Home grown Romanian Islamic terrorist

[jmbejdl]

I'm frankly amazed by this report:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5121714.stm

Romania is practically the last place that I'd imagine producing Islamic converts let alone terrorists (I've only ever come across one mosque in the whole country, for instance. That's in Constanta, which has always had a rather strong Turkish and Greek influence). I guess it shows that the threat is spreading to places where you'd least expect it. Thank goodness the police caught him before he managed to carry out his attack.

James

 

[nikolaos]

No one can be sure about anything these  days.

 

[CRCulver]

I believe there's a large mosque in Bucharest, as well.

When I visited Sofia recently, I was angered to see a large mosque in the city centre that was apparently kept up with public funds since it was considered a historic landmark. Posters placed on the outside walls proclaimed the goodness of Islam. A Orthodox government should have razed it to the ground.

 

[jmbejdl]

I believe there's a large mosque in Bucharest, as well.

Could be. I haven't sen it if there is, but then I try to spend as little time in Bucharest as humanly possible. It's a terrible place. In any case, there are really very few Muslims in Romania as a proportion of the population. Although there are some they are such a small minority as to be virtually invisible.

James

 

[DerekMK]

A Orthodox government should have razed it to the ground.

So we should then expect what's left of the Phanar to be also razed to the ground.... we can't play by two sets of rules.   

 

[Tikhon29605]

Forgive my ignorance, since I have never traveled to Romania, but what makes Bucharest so terrible? There are a growing number of Romanians in my home parish now, and several families (including my priest and his son) have taken them up on their invitation to visit Romania. None, however, have mentioned Bucharest. Father Marcus really liked Cluj and got to meet the archbishop there in person. All the people that have visited have remarked that the Romanians are a lovely, warm, kind people.

 

[jmbejdl]

Forgive my ignorance, since I have never traveled to Romania, but what makes Bucharest so terrible? There are a growing number of Romanians in my home parish now, and several families (including my priest and his son) have taken them up on their invitation to visit Romania. None, however, have mentioned Bucharest. Father Marcus really liked Cluj and got to meet the archbishop there in person. All the people that have visited have remarked that the Romanians are a lovely, warm, kind people.

It's nothing to do with the people. I love Romanians (I ought to as I married one). To be honest, I feel more at home in Romania than I do in Britain because whilst here I have always been made to feel an outsider, in Romania I have rarely encountered anything but warmth and acceptance. My problem with Bucharest, besides a general hatred for large cities, is that due to Ceausescu's 'modernisation' it's a sort of cold, concrete, communist jungle with no soul. Add to that the fact that it's dirty, run down and, like most capitals, markedly less friendly than elsewhere in the country and you've got most of the way towards why I (and an awful lot of Romanian friends and acquaintances, too) hate it so much. Add to that my memories of the place in the mid-90's when it was truly awful and you're all the way there. Back then it was dangerous as well as poor and dirty, the street children and packs of feral dogs were almost everywhere and the main station looked like it had just come through WWII, even down to the crippled beggars in military uniform. I don't think I've ever quite got over the shock of that place when confronted by it as a naive, 18 year old travelling alone. Maybe it's better now, but I'm not willing to risk it.

James

 

[Sloga]

I love Romania . I swear if I wasn't serbian, I'd wanna be romanian. Every romanian person I know here, is just so...friendly and enthusiastic. Romania also has the highest % of believers in God, in all of europe, despite HARSH years of communism. Its only normal that your going to have muslim converts, dont worry. Be happy your not in a messed up situation with such a high muslim population like your neighbours, Serbia and Bulgaria. It could also be a possibility that this guy had a mental illness. You never know.


Offtopic- Nice to see Romania's president Basescu is against the independance of Kosovo  ;D

 

[pensateomnia]

Add to that my memories of the place in the mid-90's when it was truly awful and you're all the way there. Back then it was dangerous as well as poor and dirty, the street children and packs of feral dogs were almost everywhere and the main station looked like it had just come through WWII, even down to the crippled beggars in military uniform. I don't think I've ever quite got over the shock of that place when confronted by it as a naive, 18 year old travelling alone. Maybe it's better now, but I'm not willing to risk it.

I was in Bucharest in the summer of 2000. Not bad at all, considering what it's been through (and in comparison to certain Eastern European capitals which shall remain nameless!). There were no more packs of feral dogs, at least during the day, and the gypsies weren't any worse than in other cities. I think the government has cleaned things up quite a bit since the mid-90s (during which time it was rather bad, based on all reports).

That said, the old Parisan charm of Bucharest is indeed hard to come by. Many areas of the city are little more than blocks of cement (which means things get VERY hot in the summer). You just have to have an expert guide. I went with a friend of mine who took me to all the great old neighborhoods (what's left of them), the elegant parks, the national museums (of which there are several excellent ones, including the national museum of Romanian architecture, which is absolutely astounding, beautiful and extremely interesting). There are also some very nice monasteries in different parts of the city. Of course, now that Elder Sofian has passed away, one can't visit him, but his monastery is still worth a visit. Also, there are a number of excellent parish priests in Bucharest, many of whom are very good preachers, and there are some nice student-led Orthodox movements. In general, I liked the Churches, since they were solidly Orthodox but also a bit more academically inclined (which only makes sense because of all of the students). Of course, it helped tremendously that we had a car. The public transit in the city is absolutely PACKED, and there is no shortage (of course) of young Romanian lovers swapping spit, despite the fact that they are literally pressed up against you (and several other people on all sides). That said, it's very interesting to be in a packed bus of "strangers," many of whom cross themselves in unison with you as the bus passes by a Church. Tells you something, no?

Nevertheless, Bucharest still can't even begin to compete with Moldovia and Bucovina.

 

[JoeS]

No one can be sure about anything these days.

Western democracies contain the seeds of their own distruction.