Remembering Beslan

[Valenteenah.]

 

I was reading the paper this morning when I came across an article on the Beslan School siege massacre, which took place one year ago today. But I need no reminders.

 

I have heard that only a few moments in life actually manage to have such a monumental impact on you, that they fundamentally change you as a person. Well, Beslan was one of those moments for me. For three whole days, from Wednesday 1 Sept to Friday 3rd Sept 2004, I was nailed down in front of the television in my living room watching the most horrific events I have ever witnessed before in my life unfolding in front of my eyes.

 

I suppose violence against children always tends to induce the most extreme reaction in people, but the images of the Beslan School massacre affected me so much that I found it difficult to function normally for a long time. The faces of those children are still burned into my psyche to this very day. I don’t think it will be possible for me to ever forget.

 

I would even go so far to say that that one event has irrevocably changed my views on a lot of things, including how I see the Muslim World and its struggles against aggression, invasion, injustice and oppression. I had to take a step back and seriously re-evaluate my thinking.

 

Whereby I only ever saw political causes before, I started to realise that there are human causes as well. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have always supported the struggles of the Chechen people, however, I no longer believe – nay, I refuse to believe - that the end justifies the means. My morally-shaky stand of ‘by any means necessary’ slid out from underneath me, and I haven’t been able to climb back on it since.

 

Furthermore, all my closely-held arguments of why some Muslims have had to resort to terror in order to defend themselves started to mean nothing to me. Less than nothing actually. There was just no way I could justify what happened in Beslan to myself. I suppose you might say, that’s because I’m an outsider looking in, I have no idea what these people have been through, therefore I couldn’t comprehend the lengths they would go to secure whatever it is they are fighting for. It’s a brutal conflict, so only brutality should be expected. I undertsand this, I really do, but it doesn't justify the massacre for me. I still don’t see anything but the faces of those children.

 

My views didn’t change just on Chechnya, but every other country and conflict as well, including Palestine. I whole-heartedly believe in the Palestinian cause and have actively campaigned for Palestinian Freedom. I had accepted that suicide bombings were the only real strategy open to the Palestinians in the face of the overwhelming military machine that is Israel. Every time I heard about another suicide bombing, I would gleefully think ‘take that, you damn yihuudis’!

 

However, after taking a step back and clearly reviewing my thinking, none of my arguments and rhetoric could stand up to the glare of the audit. I don’t want the Palestinians to be ravaged and murdered, but I also couldn’t justify killing innocent Israeli civilians either. I think I understood for the first time, that two wrongs do not, and can not, make a right. There’s no honour in killing innocent people to further your cause.

 

As always, only Allah knows best. May He forgive us all.

 

 

Beslan grieves a year after siege

[sheherazade]

Thank you for sharing that Zephy.

[Valenteenah.]

My pleasure Sheh.

[Baashi]

Reasonable write-up u posted, Zephy. True whatever the cause that sort of barbarity shouldn't signify the legitimate struggle the Chechen resistance are engaged in.

 

I kinda disagree on ur conclusion. If I'm not mistaken, u bought the official line that equates what essentially is a nationalistic war to one inspired by Islamic ideals. On this score, I think what you should have done is forsake the savages, condemn the terror but cut some slack for those weak, subjugated, humiliated, and almost enslaved underdogs to sometimes hit back out of desperation. People cease to be rational beings in these kinda sitautions.

 

This has nothing to do with Islam (I see my good friend Ngonge goin red) and everything to do with human nature. Even cats are known to inflict rather deep cutting scratches when cornered.

 

Man is said to die for three things: family, freedom, and faith. It doesn't matter what kind of man be Arab, Indian, African, or European descent or what kinda religion!

 

Now, I'm not justifying the killing of innocent bystanders. It's an unexcusable act. What I don't understand is those who are adamant to justify the agression and condemn the resistance.

 

Make sense out of this...this is a quick reply.

[DraGon]

Bashi very well put.

 

What happened In Beslam is horrible and horrific.

So is what is happening to Chechenya on a daily basis. I wish I could post some of the pictures of murdered chechnian kids year after year by the murderous, ruthless and barbaric Russians army.....I just wish, but for sensitivity purpose I will refrain.

 

I will rememeber what happemned to Beslam a year ago today but I remember the suffering of Checehnias as we speak every day for the last decade.

 

Its unbeliavable whats happened to city's like Grozny and a lot of other Chechnia villages. Its genocide.

 

Personally I wouldn't know what my reaction will be if I was chechnia and experienced what they have been through. We somalis killed each other out of tribal pride. What do u expect of ppl who are forcefully uprooted from there homes and murdered en masse????

[Haaraahur.]

Please don't read the below article if you are sensitive.

 

 

Quoutes from russian soldiers in chechenya:

 

"The main thing is to have them die slowly. You don't want them to die fast, because a fast death is an easy death."

--Andrei

 

"I would kill all the men I met during mopping-up operations. I didn't feel sorry for them one bit."

--Boris

 

"It's much easier to kill them all. It takes less time for them to die than to grow."

--Valery

 

"We should have slaughtered all Chechens over 5 years old and sent all the children that could still be re-educated to reservations with barbed wire and guards at the corners. . . . But where would you find teachers willing to sacrifice their lives to re-educate these wolf cubs? There are no such people

 

 

So there will be one Chechen less on the planet, so what? Who will cry for him?"

--Gennady

 

Gennady says his officers taught him to trust no one in Chechnya, not even the children.

 

"There were cases when small kids would run to the middle of the road, right in front of a moving convoy of trucks and APCs. And they were shot dead right on the spot by soldiers who thought the kid could be carrying a mine or a grenade. Hell knows, maybe they weren't. But it is better to be safe than sorry."

 

Polish writer Krystyna Kurczab-Redlich visited the region where she witnessed the brutal work done by Russia's soldiers in their fight against separatists

 

Sunday October 27, 2002

The Observer

 

 

At 5am on 14 April 2002, an armoured vehicle moved slowly down Soviet Street. A young brown-haired man, covered in blood, his hands and feet bound, stood onboard. The vehicle stopped and the man was pushed off and brought over to a nearby chain-link fence. The car took off and there was a loud bang. The force of the explosion, caused either by a grenade or dynamite, sent the man's head flying into the neighbouring street, called Lenin's Commandments. 'It was difficult to photograph the moment, though I have grown somewhat accustomed to this,' says a petite greying Chechen woman, who has spent years documenting what Russia calls its 'anti-terrorism campaign'.

Blowing people up, dead or alive, she reports, is the latest tactic introduced by the federal army into the conflict. It was utilised perhaps most effectively on 3 July in the village of Meskyer Yurt, where 21 men, women and children were bound together and blown up, their remains thrown into a ditch.

 

From the perspective of the perpetrators, this method of killing is highly practical; it prevents the number of bodies from being counted, or possibly from ever being found. It has not always succeeded in this respect, however. Since the spring, dogs have been digging up body parts in various corners of Chechnya, sometimes almost daily.

Russian Torture Methods Outlined

 

A very detailed report on filtration (concentration) camps and torture methods has been written by the health minister of the pro-Chechen (and legitimately elected) Maskhadov government who is also a survivor of these filtration camps. The report outlines the procedures used by troops from Russian Interior Ministry, Federal Security Services, Defense Ministry and others in the many filtration camps set up inside Chechnya and in nearby regions in Russia. There is no legal law. Prisoners who disappear or die are labeled "released." Some filtration camps sell corpses or tortured prisoners to relatives. The report is graphic and shocking and includes many observations; some of which can be also found in testimonies published by a variety of international human rights organizations including Memorial Human Rights Center. The following is a list and brief description of some of the torture methods used by Russians on all detained Chechens, including innocent children, women, elderly, handicapped men and others:

 

1. Electric Shock: a common form of torture whereby electrodes are fastened on sensitive parts of the body (eyes, genitals, breasts, ears, nose, head, etc). In some cases, the electrodes are placed inside the victim (rectum, mouth, etc).

 

2. Respirator Torture: when a victim is seated on a chair which is bolted to the floor. The victim's hands and arms are tied under the chair. A respirator is placed on the victim's head while the respiratory tube is closed. The victim feels like he/she is suffocating because there is no air. Victims have testified that the Russian soldiers laugh throughout.

 

3. Teeth Torture: a prisoner is tied to a chair and a piece of wood is put inside his mouth while the Russian soldier saws his teeth. This is also called "Wolf Canine Torture" because Russians mock the victim and say they are "sawing wolf canines." (Wolf is an important symbol of the Chechen people).

 

4. "Feeding" Torture: A victim is deprived of water and food for several days. then his/her tongue is crushed using pliers. Their bodies are often beatn with truncheons and then they are forced to eat very hot things with burning spices. The pain in the mouth with pain in the body is severe.

 

5. "Chechen Round Table" Torture: This is when victims are tied to chairs around a round table. Russian soldiers nail each of their tongues to the edge of the table.

 

6. Swallow Torture: A very common form used against Chechen people whereby legs and arms are tied behind the victim's back. His head hangs. The pain in the joints of the victims lasts long after he/she is untied.

 

7. Male Body-Ice Torture: When victims in winter are naked, placed on a floor with ice, beaten with truncheons and forced to sit on the ice.

 

8. Public Rape

 

9. Imaginary Execution: a form of mental torture which is common and is compounded when the victim also hears the cries of other torture victims, especially at night.

 

10. Mental Torture: whereby victims are forced to watch the torture of others.

 

11. Animal Torture: whereby Russian soldiers force victims to crawl between soldiers so that the victims are "crawling" at the orders of the Russian soldiers. If a victim fails to do this, he/she is often killed.

 

12. Sexual torture of Chechen males by Russian soldiers: Rape of males by Russian soldiers.

 

13. Beatings: victims, including those who are handicapped, are beaten with rifle butts, boots, etc. Russians often beat amputated stumps of victims while others watch.

 

14. Verbal Torture: common and powerful. A form of fear & intimidation tactics as well as mental torture. Russian soldiers threaten to kill a victim by describing deailts of a torture. Soldiers also insult Chechen people and call them

 

 

And many many more.....

[Animal Farm]

We orientate ourselves to the concept of life and death based what the media puts in front of us. There are millions who die each day, including children, millions who starve, and die from diseases because big pharmaceutical companies won’t let them produce a cheap version of their drugs. Through intellectual property policies millions are slowly dying of curable diseases.

 

Direct terror whether it be bombings, or indirect terror through economic policies still have the same outcome, in it they both produce death and suffering for innocent people.

 

How can we end this? It is only political leaders who have the power to impact people’s lives, by producing more humanistic policies for people. However, places such as Somalia where there is no viable government, more extreme methods are acceptable. If only in Somalia similar guerilla tactics can be employed against the warlords, but then again which Somali is willing to risk his life against them.

[Kashafa]

"Wa laakin Falluja falaa bawaakii lahaa"

[Valenteenah.]

Thank you, Baashi. I take note of your points, however, maybe you could try being a little less patronising next time.

 

Now boys, stop banging on. I am perfectly aware of the situation in Chechnya. I have been following it for quite a while, although it has been almost impossible to get any clear information the last couple of years due to the media blackout in the region.

 

Baashi, 'a nationalistic war' you say? Please tell me which of the current ongoing conflicts in the Muslim world aren't nationalistic? What are the Palestinians fighting for? How about the Iraqi 'insurgents'? The South Sudanese (Christians I know, but Muslims are involved as well)? Are they not all struggling for sovereignty? Aren't they all mere political causes? Yet the Islamic name is always invoked on their behalf and Muslims everywhere justify their actions on what is happening in these regions. Is there much doubt that these 'nationalistic' wars have morphed into 'Islamic' jihads?

 

I think not.

 

Have a good one.

[CHE]

"Suicide" adds to the list of concepts that stupefies this generation.Perhaps we, the global community, have not addressed the issue with the necessary depth.

 

For myself,killing of the innocent is never justified in any circumstance.I do not entertain the idea of the semi-legitimacy of suicide.Anytime you justify any particular type(or instance) of suicide,you open the flood-gates for all arguments that justify the killing of the innocent.

 

Sir Baashi,

 

 

True whatever the cause that sort of barbarity shouldn't signify the legitimate struggle the Chechen resistance are engaged in.

While I concur,I am also of the believe that this particular event has done alot to taint their legit resistance, and rendered their cause less appealing,even amongst their sympathisers.

[J.Lee]

Being raised in America, you tend to think of death as an option rather than a certainty, and equate struggle with staying in school, and improving your GPA then you come across stories such as these, -which can be easily ignorable/forgotten since they don’t “directly†have any impact on nor change your life- and see, in depth, how people around the world are suffering, and dying daily. I guess innocence -or rather indifference- can sometimes be a substitute for ignorance.

 

 

As always, only Allah knows best. May He forgive us all.

 

Aamin.

[Legend of Zu]

Originally posted by Baashi:

Reasonable write-up u posted, Zephy. True whatever the cause that sort of barbarity shouldn't signify the legitimate struggle the Chechen resistance are engaged in.

 

I kinda disagree on ur conclusion. If I'm not mistaken, u bought the official line that equates what essentially is a nationalistic war to one inspired by Islamic ideals. On this score, I think what you should have done is forsake the savages, condemn the terror but cut some slack for those weak, subjugated, humiliated, and almost enslaved underdogs to sometimes hit back out of desperation. People cease to be rational beings in these kinda sitautions.

 

This has nothing to do with Islam (I see my good friend Ngonge goin red) and everything to do with human nature. Even cats are known to inflict rather deep cutting scratches when cornered.

 

Man is said to die for three things: family, freedom, and faith. It doesn't matter what kind of man be Arab, Indian, African, or European descent or what kinda religion!

 

Now, I'm not justifying the killing of innocent bystanders. It's an unexcusable act. What I don't understand is those who are adamant to justify the agression and condemn the resistance.

 

Make sense out of this...this is a quick reply.

Although I understand your logic, however Muslims who fight against oppression a permission to lower themselves to commit barbaric acts were never given but prohibited...By Acting in such manner not did they fail to fight for freedom but they committed the same atrocities they fought against. so now who is right and who is wrong?

 

Whether, the oppressors adamantly justify or condemn the resistance is irrelevant to the freedom fighters... Therefore, I don't see how we Muslims can support each other while committing the same atrocities as the non Muslims

 

Cheers

[Us_Marines]

job well done legend of Zu. I could not put in better words than you did.

what happen in belsan is a true genocide, and i don't think they is any human being with a common sense that can justfy that as a revenge to the oppression going in that region.

I travelled around to so many Muslim countries and chat with the local folks about their opinion on what is going in the muslim world, i could sense a lot of anger and intolerance in their faces which istotally opposite of what our religion preaches.

No dought we have a great religion, but it is hijaked by radicules who are trying to gain political supremacy and preached hate to the muslim world.

As muslim i think what we need to do is stop being victims and blaming our own mistakes on others and start admit of our own mistakes. For example whatever is happening in somalia we are blaming on other countries for supplying the weapons to the warlords, but we don't want or our warlords don't want to accept this was their mistake. We are always shy to admit the mistakes we do.

The bottom line is there is nothing that can justify the killing of innocent people no matter what religion they belong to.

[Muhammad]

"the end justifies the means" is contrary to Islam and everything it stands for!

 

 

the only thing that cames to my mind is that, honestly,

the hardest thing of all is staying just in an unjust world!

 

Salimnaa Ya Rabb!

[-Nomadique-]

^^^^Too right.

 

Unfortunately muslims have fallen into the trap of combating injustice with injustice.

 

Direct conflict with the Quran. "Let not the injustice of others lead you to injustice". May we always remember that.