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Seattle Shooting Gets Inadequate Attention

from the August 08, 2006 eNews issue
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Two weeks ago Naveed Afzal Haq entered the Jewish Federation office in Seattle and opened fire, killing one woman and wounding five others. Upon forcing his way into the building Haq identified himself as a Muslim and expressed his anger at Israel. Haq has since been charged with first-degree murder as well as five counts of attempted murder.

The Seattle shooting was a blatant example of religious and ethnic hatred. It is therefore ironic that the media, which usually gives hate crimes prolonged attention, has treated the Seattle shootings as though it were hardly newsworthy. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post buried the story. However they weren't the only members of the media to deny these horrendous events the attention and scrutiny they deserve.

Furthermore, most of the news articles concerning the shootings have focused on the attacker's history of mental illness rather than his Islamic identity. Naveed Afzal Haq has bipolar disorder, however experts say that is no excuse for his actions. Wayne Katon, a psychiatry professor at the University of Washington, commented on the attack by saying, "rarely is bipolar disorder associated with this type of crime. It's very, very unusual for bipolars to be killing anybody, let alone five or six people. Data would suggest that in terms of violence, the homicide rate of bipolars is lower than the general population."

The popular media has repeatedly shied away from any discussion concerning the true nature and agenda of Islam. The disparity between the press coverage of the Seattle shootings and Mel Gibson's drunken rant is astonishing - and completely unacceptable.

In January, the US Department of State released its Report on Global Anti-Semitism. The report stated that, "Anti-Semitism has plagued the world for centuries. Taken to its most far-reaching and violent extreme, the Holocaust, anti-Semitism resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews and the suffering of countless others. Subtler, less vile forms of anti-Semitism have disrupted lives, decimated religious communities, created social and political cleavages, and complicated relations between countries as well as the work of international organizations." According to the report, Anti-Semitic violence has increased dramatically in recent years.

Many people today do not take the Word of God seriously. Some ignore it, many disbelieve or deny it, and others dilute its meaning with conjectures, allegories, and redefinitions. But God says what He means, and means what He says. God delights in making and keeping His promises. A disturbing aspect of many modern churches is their failure to appreciate the seriousness of God's covenant with Israel. Some believe that Israel "forfeited her promises" by rejecting her Messiah, and that these promises now devolve somehow symbolically, or allegorically, upon the Church. This false doctrine has been taught for centuries.

Anti-Semitic violence has become a serious problem throughout the world. Some may blame the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Arab media, or Islamic leadership for fostering anti-Semitism. Others may say that such racially motivated hatred is limited to neo-Nazi groups and radical Islamic sects. Yet hatred of the Jews goes back long before even the existence of the Islamic faith, before the Nazi party took power in Germany, and before the advent of television and modern media. The real root of anti-Semitism is Satan's desire to thwart God's plan for the redemption of mankind. Anti-Semitism exists in many places and many forms. It may be displayed in blatant aggression or in more subtle and subversive ways, but all are aimed at the destruction of God's chosen people.