have little notion of any larger purpose or point beyond maximizing the slaughter.

    As usual, however, Morris (like others of his ilk) don’t like to think beyond the “first sight”, or connect any dots. So what they fail to see in this case is how the insane are used as mere fodder by the particular evil of islamism, regardless of whether or not they’ve been trained and directed by the terrorists. In this way, events that would otherwise be viewed as simply the isolated and tragic acts of a madman become rolled into an evil campaign of inducing fear for political ends.

  5. Well, Sally, from what I see… no evidence has been presented so far that this Muslim man from Seattle man was driven by anything other than anger and outrage. Nor has any evidence been presented (so far) that he was being “used”, directed or trained by some other person or persons unknown. From what we know so far, this is a lone gunman acting alone. I don’t think anything is served by exercises in conspiracy-theory. To express hopes of “tying” him to some higher organization (when no evidence has been presented so far), as some have done, seems like speculation at this point. Time will tell.

  6. Morris — With all the unwarranted attacks on the Israeli military and Israeli civilians – it’s not surprising that individuals from time to time will lash out, like Ward Churchill said, “Some people [do indeed] push back”

    It doesn’t excuse anything – I condeem this attack – I would like to hear the details of this story and see those guilty punished according to military or civilian law.

  7. Terry: From what we know so far, this is a lone gunman acting alone. I don’t think anything is served by exercises in conspiracy-theory.

    But here’s what I actually said (with a little added emphasis): “So what they [Morris and his fellow apologists] fail to see in this case is how the insane are used as mere fodder by the particular evil of islamism, regardless of whether or not they’ve been trained and directed by the terrorists. In this way, events that would otherwise be viewed as simply the isolated and tragic acts of a madman become rolled into an evil campaign of inducing fear for political ends.”
    That is, the evil are able to make use of the insane even when they’re not directing them — and so, even without being a part of an actual conspiracy, such “lone gunmen” are effectively enrolled in the terrorist campaign regardless.

  9. This morning’s Seattle Times says that he pushed through the entrance as another person was admitted.

  10. If this guy was a white Christian in the KKK, the moonbats and their comrades in the media would have a far different spin on it.

    But Muslims with the same views as the KKK and neo-Nazis about Jews get a free pass, for two unsaid reasons– one, Islam is an authentic and interesting culture that we have to understand and not judge, and second– Jews are the new Nazis, tainted by original sin, and even Jews living in America are legitimate targets for what happens on the other side of the planet.

    These reasons are unjustified, but are more often than not implicitly held by the standard moonbat.

  11. It looks as if the

    Fox news this morning covered this as a straight crime story and made no mention of terrorism, Islam, the war in Iraq. They quoted the shooter but never got into what his shouted statement might mean.

    Unfortuntely, the person from this charity they chose to interview, I think she was a VP for Planning, gave a clueless and very low key response–no thought that this kind of thing could happen, no idea why it did, but grateful that the “Muslim leadership in Seattle” apologized.

    I would have expected, at the least, a strong condemnation by her of such attacks and a call for vigorous prosecution as a hate crime and terrorism as well. She sounded like she was drugged and so wimpy that she was almost asking to be kicked again while guaranteeing no response would be made.

  12. Hugh Hewitt has a take on why the media will create a cult of Timothy McVeigh while sweeping this sort of thing under the rug. As the Blogfather says, “Read the whole thing.”

    I can understand why the media is leery about creating a new era of Hearstian, Yellow Journalism and “Remember the Maine” jingoism. But given their economic slide, don’t you wonder why the business sides of the business is taking a little harder “Give the People What They Want” rare meat?

  13. For “is” in the above comment, sustitute “isn’t”. Too early here.

  14. AND WILL THE MEDIA REPORT ON HOW HE WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY BE VIEWED IN THE MUSLIM WORLD? NO, THEY’D BE TOO MANY QUESTIONS AT THE LACK OF CONDEMNATION.

    THE EVIL MAN WILL VIEWED AS A HERO, NO DOUBT.

    “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, then are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

  15. Morris makes an interesting point (although I suspect unintentionally). To find an example of a lone Jewish amok-er not called a terrorist, he had to go back twelve years. To find another Muslim attempting mass murder, go back what … twelve days?

    Many things seem equivalent if you don’t grasp differences in orders of magnitude.

  16. Sadly the reactions of liberals such as Morris here have been predictable. Another example of why liberals are a permanent fifth column in America.

  18. nyomythus wrote: Morris — With all the unwarranted attacks on the Israeli military and Israeli civilians – it’s not surprising that individuals from time to time will lash out, like Ward Churchill said, “Some people [do indeed] push back”

    It doesn’t excuse anything – I condeem this attack – I would like to hear the details of this story and see those guilty punished according to military or civilian law.
    nyomythus

    Since neomythus asked for details of the story, here are the details, as per his/her request:

    Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
    February 26, 1994

    Worshippers Can’t Escape Gunman’s Deadly Fury

    By Jerome Delay

    DATELINE: HEBRON, Occupied West Bank

    It was 5:45 a.m. in the Ibrahim Mosque, and 800 Muslim worshippers, their heads bowed in silent dawn prayer, knelt in rows on red carpets.

    Then shots rang out.

    A bearded man in an Israeli army reserve uniform, his face shrouded in a white scarf, stood at the mosque entrance, near the tomb of the biblical matriarch Sarah. He fired from an automatic Galil rifle, which can spit out bullets at the rate of 750 a minute.

    The shooter, Baruch Goldstein, was about a yard from the closest line of worshippers. Their backs were turned to him.

    When the first clip was spent, he threw a grenade, emptied three more magazines and hurled two more grenades.

    There was no escaping the fury. The killer stood between the worshippers and the only way out.

    Several minutes later, when Goldstein was done shooting, there were dozens dead and scores more wounded on the carpeted floor.

    The off-white walls of the mosque, measuring about 70 by 90 feet, were splattered with blood.

    The slaughter stopped only with Goldstein’s own death. Witnesses said Goldstein, 38, an immigrant from New York and the father of four, was beaten to death. Survivors clobbered him with shoes, chair legs and a fire extinguisher, and one man gripped Goldstein’s throat, said Maher Imam, a survivor of the massacre.

    “It was so slippery from the blood that I fell twice to the ground,” said Imam.

    The dead and wounded were carried out on prayer mats and straw carpets. Strips of clothing and Arab kaffiyeh head scarves were used to bandage wounds.

    “I carried seven dead outside,” said Mohammed Abu Saleh. “I carried with my hands two boys, about 8 or 9 years old. Both were dead. I started crying.”

    The mosque’s muezzin, or prayer caller, Jamil Natshe, had been struck by grenade shrapnel that ripped apart the back of his skull, Abu Saleh said.

    During the shooting, several Israeli soldiers were posted outside but apparently could not get in to stop the gunman, said Cabinet Minister Yair Tsaban, speaking after being briefed by army officials.

    “There is only one entrance, and once the shooting started, there was a massive rush on the entrance,” Tsaban said.

    With word of the massacre spreading in Hebron, private cars and vans began pulling up to take the wounded to hospitals.

  19. [contd. from prev]

    At Ahli Arab Hospital, set on a hilltop on the outskirts of town, dozens of ambulances and cars streamed into the parking lot crowded with thousands of Palestinians seeking word on the fate of their relatives.

    [..]

    Doctors from the hospital argued for calm.

    “Please, we don’t need more dead, we don’t need more wounded,” one pleaded over loudspeakers. “Please use your heads, not your heart. . . . Enough is enough.”

    Soldiers began opening fire and over the next two hours pumped hundreds of rounds into the parking lot, until a cease-fire was negotiated by army officials and Palestinian leaders.

    Outside the Ibrahim Mosque, about 40 settlers, most of them armed with Uzi submachine guns, mingled with dozens of soldiers.

    Palestinians cursed at them from nearby windows. Their laments mingled with the echoing chants of muezzin reciting the Koran.

    “God, take the settlers away, they are killing us,” wailed one woman.

    Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
    February 26, 1994
    Copyright 1994 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.

    So, neomythus — in answer to your comment: “[I would like to] see those guilty punished according to military or civilian law”: there was no opportunity as the crowd managed to kill the gunman in order to prevent him from killing any more people, after he’d already shot dead 30+.

  20. So, neomythus — in answer to your comment: “[I would like to] see those guilty punished according to military or civilian law”: there was no opportunity as the crowd managed to kill the gunman in order to prevent him from killing any more people, after he’d already shot dead 30+.

    I must say that I’m simply appalled, sickened by this mob “justice” and your apparent excusing of it, Morris. They could, after all, have simply subdued him and handed him over to the proper authorities, couldn’t they? Your pretence that the Palestinians were just defending themselves with this disproportionate response is easily seen through — no, I think this deliberate violence shows that your Palestinians are little better than Nazis, in fact worse. I suppose next you’ll be trying to excuse the targeted assassinations of mass murderers who hide themselves among sympathetic citizens!?

    (Coming soon: lengthy and graphic descriptions of Palestinian slaughters of hundreds of Israeli children, with accompanying tears, wails, blood, and severed limbs, heads, and entrails.)

  22. Sally,

    Even in the US we have rules that make it legit to kill in self-defence an intruder who is trying to kill you — even though liberals are trying to get rid of these laws about the right to self-defence.

    Thank God liberals like you are not in charge of this country, Sally. Maybe you would have had the Palestinians sit down Baruch Goldstein and offer him tea and biscuits after this unhinged madman with a gun had just shot 30+ men, women and children down and might well have shot some more.

    Reminds me of what we say of liberals: if liberals were running the country, they’d have sat down the 9/11 attackers and offered them therapy, instead of hunting them down.

    Thank god we have real mensch running this country who don’t care about what touchy-feely liberals and are not shy to say “Wanted: dead or alive”, when dealing with terrorist madmen. These people who overpowered this dangerous, lunatic guy and annihilated him before he could do more damage, thought like President Bush does — God bless him!!

  23. Okay, Terry, thanks. My comments were directed at Morris, who actually IS one your so-called “liberals” (I’m not), but who excuses Palestinian violence in self-defence while condemning Israel’s much more careful and targeted self-defence. In other words, my comment was a (perhaps failed) attempt at satire.

  24. senescent wasp wrote: They’re little better than animals.

    You go girl! Did you see how they are broke into the United Nations office in Beirut after the Israeli air strike killed 40 Lebanese a while ago? Now this is called “herd mentality”. They see someone breaking into the United Nations office and they all follow suit, like a herd. Why attack the UN building, of all things? Especially since, as we all know by now, the UN is self-sacrificing itself for them by keeping unarmed observers just so the observers can get hit by Israeli fire? Why aren’t they grateful? Are even animals not grateful these days? What is the world coming to?

    …Hmm, come to think of it, maybe the world is coming to an end, Armageddon and all that, ya know?

  28. What is interesting is that, to find a Jew doing horrible things, we go back to isolated incidents from ’94 or perhaps the ’60s. If Muslim attrocities were half are uncommon, the world would be a very safe place.

    Incidently, Baruch Goldstein used a Galil assault rifle capable of selective fire. He used in on semiauto, and this caused some talk in Europe that perhaps he had special training: the fact that the high speed specops types tend to use semiauto was brought up, and the Euros had trobule getting past the idea that perhaps someone without high speed ties would opt for semiauto when trying to kill as amny as possible . . .

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

↑