Allahu Akbar or Kol HaKavod

I debated what to call this one – my first thought was “A Mother’s Words?” but in the end, I prefer this title – Allahu Akbar or Kol HaKavod…

Two brothers have been accused of planting the bombs that went off during the Boston marathon, resulting in the deaths of four innocent people, including one child, and injuring over 200.

The mother of the two brothers is Zubeidat Tsarnaeva. In this interview, she speaks of her sons Tamerlan and Tzhokhar Tsarnaevso to CNN.

“If they are going to kill him. I don’t care. My oldest son has been killed, and I don’t care. I don’t care if my youngest son is going to be killed today. I want the world to hear this. And, I don’t care if I am going to get killed too. Okay? And I will say Allahu Akbar! That’s what I’m going to say!“  — Zubeidat Tsarnaeva 

The surviving brother, all of 19 years old, has said the actions they took were to defend Islam. His words, combined with his mother’s words make it clear what the motive was. It is, once again, a message from a culture that cares more for martyrdom than life. I watched this video, wondering if maybe it is a hoax. CNN wasn’t particularly reliable when reporting about the Boston marathon manhunt…maybe, maybe this is just another case of bad reporting?

Why would a woman, days after losing one son, say she doesn’t even care about losing a second son also? I cannot, for the life of me, understand this woman. There is a line from an article I once wrote that goes through my head again and again, “Such anger they must have, such hatred.”

This morning, driving in, Amira was talking about a class she is taking in university and the various discussions they have about violence and terror. Some of her classmates and her oh-so-left-leaning-professor expressed satisfaction that so many Arabs are refraining from committing violent acts (well, not counting the rock-throwing and fire-bombing, of course).

“No one ever told me ‘Kol HaKavod’ for not killing anyone,” my beautiful daughter said to me and I smiled. Kol HaKavod’s direct translation is “All of the honor” – these words indicate high praise in Israel – good work, you did the right thing, good for you. When a younger child makes a mess and an older child cleans it up, you tell him, “Kol HaKavod.” You didn’t have to, and despite that, you did – good for you.

When Davidi spent his entire winter vacation studying and taking the course to ride on the intensive care ambulance – I told him, “Kol HaKavod,” – I’m proud of you.

I can’t get past the thought that this idiot woman thinks saying “Allahu Akbar” is her Kol HaKavod. Your sons MURDERED four people…people who were loved. Families devastated. There’s a woman who spends every day in the same hospital as Zubeidat’s son – only this woman visits with her two boys – both have lost a leg because of her sons’ actions.

If you praise your god for actions that lead to the deaths of innocents, to the permanent maiming of dozens – there is truly something wrong with your “god.”

May God watch over the people of Boston and those injured. May He grant them health and love and justice. For Zubeidat and her sons, I pray that God grants them a just sentence – in this world and in the next.

2 Comments

  1. If murdering innocent children is what is required to “defend Islam”, then is Islam worth defending?

    The philosophy espoused by these monstrous Tsarnaevas is one in which individual lives mean nothing — not their own, not those of their children, and certainly not those of their victims. (They undoubtedly knew that there would likely be Muslim casualties from the explosion; they didn’t care about that either.)

    We see this too every time Israel has a prisoner exchange with the Palestinians — hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of Palestinians are exchanged for just a few Israelis. Every time that happens, I can’t help wondering — what message does this send to the Palestinians? That you are worth less than one percent of an Israeli, and your own leaders think that about you?

    Sadly, that’s probably exactly the message those leaders want to send — you are our people, and you are worth nothing. Your only chance of being worth something is by dying the way we want you to die. Then we will glorify your name… and encourage other people, who are worth nothing, to follow your example.

    This “culture of death” is sickening. There is no honor in it, no glory, and it poisons the minds and hearts of millions.

    God bless Shmulik and Elie, and keep them safe, and bring them home. And God bless the rest of your family. They are priceless, every one of them.

  2. Paula, excellent post and proof again that all mothers aren’t the same and all societies and cultures don’t have the same value for life that we have.

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