So something horrible has happened on Zanzibar.  Two British women have been splashed with acid in another acid attack on women in an Islamic country.  The two were volunteer teachers (proving yet again that no good deed goes unpunished) and were walking to dinner when two men on a motorcycle performed their drive-by attack.

While what has happened to the two teachers is tragic, this statement from Zanzibar’s Minister of Tourism is hilarious, although not in a good way:

“And I beg our nationals, this is not something they should be doing. Tourism is the strongest pillar of our economy, so if we do such acts we are killing our economy, and our livelihoods in general.”

“So it is not an honourable thing to do, it’s a bad thing and it should be condemned by all citizens of Zanzibar.”

So what has happened isn’t dishonorable because it’s wrong to splash women with acid, it’s dishonorable because it might ruin the tourism industry.  Perhaps this proves that the profit motive really is the best way to bring us all together as one.  Zanzibar, like other regions in crisis, is torn between people who want to turn it into a paradise island for tourists, and people who want to turn it into a fundamentalist religious state.  We’ll see which one wins.