Muslims of India.....Israel"s paralysis.....Obama in Ottawa

      India has the second largest Muslim population in the world( after Indonesia), and they have been quite categorical in their condemnation and rejection of the Paki/Muslim terrorists who attacked Mumbai. Their abhorrence is clearly indicated in their refusal to allow the nine who were killed to be buried in its cemetery. Their bodies still remain in the Mumbai morgue, unclaimed and shunned. It should be noted that of the more than 170 people killed, most were Hindus, but 33 were Muslims and there were Jews and Christians killed also. The terrorists killed indiscriminately, killing for the sake of killing.

      India's Muslims refer to them as "murderers" not "martyrs". A spokesman for the Muslim Jama Masjid Trust said " people who committed this heinous criome cannot be called Muslim". M.J. Akbar, The Muslim Indian editor of the Covert, an investigative journal , wrote that "Indian Muslims are proud of being Indian and Muslim, and the Mumbai terrorism was a war against both India and Islam. Terrorism has no place in Islamic doctrine. The Quranic term for the killing of innocents is"fasad". Terrorists are fasadis not jihadis. In a beautiful verse, the Quran says that the killing of an innocent is akin to slaying the whole community. Since the terrorists were neither Indian nor Muslims, they had no right to an Islamic funeral in an Indian Muslim cemetery"

      The clear and decisive stance of the Indian Muslims is a far cry from the praise lavished to suicide bombers and others terrorists, who are acclaimed as matryrs, by some of the mainstream Arabic media and by extermist Islamist religious leaders. Young and impressionable Muslim men and women who are recruited for suicide missions are fed the lie of martydom, while their procurors spread their venom from the comfort and safety of their earthly paradise. The Muslims of Mumbai must be congratulated. They have sent a strong message that they will not support terrorism and the killing of innocents, and they will not reward the perpetrators and that furthermore, they will reject them as true Muslims and shun them. Islam teaches that if you commit suicede, you will be punished, even after death and that is what has happened to the Mumbai terrorists, unburied and unwanted in a Mumbai morgue.        

      The two "yahoos" of Israeli politics have decided that their self-interest is more important than the well-being of the country. They, together with the religious extremists who have won seats in the last election, are plotting how to divvy up the spoils, but this is not going to be easy. Too much egos, too much shibboleths, too much religious zealotry and too much " tails wagging the dog". Paralysis is the order of the day and Shimon Peres, the president, is twiddling his thumbs impotently.

      Compare this to Pres. Obama, who in one month, has managed to get so much done, including, getting his stimulus package passed, even with an obstructionist Republican party. He has also, in visits to various parts of the country and to Canada been able to re-assure and bring hope. It is truly amazing to see him at work. Thousands brave the weather and wait for hours just to get a glimpse of him, and they leave with smiles and a feeling that they matter and that they are being heard and that they are not alone. Spring is around the corner and you can see them skipping along, uplifted by his presence, a tune begining to play in their heads. They believe.