It is important when hatred strikes, as it did yesterday here in Seattle, to invoke the dead, to celebrate them as human beings, to appreciate what they brought to life so that he may feel all the more what has been lost. And we also must note the killer because he is a human being too, though a destructive and malevolent one. Just as there is tragedy on both sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict, so there is a double tragedy in Seattle.
The Seattle Times profiles both the dead and the killer today.
Pam Waechter, Seattle Jewish Federation employee murdered (photo: Seattle Jewish Federation)Pam Waechter, 58, was born in Minnesota and raised Lutheran. Then she met Bill Waechter and when they married she converted to Judaism. It is terribly ironic that a woman who elects to convert to Judaism in order to share the joy and fate of the Jewish people should pay the ultimate price for that commitment. They came to Seattle in 1979 where they raised two children and then divorced.
She was director of the Federation’s annual campaign. [Note: I too have been a fundraiser for two Jewish federations though I never worked at the Seattle Federation] Before that she’d worked at Jewish Family Service.
The Times provides this touching personal background about Waechter:
In both her paid and volunteer work, she was known as a mediator, always bringing a calm, balanced approach to problems.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Pam stepped in to protect other people,” said Marshall Brumer, a past president of Temple B’nai Torah. “That’s the kind of person she was.”
At the Bellevue synagogue this morning, Rabbi James Mirel called Waechter “the most positive, optimistic person you ever met.” From the pulpit, he told the congregation, “Pam would have said, ‘You have to go on.'”
Chuck Hall, 56, of Minneapolis, explained that “no” was the one word his sister wouldn’t say. He described her as a friend to people of all ages, from 20 to 80.
She also was one of his closest friends. They talked about dating after divorce. They talked about what would happen to their children, when they died. Just last week, Hall brought up the conflict in the Middle East, asking the question: When is it ever going to end?
His sister had no answer. She only sighed.
Waechter believed in the basic goodness of people. So if the scene on Friday had unfolded elsewhere, her brother said, she would have called him right away to say: Can you imagine somebody would do that?
She would not have mentioned first the fact that the shooter was Muslim, Hall said. She was not that kind of woman.
Given family history, he said, Waechter was relieved to make it this far in life. Their mother died at age 56, of breast cancer. Waechter always saw that age as a milestone she needed to make it past.
Waechter’s funeral will be 1 p.m. Monday at Temple B’nai Torah, 15727 NE Fourth St., Bellevue, according to the synagogue. The service will be open to the public.
Naveed Haq, Seattle Jewish Federation gunman (photo: 1994 Richland high school yearbook)Naveed Haq, 30, was raised in Pasco, WA in a second-generation Pakistani-American family. The Times provides some information about his family background:
Haq’s parents were shaken by the news that their son was in custody for the shootings, said Haq’s Kennewick defense attorney, Larry Stephenson.
“I talked to his father, and his mother is crying, and they don’t know what is going on,” Stephenson said. “They are very, very shook up. They haven’t been able to reach their son.”
Haq had been charged with misdemeanor lewd conduct in Benton County for allegedly exposing himself in a public place in Kennewick, Stephenson said. He declined to elaborate. The charge is punishable by up to a year in jail.
The case had been scheduled to go to trial in Benton County District Court on Thursday, but was postponed.
Stephenson said he does not believe Haq is married or has children. Stephenson said he did not believe Haq had a job.
Haq went to college, Stephenson said, but he declined to say where.
Asked if Haq had any mental-health issues, Stephenson said he couldn’t comment. “I’m really not OK to discuss that,” he said.
Haq’s father, Mian A. Haq, was a founding member of the Islamic Centre of Tri-Cities in Richland, said center member Youseff Shehadeh. He described the younger Haq as a loner who attended holidays at the center but was barely involved in recent years.
Naveed Haq’s parents moved into a new suburb in Pasco less than three years ago after living in nearby Richland for more than a decade, said Maureen Hales, a neighbor.
Mian Haq was involved in an Islamic center in Richland, but he did not discuss his religion with his neighbors, said Hales.
She said she had not seen Naveed Haq, but found his parents and his younger brother, Hasan, to be “quite enjoyable.” The two families exchanged food, and Maureen Hales said she watches the Haqs’ house when they’re away.
Until two weeks ago, he’d lived in Everett, WA., a small city about 30 miles north of Seattle:
Naveed Haq lived in an apartment building at 2924 Nassau St. in Everett until about two weeks ago, when he abruptly left, said tenant Chris Richey. The landlady told Richey that Haq was heading to Pakistan. Richie often talked with Haq about guns and politics, though little stuck out. Richey said Haq didn’t like President Bush.
Haq told Richey he owned a .45-caliber handgun, which he kept locked up in safety deposit box.
The law-enforcement source said Haq had a license to carry a concealed weapon.
“There was something strange about him,” Richey said. “There was something about him I didn’t like.”
A law enforcement source told the Times that he had a history of mental illness. One wonders how a man with a history of mental illness can get a license to carry a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Yet another example of rampant gun violence and the price society pays for being hijacked by the NRA. He also has a charge of lewd conduct pending against him:
Haq had been charged with misdemeanor lewd conduct in Benton County for allegedly exposing himself in a public place in Kennewick, Stephenson said.
You’ll note that the Lebanon invasion began two weeks ago just as Haq abandoned his Everett home. One wonders whether the two events might be connected. Yesterday, he made his way to the Jewish Federation headquarters with a gun. He forced his way into the building and, after telling employees he was a Muslim who was angry with Israel he began shooting. Pam Waechter, a 58 year old fundraiser for the Federation was killed and five other women were injured, three critically.
Here is what is known of his motivation for the crime:
“He said he hates Israel,” said the source, who is part of the Seattle Joint Terrorism Task Force, which was called in to help investigate the shootings.
…He told the police that it was a hostage situation and he wanted us to get our weapons out of Israel,” said one woman who heard the account from the wounded co-worker.
The Times lists this information about the wounded survivors:
One of the victims was identified by family members as 23-year-old Layla Bush. “We just heard she’s alive a minute or two ago,” said her mother, Kathryn Bush, from her home in Panama City, Fla. The other wounded victims have been identified as Carol Goldman, Dayna Klein, Christina Rexroad and Cheryl Stumbo.
Thankfully, Muslim leaders in Seattle and nationally have condemned the violence.
UPDATE
Another Seattle Times article adds this important information confirming his mental illness and his history of hatred of Jews:
Haq often talked about guns, politics and his dislike of President Bush, Richey said. Haq told Richey he owned a .45-caliber handgun, which he kept locked in a safe-deposit box.
A friend of Haq’s in Everett, who spoke on condition he not be named, said Friday night that Haq was on medication for bipolar disorder and was frustrated by his inability to find a job or a girlfriend. Haq displayed a streak of anti-Semitism, sometimes making offhand comments about Jews.
“He was a loner,” the friend said. “I was probably one of his only friends.”
Although Haq made a point of announcing his Muslim faith before opening fire Friday, he had told the friend he was not a practicing Muslim because he was turned off by the religion’s strict gender divisions.
The article also notes that the feds have apparently decided to invoke a federal hate crime which would remove it from Seattle or state jurisdiction:
A man who answered the door at the Haq family’s house Friday night said the house was a federal crime scene.
This would also feed into the Bush war on terror agenda allowing the Republicans to show how tough they are on domestic terrorism in an election year. Yes, it’s playing politics with the dead time back in D.C.
Thanks for posting the information.
Since I work for a Jewish federation, I’m freaking out about this whole thing. I’m also really upset by how it’s already being seized upon by the seedier side of the blogosphere (and elsewhere) to justify this political position or that (if I hear the word “islamofascism” one more time I’m gonna yak)
Funny how each effort to use violence to make us safer seems to have the opposite effect…
if I hear the word “islamofascism” one more time I’m gonna yak
Would “jihad” be better?
Funny. Really funny.
O.K., some definitions:
Fascism: “Fascism, especially in its early stages, is obliged to be antitheoretical and frankly opportunistic in order to appeal to many diverse groups. Nevertheless, a few key concepts are basic to it. First and most important is the glorification of the state and the total subordination of the individual to it. The state is defined as an organic whole into which individuals must be absorbed for their own and the state’s benefit. This “total state” is absolute in its methods and unlimited by law in its control and direction of its citizens.”
Jihad: Literally means “striving in the way of God.” It can mean a lot of things, including the inner struggle to be a better person.
But yeah, if people want to keep tossing around “islamofascism”, “jihad”, etc. (oh, and my favorite today on the other side: “Jewish fascism”, bring me a bucket!!!
But yeah, if people want to keep tossing around “islamofascism”, “jihad” . . .
So address the aptness of the terms.
He already did. What was it about his comment you didn’t understand? Both terms are wholly inapt. Well, ‘Islamofacist’ is wholly inapt because the Islamic fundamentalism the right is decrying has no connection whatsoever to a state or government–in fact it detests most existing Arab states; while ‘jihadist’ is inapt in the sense that the right never acknowledges the other more positive meanings of the word in Arabic.
the Islamic fundamentalism the right is decrying has no connection whatsoever to a state or government
The major goal of Islamist groups is to bring about Islamist governments.
They have succeeded already in Iran. They succeeded in pre-war Afghanistan.
They have taken major steps, at least, towards succeeding
in the PA. (And the party that lost to the Islamists includes a “martyrs brigade.”)
How well or badly does the term “fascist” describe Iran?
‘jihadist’ is inapt in the sense that the right never acknowledges the other more positive meanings of the word in Arabic.
Is that called for when discussing groups such as Islamic Jihad or Laskar Jihad and people who adopt a similar ideology?
We can argue semantics till the cows come home but it won’t clarify matters much. Hezbollah is currently being called ‘Islamofascists’ & they have not created such an Islamic state. They are members of a democratic goverment, democratically elected. Unless of course you’d like to call those participating in such a government facists. But then of course the other side could call democratically elected Israeli right wingers like Avigdor Lieberman fascists.
What a load of horse crap. Prove it.
Regarding the term ‘jihadist,’ it is the practice of propagandists like LGF & other pro-Israel partisans not to make distinctions that might weaken their argument. So yes, their use of the term is misleading & deliberately so. Whenever my own arguments can be attenuated by conflicting realities I try to acknowledge this. Not so most of the ideologues on the other side of this argument.
Hezbollah is currently being called ‘Islamofascists’ & they have not created such an Islamic state.
They are an Islamist Shi’ite party in a country where Shi’ites are a minority. The question is what sort of ideology they represent and that idoeology’s concept of how to organize a state. Are we agreed up to that point? If Hizbullah could have any kind of government it wanted, would the rulers be clerics? Would it be legal to criticize them?
They have taken major steps, at least, towards succeeding in the PA What a load of horse crap. Prove it.
Prove that Hamas won an election and that it is now the official government of the PA in some sense? That is what I meant by “major steps.” Do you want me to prove that Hamas is an Islamist group? Do you want me to prove that Islamist groups advocate totalitarian theocracy? Let’s be very clear on where we disagree.
Now we’re engaging in hypotheticals. Hezbollah does not control any government. I don’t know what type of government it would like to organize if it could do so. But I do know that the remainder of the country would be adamantly, even violently opposed to a Shiite Islamist government for Lebanon. There would prob. be another civil war against the notion. So Hezbollah would be hindered from realizing whatever wishes it might have to do what you believe it wants to do. Hezbollah has proven itself to be quite pragmatic in political terms & I’m certain realizes that it cannot realize such ambitions IF it has them.
No, you were claiming that Hamas has taken “major steps” toward realizing a radical Islamist government. That is patently false. It was democratically elected and eventually it will be democratically unelected if the opposition can ever get it’s s(^t together & stop its corruption long enough to win an election. Hamas has not imposed or attempted to impose such an Islamist state in Palestine. We can all try to look into people’s minds & try to read what their intent might be if they had their way. But the pt. is that in a democracy with a strong opposition, the ruling majority doesn’t get to realize its full goals. It has to compromise & Hamas has shown an ability & willingness to do so w. Fatah.
You are being terribly alarmist.
Now we’re engaging in hypotheticals. Hezbollah does not control any government. I don’t know what type of government it would like to organize if it could do so. But I do know that the remainder of the country would be adamantly, even violently opposed to a Shiite Islamist government for Lebanon. There would prob. be another civil war against the notion.
It isn’t hypothetical. Hizbullah has already achieved sub-statehood. A civil war might be a favorable development
for them.
No, you were claiming that Hamas has taken “major steps” toward realizing a radical Islamist government. That is patently false.
Why? They are radical Islamists and they are officially the government. That sounds like a radical islamist government to me. They have to deal with rivals who are not so keen on giving up power, but a brute struggle for power does not equal democratic checks and balances.
We can all try to look into people’s minds & try to read what their intent might be if they had their way. But the pt. is that in a democracy with a strong opposition, the ruling majority doesn’t get to realize its full goals. It has to compromise & Hamas has shown an ability & willingness to do so w. Fatah.
It is not a question of reading minds. These groups have a public ideology. Their leaders make statements. They exhibit despotism and have despotic allies. And who says Fatah is a force for democracy? We could adopt, if you like,
a project for both of our blogs. Pick Hizbullah or Hamas and we’ll do an extended close-up examination of what sort of ideology and goals we are dealing with.
Not at all. They are only a radical Islamist government if they enact laws and adhere to a political agenda that represents a radical Islamist government. Do you really think Al Qaeda or any true Islamic radicals would be happy with the government Hamas has formed? Besides, Hamas will shortly enter into a unity government with Fatah in which it will be forced to share power with a secular party which finds Hamas’ theocratic views anathema. Does this sound like a radical Islamist party about to impose its will on all of Palestinian society? Hardly.
Regarding Hamas & Fatah’s ideology…I didn’t say I like what they represent. We’d both love a nice social democratic party to arise in Palestine which would govern responsibly & competently. That simply ain’t gonna happen any time soon for reasons too numerous to go into here. We’ve got to deal with the political cards we’re dealt & not with the hand we wish we’d been dealt. Hamas was elected to lead for the time being. They’re the hand we’ve been dealt. Deal with it.
From what I’ve read here, Ms Waechter would have been horrified to hear her death would be the cause for a heated semantic debate between Jews over the appropriate term for those who set out to embroil the world in conflict…
She sounds like a wonderful human being and one that I would be have been lucky to get to know. Before I read the article this morning, I knew a person was killed in Seattle. Now I know of a wonderful human being who sounds very much like people many people I know and love.
This was an tragedy born by so many wrongs in our world. A deeply disturbed individual in a society that treats not only the mental ill with comtempt, but gives very little value to those who strive to help them (my wife is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker).
Until we repair the world – so many tragedies – so much loss and pain and suffering…
I don’t want to be vindictive toward’s the suspect’s family or community; I want to believe that they are sincerely shaken to the core over this incident, had no part in influencing the outcome, and sincerely believe it’s contrary to what they hold sacred.
His previous charge of lewd behavior and history of mental disorders does give solid creedence to the idea that it wasn’t out of “religious” or political conviction that led him to commit murder – the “murder” charge of course pending the outcome of the trial or plea bargain.
However, a question which I believe warrants investigation is WHY events turned this way.
There is unfortunately no shortage of people with serious mental disorders. Without statistics to cite, it’s reasonable to assume that the majority are not violent. It’s quite one thing for someone lacking the proper psychological bearings to be a functional person to develop delusions and illusions of all kinds such as UFOs listening in on phone calls (especially when Dept of Homeland Security is much more efficient at that).
However, it’s another thing in its entirety to accept absorb the stock and trade propaganda of hatemongers and take it to it’s lethal extreme.
Are we compelled for moral or inter-communal peace reasons to accept face value that it was all created in a vacuum and that in no way shape or form was this a product of his environment? Is maintaining what I define as a dose of healthy skepticism towards all the condemnations (until sincerity is displayed beyond a reasonable doubt) a negative or counterproductive approach if it serves as a preventive measure to furture incidents of this type, Heaven Forbid?
My wife just told me about a Seattle PI story (which I haven’t yet read) which describes Haq’s mother begging him not to make this trip to Seattle. She says she “had a bad feeling” about what might happen. But she could not persuade him not to go & of course she had no idea what he was planning.
I think when you’re dealing w. severe mental illness (as this individual seems to face) looking for root causes in his environment is problematic. The mentally ill take their cues from many different sources not all of which are their parental upbringing.
Of course to an extent the Muslim community’s response is self-serving. They want to protect themselves fr. a backlash so they express concern. But I have no doubt that many, many Muslims are genuinely aghast at this and feel genuine sorrow for what’s happened. I’d like to think that despite our religious/political differences that we can have enough fellow feeling for ea. other to experience sincere emotions of regret & revulsion.