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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia | |
| Beslan memorial plan angers Russian Muslim leader | |
| 2007-04-05 | |
| Plans to build a memorial to the 333 hostages killed three years ago in the Beslan school siege have sparked a row between Christians and Muslims in Russia. The local Russian Orthodox diocese says it will build a church in the grounds of Beslan's school No. 1 to commemorate the victims -- half of them children -- killed in a clash between insurgents and Russian troops. But one of Russia's leading Muslim clerics has accused the Orthodox church of trying to hijack a national tragedy by building a memorial that he said would exclude the more than 20 million Muslims who live in the country. "It is not acceptable to present this tragedy as the tragedy of followers of only one religion," Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, chairman of the Council of Russian Muftis, said in a statement.
But the row has exposed faultlines between the communities which, despite a conflict between Moscow and rebels in Muslim Chechnya, have had largely smooth relations. Russia is home to the biggest Muslim community in Europe. Wrangling over the memorial could also aggravate already raw divisions between Muslims and Christians in the volatile North Caucasus region that includes Beslan. The local Russian Orthodox diocese said it plans to build the church next to the school sports hall, the spot where many of the hostages died after a bomb fixed to a basketball hoop went off, triggering a massive gunbattle. A spokesman for the diocese said a church was the memorial that the people of Beslan had chosen. "It is not a case of someone coming along and taking this decision. It is the decision of the people who were hostages and whose children died ... and it should be respected," said spokesman Yevgeny Bronsky. Asked about Muslims' reaction to the plan he said: "We have not noticed this issue dividing anyone in Beslan." The administration of the North Ossetia region, of which Beslan is a part, contradicted the church, saying consultations on what form the memorial would take were still being conducted. "The people of Beslan ... will review the proposed options and will make the final choice," it said in a statement. Since the tragedy, the wrecked shell of the sports hall has become a makeshift shrine, with candles on the floor and photographs of the victims pinned to the walls. Some victims' relatives say it should be preserved as a permanent memorial. | |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #16 Beslan merited a nuclear response. |
| Posted by: Mac 2007-04-05 18:08 |
| #15 ...where everyone can come and shed their tears." Or gloat. Whatever. Can't tell people how to feel about things, can we? One man's "massacre" is another's blow for righteousness. Memorials should be about remembering, not judging. In the end, does it matter who took which children hostage, who blow up whom? We should each blame only ourselves to be fair. That way no feelings are hurt and we live in mutual respect, as far as you know. |
| Posted by: Baba Tutu 2007-04-05 17:17 |
| #14 Glenmore: Mail it to Fred. I believe his address is on the front page somewhere. If it's huge he will probably downsize it to something that doesn't suck up a bunch of bandwidth. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-04-05 14:20 |
| #13 I would dedicate the church with words to the effect that this church is being built to demonstrate the difference between the Prince of peace & the beastiality of Islam and also to specially honor the innocent child victims of Muhammed, who were slaughtered here in his followers pursuit of virgins to defile. |
| Posted by: JerseyMike 2007-04-05 12:31 |
| #12 Maybe the Sheikh and Jimmuh Carter can get together and pray about it. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-04-05 11:30 |
| #11 Build a pigpen out back. Name the pigs after them. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-04-05 10:45 |
| #10 They want their Shaheeds included in the memorial. Those are the people they want to recognize. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble 2007-04-05 10:30 |
| #9 "We need a monument on this site that symbolizes a national tragedy, without any religious undertones, where everyone can come and shed their tears." Hey Sheikhy, how bouts you pony up some dough and build another memorial at the site of your choice? In fact, it might go along way towards healing some wounds if it was exclusively funded from Muslim donors. No? Oh that’s right, that’s not permitted, is it? That would mean you would have to acknowledge that it was an atrocity committed under your religion – not a separatist thing. All right then. carry on with your bitchin' about oppression then. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2007-04-05 09:49 |
| #8 Put yourself in his place---humans are pretty difficult to figure out. |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-04-05 09:07 |
| #7 How many of the terrorists were non-moslems? |
| Posted by: Jackal 2007-04-05 08:49 |
| #6 When I see stories like this I think of a photograph I saw from the massacre - I call it the Beslan Pieta - of a young mother touching the forehead of her shattered child. I saved a copy and would put it here if I knew how. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-04-05 07:58 |
| #5 This certainly puts a different spin on the Shanksville memorial. Seems like Muslims like to get a piece of the memorials to their victims. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2007-04-05 05:29 |
| #4 I think Muslim participation in the Beslan massacre should be permanently memorialized, but that's not what the |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-05 04:34 |
| #3 Notice? No Fatwa against the perpetrators, no rolling eyes, no seething, no death threats, no curses upon them for having disgraced Islam. All the message implies that Muslims are in the same side than them. And no Muslim has raised against him. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-04-05 04:19 |
| #2 More taquiyya. Trying to bury it as best they can so time will diminish what happened. Denial. I wonder whose side this guy is on (Rhetorical question, of course). Investigate him, too. Pig. Why can't he set foot in a church? These kids were killed for religious reasons, they should be remembered by religious means. No muslim has a single thing to say about this other than "we'll do all we can to ensure it doesn't happen again". And then do it. There are plenty of opportunities around the world right now to show their sincerity. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-04-05 03:56 |
| #1 Plans to build a memorial to the 333 hostages killed three years ago in the Beslan school siege have sparked a row between Christians and Muslims in Russia. Not that the original atrocity had anything to do with it. The local Russian Orthodox diocese says it will build a church in the grounds of Beslan's school No. 1 to commemorate the victims -- half of them children -- killed in a clash between insurgents and Russian troops. But one of Russia's leading Muslim clerics has accused the Orthodox church of trying to hijack a national tragedy by building a memorial that he said would exclude the more than 20 million Muslims who live in the country. Exactly how many of the murdered Beslan children were Muslims? Thought so. Carry on. A spokesman for the diocese said a church was the memorial that the people of Beslan had chosen. "It is not a case of someone coming along and taking this decision. It is the decision of the people who were hostages and whose children died ... and it should be respected," said spokesman Yevgeny Bronsky. Asked about Muslims' reaction to the plan he said: "We have not noticed this issue dividing anyone in Beslan." But it must certainly be a bone of contention for any Islamic yahoo who comes wandering along seeking to neutralize all justifiable polarity that the issue might cause. Since the tragedy, the wrecked shell of the sports hall has become a makeshift shrine, with candles on the floor and photographs of the victims pinned to the walls. Some victims' relatives say it should be preserved as a permanent memorial. IÂ’d rather it remain untouched throughout all history, like BethlehemÂ’s Grotto of the Sepulcher. For me, Beslan was the last iota of proof needed to determine what Islam intends for our world. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-05 03:25 |