Why not Christian Fantic Terrorist?

[abu_musab461]

Page last updated at 02:21 GMT, Thursday, 10 September 2009 03:21 UK


Mexican police end hijack drama

Passengers rush off the plane and are escorted onto the runway by troops

Mexican police have freed more than 100 passengers unharmed after a jet flying from Cancun to Mexico City was hijacked by a religious fanatic.

Jose Flores Pereira, a 40-year-old Bolivian, threatened to blow up the Aeromexico plane unless allowed to speak to President Felipe Calderon.

He said that he used a can of juice as a fake bomb.

Five other people were also detained, but police later said that there had only been one hijacker.

Transport Minister Juan Molinar said there had been no bombs on board.

"The passengers are safe. There was no bomb," he said.

"Various people who participated in the act have been detained and we are investigating," he said.

The passengers included US and French citizens, a US official told AP news agency.

'Divine revelation'

Jose Flores Pereira
Jose Flores Pereira was shown to reporters after he was detained

Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna said the hijacking had been masterminded by Mr Flores who had "had a revelation that Mexico was facing a great danger, and was threatened by an earthquake".

Mr Flores told reporters after his arrest that he had used "a juice can with some little lights I attached" to seize control of the plane as it landed at Mexico City.

He told flight attendants that he had three accomplices, "the Father, Son and Holy Ghost".

He said that he acted on 9 September 2009, because the numbers 9/9/9 were the inverse of 6/6/6, the number linked to the Anti-Christ.

"Christ is coming soon," Mr Flores told journalists.

Mr Garcia said that Mr Flores was a former drug addict, with a conviction for armed robbery in his native Bolivia. He has lived in Mexico for 17 years.

Mr Flores said he had gone to Cancun to preach. He is also a singer.

"I was a despicable drug addict, but Christ freed me a few years ago," he sings in one video posted on YouTube.

'Scary moments'

Police enter from rear of plane
Mexican armed police stormed the plane and made several arrests

An official told the BBC while the hijacking was taking place that Mr Calderon had been on his way to the airport.

Mexican media broadcast live images of the drama unfolding as the plane sat at the end of the runway and passengers were seen disembarking and being led away.

Some minutes later, at least six handcuffed men were seen being taken from the plane by armed police and driven away.

Earlier reports, citing police sources, said it was initially believed the hijackers had explosives taped to their bodies.

Passenger Rocio Garcia told the Televisa TV network that the crew announced the plane was being hijacked when it landed in Mexico City.

"These were scary moments," she said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8247472.stm

[glo]

Crazy guy!

Most groups who pursue one common goal - be that religious, political or otherwise - have fringes of fanatics and extremists. Usually they are not welcomed by the main group, because the actions of a few lunatics reflect badly on the whole group!

[abu_musab461]

Media is as dirty as politics.

They could make even the most innocent of people seem guilty or the whole commuinty seem evil as a result of the actions of a few.

When muslims commit a crime- its Radical Islamic Extremist Fundamentalist Terrorist Al-Qaeda Fanatic is arrested on suspicion of plotting to commit an act of terror, based upon secret undisclosed evidence.

All the hype to convince the jury muslims are evil terrorist even before the trial begins.

But when i Christian or a Jew does the same thing- they are labeled loony, crazy etc..

[glo]

All the hype to convince the jury muslims are evil terrorist even before the trial begins.

But when i Christian or a Jew does the same thing- they are labeled loony, crazy etc..

I understand what you mean about the power of the media to influence the thinking of their readers/listeners.

The difference (at least in this case) may be that this is a guy acted as an individual. (Well, let's assume for one moment that "the Father, Son and Holy Ghost" aren't really part of his terrorist cell!) The fact that he was driven by religious thinking is what makes him no doubt a 'religious fanatic', but does it make him a terrorist?
Perhaps the term 'terrorist' is more applied to people who operate within a larger group of the same idelogical thinking.

I suppose since 9/11 Islam has been viewed with some suspicion by the world ... and the fact that there have been other large terrorist attacks have just fed into that suspicion.
Unfortunately it may take a generation or two of 'good Muslims' to undo the damage that was done. And meanwhile 'good Muslims' receive bad press in a kind of corporal treatment.

This may not be a good comparison at all, but I think I can relate a little bit, being a German of the post-war generation. Although my generation had nothing to do with WWII, I know how long it took (for some people still takes) the world to overcome their fears, suspicions and prejudices against the German nation. We paid for the sins other had committed - simply because we are of 'the same group' (in this case national, rather than religious)

Do you think it makes a difference to the reader whether this guy is referred to as a 'religious fanatic' or a 'terrorist'?

[aamirsaab]

Naughty naughty. This is a world affairs topic, which should be in the world affairs section, which is actually closed for ramadhan.