Hundreds attend funeral of Copenhagen gunman


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Copenhagen (AFP) - Hundreds of people on Friday attended the Islamic burial of the gunman who killed two people in twin shootings in Copenhagen last weekend.

 

Omar El-Hussein, 22, was placed in an unmarked grave in the Muslim cemetery in Broendby, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, watched by around 500 people, mostly young men wearing thick black jackets against the cold and rain, an AFP reporter said.

El-Hussein, a Danish citizen of Palestinian origin, has been identified by police as the gunman who shot dead two people -- a filmmaker and a volunteer Jewish security guard -- in the Danish capital last weekend.

Before the burial, a short ceremony was held at a Copenhagen mosque following Friday prayers.

A man of east African origin, who refused to give his name, told AFP about the ceremony: "There were a lot of young people that you don't normally see there... because they knew Omar. Some of them were gang members.

"They are my brothers too because they believe in Allah and the Prophet Mohammed, but their lifestyle doesn't have a lot to do with Islam," he said.

A handful of those who were there he recognized as members of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, but there were also many "normal Muslims," the man said.

"A Muslim cannot be denied a funeral. God will judge him," he said.

A young man who said he knew El-Hussein described him as "normal".

"He just made the wrong choices, I do not see him as a terrorist," said the man, who gave his name as Mohammed.

El-Hussein had been linked to a criminal gang formed on the Copenhagen inner-city estate where he grew up.

Some of those who attended the funeral had covered their faces with scarves and hoods.

"We don't trust you. We say one thing (to you) and then you report something else," one man -- sporting a shaved head, baggy trousers and a beard -- told a journalist.

 

- Muslim community divided -

 

Copenhagen's Muslim community was divided ahead of the funeral.

A spokesman for the Danish Islamic Burial Fund objected to El-Hussein being buried at a cemetery run by his group.

"My concern is over extremist attitudes and actions on both sides," Ahmet Deniz told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper before the burial.

The funeral organiser, Kasem Said Ahmad, also from the Islamic Burial Fund, rejected claims that large numbers attending the funeral could be interpreted as support for the alleged gunman.

"It is a support for the family, not for him," he told Jyllands-Posten.

At the Friday sermon, held in Arabic, topics included how Muslims can work with each other to create a peaceful society, and the "threat" against Danish Muslims' security in the wake of the attacks.

Members of the Muslim community have reported a rise in anti-Muslim violence and discrimination across Denmark since the attacks.

"It's physical abuse in the form of stranglehold, violence, spitting and pushing," Khaterah Parwani, a spokeswoman for anti-discrimination group DRC, told public broadcaster DR.

Denmark has been left in shock after the shootings in Copenhagen which targeted a meeting on free speech and Islam and the capital's main synagogue.

Copenhagen police late Friday said El-Hussein's DNA had been found at the site of the first shooting.

The 22-year-old was reportedly radicalised during a one-year stay in prison for stabbing a man. He was released just two weeks before the killings.

The attacks have prompted parallels with the Islamist attacks in Paris last month, in which 17 people died.

http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-attend-funeral-copenhagen-gunman-190741201.html

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Where does what end? The radicalisation or the "downcrying"? (I think you mean decrying).

 

It's hard to believe that the Islamic community rejects violence wholeheartedly when a perpetrator of Islamic inspired violence has hundred of mourners. When i kick the bucket I doubt I'll enjoy such an outpouring of grief. My death, however, won't be associated with violence against my fellow citizens. It will probably have more to do with my life-long love affair with pork.

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I really don't understand why you would attend the funeral of a killer unless you support or agree with what he has done. The only exception would be his own family. 

 

If hundreds of people attended a funeral for a skinhead who shot a bunch of black people, or gays, or Jews, or whatever, I would assume the attendees must, to some degree, agree with what he did.

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I really don't understand why you would attend the funeral of a killer unless you support or agree with what he has done. The only exception would be his own family. 

 

If hundreds of people attended a funeral for a skinhead who shot a bunch of black people, or gays, or Jews, or whatever, I would assume the attendees must, to some degree, agree with what he did.

 

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Because you know the father, mother, brothers or sisters?

 

 

Most of these attendees didn't. They didn't even know the dead guy.

 

 

Next excuse?

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Additionally, Google "Hizb ut-Tahrir" and see what they are all about. Although I doubt you will.

 

Would it be alright if I use Bing?

 

 

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international pan-Islamic political organisation. They are commonly associated with the goal of all Muslim countries unifying as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph head of state elected by Muslims.   http://hizb-ut-tahrir.org/EN/

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Would it be alright if I use Bing?

 

 

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an international pan-Islamic political organisation. They are commonly associated with the goal of all Muslim countries unifying as an Islamic state or caliphate ruled by Islamic law and with a caliph head of state elected by Muslims.   http://hizb-ut-tahrir.org/EN/

 

 

And your opinion about this desire/goal? Also, the view this group has of the West (mostly while existing in the West)?

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And your opinion about this desire/goal? Also, the view this group has of the West (mostly while existing in the West)?

 

 

Simply put I don't like what their aims, goals or desires are, at the same time I am not fearful of them.  Concerned, yes.  There are so many organizations around the world today espousing this and that, I really don't bother to worry too much. Doesn't mean I'm not paying attention.

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The English or Arabic one?

 

Let's not start with the whole "if it's not in Arabic it's not real" nonsense, what language it's in doesn't make on bit of difference 

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The English or Arabic one?

 

 

Does that really matter? Some subtle ideas might be lost, but fundamental ideas aren't going to be lost in translation. "Kill the infidel" in Arabic isn't "love the infidel" English. And, yes, Islamic texts make it very clear the non-believer is fair game.

 

 

Simply put I don't like what their aims, goals or desires are, at the same time I am not fearful of them.  Concerned, yes.  There are so many organizations around the world today espousing this and that, I really don't bother to worry too much. Doesn't mean I'm not paying attention.

 

 

And perhaps your indifference is what they count on. And society's collective fear of an accusation of racism helps these nuts consolidate their position. 

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Does that really matter? Some subtle ideas might be lost, but fundamental ideas aren't going to be lost in translation. "Kill the infidel" in Arabic isn't "love the infidel" English. And, yes, Islamic texts make it very clear the non-believer is fair game.

 

 

 

 

And perhaps your indifference is what they count on. And society's collective fear of an accusation of racism helps these nuts consolidate their position. 

 

I said nothing to indicate I'm indifferent.

 

 

/edited

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I said nothing to indicate I'm indifferent.

 

 

/edited

 

 

I think you are, effectively, indifferent. Which I understand, by the way. It's hard to constantly care about this stuff. 

 

 

 

What can I say? I find ti disturbing that hundreds of people attend the funeral of a religious fascist murderer.

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Let's not start with the whole "if it's not in Arabic it's not real" nonsense, what language it's in doesn't make on bit of difference 

 

I didn't know it was a "whole thing", I was just asking.

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I didn't know it was a "whole thing", I was just asking.

 

 

To be clear, I wasn't attacking you, it is just a common argument that if one can't read the Qur'an in Arabic then they can't truly understand it nor are they in a position to criticise it. That might not have been the point you were making, though.

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To be clear, I wasn't attacking you, it is just a common argument that if one can't read the Qur'an in Arabic then they can't truly understand it nor are they in a position to criticise it. That might not have been the point you were making, though.

 

Nah, I wasn't making a point, was just interested in knowing if he could read Arabic. My Sister can and has read the Koran.

 

I would be interested in knowing the differences between the two, I doubt there are very many. There is always something lost in translation but I doubt it'd some conspiracy as I'm positive enough people know both Arabic and English fluently. It'd come up.

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Nah, I wasn't making a point, was just interested in knowing if he could read Arabic. My Sister can and has read the Koran.

 

I would be interested in knowing the differences between the two, I doubt there are very many. There is always something lost in translation but I doubt it'd some conspiracy as I'm positive enough people know both Arabic and English fluently. It'd come up.

 

 

Somewhat off topic, but when I was young a Somali family moved in next door and I befriended their sons. I came from a secular family, but my neighbour were Muslims. I knew more about Islam because of my friendship with that family than I knew about the religion of my heritage (I come from a largely protestant/CofE line).

 

My friend explained his beliefs, prayed in front me after I harassed him to show me his religious practice. He showed me his  Qur'an which was a big deal to me because my family had no Bibles or religious texts. My first "religious experience" was, I do suppose, Islamic.

 

My fondest memories are of my Islamic, Somali neighbour. I might criticise ideas I disagree with, but I don't hate people and I certainly don't those who believe in things I don't.

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Fanatics & Extremists however can be formed on moderate adherents, by continuous indoctrination/brainwashing of their religion's superiority.

Best way to oppose this are to make religious teaching to be open for public scrutiny.

Those religionists however will try to enforce blasphemy laws to prevent their religion being scrutinized.

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