US senator’s insults upset Muslims

US Muslims have been angered by a state senator who distributed a flier which suggested human bombings might be deterred if  attackers’ bodies were buried with pig entrails.

US Muslims furious over'ridiculous' suggestion

Guy Glodis, a Democrat in the Massachusetts state legislature, circulated a leaflet, recounting such a treatment by US forces in the Philippines in 1913. It was published by the Boston Globe newspaper.

 

US Muslim groups were furious. One group called on the Massachusetts Senate to open an ethics investigation and censure Glodis.

 

“We’re outraged,” said Raeed Tayeh of the American Muslim Association in North America (AMANA).

  

“If the senator believes that this is a solution to terrorism and believes such ridiculous notions then this is disturbing for an elected official to have such a belief and (be) spreading such beliefs,” Tayeh said in a statement.

  

“This is reckless behaviour because the story (about Pershing) is obviously not true,” he said. “And it’s also not true that if a Muslim comes into contact with a pig he would be denied heaven. This is ridiculous.”

 

Senator’s plea

 

Glodis sent the leaflet to 39 colleagues, recounting the execution of Muslim fighters in the Philippines by US General John Pershing in 1913. He told the Boston Globe the Pershing story was a matter of historical fact.

  

In the account, the fighters were executed with bullets dipped in pig’s blood, “then buried with pig’s blood, entrails, etc.,” a practice which, according to the leaflet, “instantly barred Muslims from paradise, dooming them to hell.”

  

“Maybe,” said the leaflet, “it is time for this segment of history to repeat itself, maybe in Iraq,” implying that such acts might discourage potential Muslim human bombers.

 

Glodis told the Boston Globe of the leaflet: “I didn’t write it. I just passed it along to my colleagues. I often share news items of interest with my colleagues.”

 

Muslims are forbidden by their religion from eating pork or having any contact with pigs.