The New York Times reports that “a weekend of vicious ethnic violence” left as many as 500 members of a Christian ethnic group murdered and thousands injured in Nigeria “near the city of Jos, long a center of tensions between Christians and Muslims.” On Sunday, March 7, as early as three o’clock in the morning, Hausa-Fulani Muslim attackers “planted nets and animal traps outside the huts of the villagers, mainly peasant farmers, fired weapons in the air, then attacked with machetes,” the Los Angeles Times writes. According to the BBC, “the latest violence is thought to be revenge for similar clashes in January when days of deadly violence in the central Plateau State left more than 300 dead, most of them Muslims.” President of Civil Rights Congress Shehu Sani noted that “the latest violence strongly resembled the killings in January” when Kuru Karama, a predominantly Muslim village, “was virtually wiped out, and bodies were thrown into pits and latrines,” the New York Times reports. Sani visited the villages where the attacks occurred and interviewed dozens of survivors, The Los Angeles Times writes. Sani noted that the attacks this year are more sinister: “they are carefully planned and brutal, with hundreds of villagers killed—including babies, the elderly and anyone else unable to flee.” Times Online reports that frightened Christians are leaving their villages in central Nigeria after receiving threats of further attacks from those responsible for the massacre on the 7th of March.
Religion
Facing Today helps educators connect the study of history to issues in our world today. We select current websites, articles, films and blogs that reflect universal themes, such as identity, membership and participation, represented in our scope and sequence. Each media resource is linked to related Facing History materials, including study guides, videos and lessons.
Subscribe to get the latest Facing Today updates directly into your feed reader-
March 10, 2010
-
February 24, 2010
On February 10th, members of the Al-Farooq Islamic Center in South Nashville arrived for their morning prayers only to find that their building had been vandalized. Nashville City Paper reports that “the words ‘Muslims Go Home’ and a crusade-style cross [had been] spray-painted in red across the front of the center, which doubles as a mosque.” They also found a handwritten note taped to the youth training building; “the words ‘The Enemy Is Islam’ were underlined across the top, and the note was filled with statements tying Muslims to Satan and the downfall of Western nations.” One East Nashville resident was driving by the center on Wednesday and saw the graffiti. “ ‘When I saw it, I just broke down crying,’ the self-described unemployed truck driver said.” The resident immediately bought stain-blocker paint, brushes, rollers, and rags, and came back to the Center to help remove the hateful words. On February 13th, the Islamic Center of Nashville held an event planned long before the hate crime, and “opened their doors to inform, educate, and clear up any misconceptions about Islam,” NBC affiliate WSMV writes. One of the Center’s leaders, Salaad Nur, said “ ‘This is our home. If they indicated that they want us to go home, we want to let them know, we are already here.’ ” The Tennessean reports that 150 people attended the open house.
-
February 3, 2010
Just over two months ago, Switzerland banned the building of new minarets. “A poster was widely cited as having galvanized votes for the Swiss measure but was also blamed for exacerbating hostility toward immigrants and instigating a media and legal circus,” Michael Kimmelman of The New York Times reports. The poster depicted minarets rising like missiles from a Swiss flag with a woman wearing a niqab glaring next to it, and the word “stop” written below. Kimmelman states “the obvious message: Minarets lead to Sharia law.” Alexander Segert, who designed the Swiss minaret poster, told Kimmelman “ ‘if what we do stirs up controversy, then we’ve already won the election.’ ” Political scientist Marc Bühlmann agreed, explaining that “ ‘the aim in making the posters is to be as racist as possible, so then when critics complain, the populists can say elites don’t want ordinary people to know the truth. And the media fall for it every time.’ ” Designers like Segert are successful because, as Segert put it, “ ‘we know how to reduce information to the lowest level, so people respond without thinking.’ ”
