Dear Sirs,
I don't know your names or your addresses but I saw what you did yesterday morning splashed across the front page of the newspapers.
Please, stop. You are hurting only your countrymen; you are destroying lives, breaking apart families, separating father from son, sowing hatred, spreading fear. Is this what you call your holy war?
What you call the `taverns of sin' -- the pubs, the bars, the beaches -- will be built up again within half a year. These are only the shells of a larger secular machinery that has taken over the whole world. You will not be successful in destroying the mammoth money-spinning machinery like this. If you want holiness, you have to start at the heart. But perhaps this is not your real enemy.
Why does America make you angry?
Is it because America is occupying your land and breathing down your neck? Is it because your poverty screams in the face of their affluence? But what will terrorism do except to make them tighten that grip they have around you? They will persecute you when you go into their country, persecute you when you go out, live in your land because they cannot trust you.
I believe in God too. Abraham did not terrorise Sodom but asked God to spare it because his brother was living in the city. Your brothers are in the cities of America too. Let God do the judging -- he will not be slow. How terrible it will be for us to find out that what we do in the name of God is that which has us condemned.
Signed,
3 Oct 2005
Monday, October 03, 2005
On Bali
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3 comments:
Do you know why it wasn’t a car bomb at Kuta this time but probably a suicide bomber who entered the restaurant to do his dastardly deed?
I reproduce an item I’ve extracted from the Bali Hotels’ Association’s circular as a possible explanation. The item was posted at the beginning of September.
“Parking Changes in Kuta and Legian (Legian is a continuation of Kuta)
Long-Term Plan Calling for More Off-Street Parking Gets Underway with Parking Ban on 2 Main Streets in Legian.
The on-again off-again attempts to reduce traffic congestion in Bali's Kuta-Legian district has entered a new phase with the introduction on Sep 1, 2005, of parking bans on two major thoroughfares in Legian.
Following discussions between Legian community leaders and local traffic officials, an agreement has been reached to ban parking on the entire length of Jalan Padma and Jalan Werkudara in Legian.
Jalan Padma is the north-south street that begins in the south at Jalan Yudistira, running along the side of the Bali Padma Hotel, which turns into Jalan Werkudara until it terminates at Jalan Double Six.
Prior to the introduction of the new "no parking" regulations, circulars were sent to businesses located along the two streets reminding them of their responsibility to provide adequate parking for their guests and employees.
Traffic authorities are threatening to tow any vehicles parked on the subject streets in violation of the new parking ban.
Following the successful introduction of parking prohibitions on the two "test streets," plans are to add additional streets to the "no parking" list, thereby relieving much of the traffic congestion in that area.”
Also, what is sobering for me is that on the afternoon of Aug 31, 2005, police had evacuated the Kuta Paradiso Hotel at Kuta Square after a suspicious object was discovered in a handbag left in a 4th floor lobby. Guests were evacuated while bomb squad officers removed a device containing a timing device, batteries, charcoal powder – but apparently containing no explosive materials.
While police continued to investigate the incident, many concluded that the "discovery" was meant to cause terror rather than injuries, a fact leading some to question whether the incident is linked to past terrorist attacks or a case of commercial extortion.
Whatever the motivation, the discovery caused police and hotel operators across Bali to increase their vigilance with police conducting sweeps of malls, hotels and other public areas.
Even President Yudhoyono and Bali's Police Chief had urged the public to increase their security awareness, particularly during the months of September and October which mark the anniversaries of the 9-11 attacks in New York, the October 12, 2002 bombing of several Bali night spots, and the September 2004 bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.
Despite this, another attack has taken place!
Thanks for the article, anon. Banning curbside parking is a good thing. But I suppose as long as terrorists find it worth their while to sacrifice their lives for the cause, they will be very hard to stop.
Hi Yanis
Thanks for stopping by. I do appreciate your comments very much.
It is good to know that both of us -- even though we are of different faiths -- can agree that what the terrorists are doing is wrong.
Let's pray that the violence will come to an end soon.
Peace.
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