Garbanzo Toons: Are We Looking for the "Root Cause?"

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Are We Looking for the "Root Cause?"

There are at least two versions of how Shafik Shoaib was beaten Monday evening in front of his home in the Warrendale neighborhood on Detroit's west side. One of them, if true, could constitute a federal crime.

At a news conference Tuesday, area Muslim leaders called the beating a hate crime. They allege that a group of 10 white men repeatedly swore at Shoaib and told him "go back to where you came from."

But the neighbor involved in the incident, Kelly DuVall, 40, tells a different story. She said Shoaib started the argument when he admonished her about smoking on her front lawn near his children.

Both DuVall and Shoaib, 51, said this isn't the first clash between them since DuVall moved to the neighborhood in February.

Was it ten, or was it one? I don't know. The hysterical rants coming from local Muslim leaders though, make it sound like someone had just blown up an embassy, or a bus, or a pizza parlor, or a - wait a minute - Muslim leaders always either ignore or excuse those crimes because they are traditionally commited by . . . well . . . you know.

We infidels however, are expected to label any crime against a Muslim as a hate crime. On the Free Press website, though, it's now reported that,

A Detroit man suspected of beating a 51-year-old neighbor while hurling ethnic insults at him was charged Wednesday with home invasion in the first degree and assault with intent to do great bodily harm.

Combined, the two charges carry a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

Ernest Domenech, 19 of Detroit, is expected to be arraigned in the case later this afternoon, according to a news release from the office of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

And they are looking for one other man. The other eight alleged attackers aren't mentioned.

If circumstances were different I probably wouldn't make light of this situation. After all, it is wrong to beat up someone in their own home, and I condemn any and all home beaters, no matter what their race, religion, or ethnicity. Due to the pandemonium that the local CAIR spokesman is trying to create though, I have to ask:

Have the root causes for this beating been examined? Was Mr. Domenech being oppressed by his neighbor? Were his actions merely the legitimate resistance to this oppression? Did a crippling poverty lead him to strike out against a colonial oppressor? Will this lead to an anti-infidel backlash?

I have the utmost sympathy for Mr. Shafik Shoaib, but these questions need to be answered. And they only came up because local Muslim spokesmen tried to make much more of this crime than they should have.

Labels: crime, islam