Tribute to Lee Rigby.

My favorite part of this blog is that it is mine. I can say what I would like and don’t (for the most part) have to worry about breaking rules. I would like to mention the events of Wednesday, May 22, 2013 in the Woolwich area of London. That afternoon, in complete daylight and visibility, Lee Rigby, a soldier and drummer in the British Military band, was murdered on the sidewalk. He was hit with a car and then stabbed to death. His two attackers then beheaded him and dragged his body into the road to attract attention. While doing this, onlookers watched, photographed, and videotaped. Thursday’s London newspaper’s front page showed the perpetrator waving his blood drenched hands and holding the meat cleaver used in the crime, while he spoke of his Muslim beliefs. How this was an “eye for an eye” for what was happening in Iraq and Afghanistan. When police arrived, the two charged their vehicles and were shot, not killed, and taken into custody.

These hideous attacks complete nothing. Why would killing this soldier in such a revolting way bring any sort of relief to what the perpetrators believed were mistreatment of Muslims in the Middle East. The only thing this did was bring that mistreatment to London. Before facts are known, revenge is taken and biases are made. The day after the killing an Islamic masque had a flammable bottle thrown on it in what appears to be an attempt to set the building on fire. I understand the frustration, the fear, and the anger of war and the military. However I have trouble understanding these attempts at revenge. The murderers are in custody, why do people believe bombing a site of the religion they share with millions of other people would bring relief? Do the children in this masque deserve to die by fire? No. This would be big news here if the roles had been switched and two soldiers had murdered and beheaded an Islamic resident. 

I in no way want to belittle the actual events. The murderers made it extremely clear this attack was directly linked to their beliefs on the war and their religion, which is not being questioned. However I sense this will cause yet another outbreak of Muslim murders and beatings just because of their religion.

The thought of soldiers being targeted and murdered at home terrifies me, and rightfully so. My father, mother, brother, cousins, boyfriend, and myself all serve in the military. I like to believe I understand the risk but obviously not. The horrendous crime the perpetrators committed struck fear and shock worldwide. I believe these two men deserve the absolute worst for punishment, and while it is harsh, I am disappointed the United Kingdom does not have the death penalty. However my point of this story is my judgment on the murderers, not Muslims.

Simply writing this frustrates me to the point of shaking. I have always tired to make a point of this belief but this situation seems to be very fitting. Never, NEVER judge someone’s religion or beliefs against them. I am mainly speaking of Islamic and Muslim beliefs. Even with 9/11 and now this incident, Muslims do not deserve biased judgments that group them as dangerous. It is foreign to our own religion and happens to be our ‘enemies’ religion so we tend to believe they are evil. I am here to say that no American deserves to dislike all Muslims. My father has done more for the this country than anyone I not only know, but could imagine. There is only one person on this earth I believe has done as much for this country, and that would be my dad’s Afghani interpreter. He is young and untrained as a soldier, yet he still went on every mission with my dad. He was hated in some situations because he worked with the Americans. He would write me during deployments to tell me my dad was well, and now continues to write of how he misses my dad but is glad he is safe at home. Now, he is working to become a legal citizen of the U.S., the country he has also fought for, and I get so heated to think of the judgmental looks and sneers he will get from people here thinking of him as a terrorist and an enemy. This man has fought for the freedom for people to judge him as they do. I would like you to keep that in mind the next time you turn your nose to a women in a burka. Perhaps her son is an American soldier, perhaps she herself was an interpreter. It is too easy to think ugly thoughts of others we do not understand.

This may have been a bit of a rant, but I feel it needs to be said. I feel pain for the family and friends of Lee Rigby and hope they can find comfort in some way.