On May 20, 2006, at 8:37 PM, Ray Saintonge wrote:
I just look through [[Abu Hamza al-Masri]] and
find no mention of a
connection with the 9/11 incident.
"Hamza has publicly expressed support for al-Qaeda [and] Osama bin
Laden."
Again, I'm not claiming he was connected to 9/11, only that he
supports that kind of violence. Consider:
"John Doe has publicly expressed support for the Khmer Rouge [and]
Pol Pot."
If anyone came on this listserv publicly identifying with such a John
Doe, I'd want to run him out for the same reason.
To me the issue is not whether he supports these causes, but how he does
so. NPOV allows a place for supporters of al-Qaeda to make their pitch
about whatever may be good about it. Rather than run them out it would
be to our broad advantage if these individuals learned to express these
views in a more constructive manner.
For someone like our Abu Hamza (who at first appearance seems to have
indeed engaged in unacceptable editing) it would help if we had mentors
available who are sympathetic but rationale in dealing with such points
of view. Perhaps they could pull aside and counsel these wilder newbies
in techniques for constructively presenting their opinions.
Ec