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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 10671079" data-attributes="member: 218596">THE CANNIBALISM AND BLOODBATHS OF THE CRUSADESButchery and Cannibalism in Ma'arra Following their vicious capture of Antioch, the brutal Western Crusaders  moved on southward, raiding and pillaging town after town on their way  to Jerusalem. On their way south, the unfortunate Arab Syrian city of  Ma'arra was situated. In December 1098, the city of Ma'arra, whose most  important son was the Arab genius philosopher/poet Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri  (973-1057), experienced horrific cannibalism against its Arab  inhabitants at the hands of the barbaric European Crusaders. Ironically,  this cannibalistic feast was predicted in a way by al-Ma'arri who died  only 41 years before it happened. Actually, al-Ma'arri, who deeply  influenced Dante, dared to attack religious fanatics (Christians,  Muslims, and Jews) and even showed his irreligious audacity (in that  early eleventh-century time) by writing: "The inhabitants of the earth  are of two sorts: Those with brains, but no religion, and those with  religion, but no brains." [24]The uncivilized Western Christian Crusaders proved al-Ma'arri right by  quickly reducing his birthplace to a heap of ruins. A peaceful Syrian  agricultural city, Ma'arra had no army or militia. Its economy was based  only on grapes, olives, and figs. Its unarmed Arab inhabitants  courageously resisted the crippling two-week Crusader siege of their  city by all means available to them, including a desperate attempt by  hurling packed beehives on the European invaders. Hopeless and fearful of genocide similar to the one that had taken place  in Antioch a few months earlier, most of Ma'arra's notables finally  decided to accept the word of the Crusaders' leader, Bohemond, who  promised to spare the lives of all the city's citizens if they would  surrender. But Bohemond, the ruthless ruler and butcher of Antioch,  proved once again that he was the vicious Western animal that he really  was. In the words of one writer, on December 11, 1089, "The ...  [Crusaders] arrived at dawn. It was carnage. For three days they put  people to the sword, killing more than a hundred thousand people and  taking many prisoners." [25]The Crusaders' chronicler at the time, Radulph of Caen, not only  admitted this genocide, but also added, with pride, the following  horrifying words: "In Ma'arra our troops boiled pagan</blockquote>

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