These past few days, the world’s eyes have been turned toward the Virginia Tech massacre; the Moroccan blogosphere in particular notes the connection that Fox News has tried to make between Islam and the Virginia Tech gunman.

Bo18, a blogger of the Moroccan diaspora, says, “You could’ve guessed it. Fox News created a subtle link between the mass-shooting and Islam.”

Fox News, in the aforementioned article, says “[Cho Seung-Hui] apparently had scrawled the words “ISMAIL AX” on the inside of one arm, which may be a reference to the Islamic account of the Biblical sacrifice of Abraham.”

Some bloggers were angry that the focus was turned away from helping the victims’ families and the university move on. Myrtus says in her blog, “…can we please focus on the healing process instead?” She then adds, “All the ugly speculations and finger-pointing to lay blame on the university officials, on America, on the police, and even go as far as connecting the murder to Islam are absurd to say the least!”

Another blogger, Eatbees, is not surprised by the incident, saying “Nihilistic mass murderers no longer surprise me in America, because they are a cultural phenomenon that surfaces every now and then. No one can deny we have a culture of violence, with blood on our hands from the Pilgrims to Fallujah.”

Blogger Laila Lalami sums it up well: “People look for intrinsic reasons for Cho’s acts, when the simpler explanation–to the extent that such a horrendous act can ever be explained–is that Cho was a mentally ill young man, who should never have had access to guns.”

Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.