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Captain Willard
Joined: 11 Sep 2010
Posts: 251
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 Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:04 pm Post subject: Student kills American teacher in northern Iraq |
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| Reuters wrote: |
ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - An Iraqi student shot dead his American teacher and then shot himself in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Thursday, the provincial governor said.
"There was an argument between the student and his American teacher ... and as a result of that argument the student shot dead his teacher using a pistol he had, and then shot himself," said Sulaimaniya Province Governor Zan Mohammad Salih.
He said the student had survived the shooting and was now in hospital.
Salih gave the American teacher's name as Jeremiah Small and identified the student as Beyar al-Talabani.
"We cannot say there is a political or religious dimension to the incident and the investigation is still going on. It is an ordinary criminal incident," the governor said....
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http://news.yahoo.com/student-kills-american-teacher-northern-iraq-113515733.html
The hazards of teaching in the Middle East. Sounds like a grading or attendance problem. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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Failed him on a test??  |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 3:48 pm Post subject: |
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In a country with so much going on, this sort of thing isn't surprising. But we usually hear about it in the US - easy access to weapons being the problem.
It could also be an honor killing... an affair or a perceived affair...
Always a sad story for both sides when something like this happens.
VS |
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Captain Willard
Joined: 11 Sep 2010
Posts: 251
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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From this account, the motive could have been religion. The teacher was there to teach them gym, and he was praying in the classroom and praising Christianity. Proselytizing Christianity is not welcome when 95% of the population is muslim, nor is it wise.
| CBSNews wrote: |
Authorities in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah said 18-year-old Biyar Sarwar shot his gym teacher, U.S. citizen Jeremiah Small, before turning the gun on himself at a private English-speaking school during a morning sports lecture. Sarwar died later at a nearby hospital.
Small, 33, was from Cosmopolis, a town in western Washington state near the coast. His father, J. Dan Small, confirmed the death on his Facebook page. "Our oldest, Jeremiah, was martyred in Kurdistan this a.m.," the elder Small wrote....
Sulaimaniyah police spokesman Sarkawit Mohammed, no relation to Ahmed, said the shooting appeared to be a murder-suicide, but provided no motive. He said Sarwar hid the gun in his clothes before the lecture at the Medes School, a private Christian academy of elementary through secondary grade level classes.
The Medes program runs three schools in the provinces that make up Iraq's northern Kurdish region, boasting an enrollment of about 2,000 students. According to the schools' website, American staff often teach one or two courses each semester. An estimated 95 percent of the students are from Kurdish Muslim families.
Students described Small as a devout Christian who frequently praised Christianity and prayed in the classroom. However, Sulaimaniyah Mayor Zana Hama Saleh said Small was not a missionary and cast doubt that the killing was motivated by sectarian issues because Sarwar "had no radical religious tendencies." |
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57388372/american-gym-teacher-dies-in-iraq-school-shooting/?tag=strip |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes, but the school apparently was an openly Christian academy, so presumably the students were aware and accepting of Christians. The fact that the victims' father has called his son a 'martyr' might indicate some relatively radical Christian beliefs, though... |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:27 pm Post subject: |
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Dear spiral78,
"However, Sulaimaniyah Mayor Zana Hama Saleh said Small was not a missionary and cast doubt that the killing was motivated by sectarian issues because Sarwar "had no radical religious tendencies."
Perhaps that's because "radicals" never regard themselves as being "radical".
Regards,
John |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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Dear John:
My own parents' religious views seem quite radical to me, but they certainly wouldn't describe themselves in that way by any means. So, I can entirely
understand how someone whose personal faith (of whatever persuasion) is strongly devout and heart-felt can come across as a radical without necessarily seeing themselves that way.
Though the use of the word 'martyr' would seem to imply fairly openly that the father's view is that his son was killed in the process of trying to spread his faith, I think....
...aren't only missionaries martyred, essentially? Or am I just being pedantic here??
Best,
spiral |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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Dear spiral78,
Using the term "martyr" would seem to me to indicate that the father felt his son was killed FOR his faith (though perhaps not necessarily for actively trying to spread it).
But we'd have to be privy to just what the word "martyr" means to the father.
Regards,
John |
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