Add me to a relatively short list of people on social media who are not making any particular gesture of sympathy and solidarity with the people of France who have been whammed for the second time in a year by the bloody-minded foot-soldiers of Islam. It’s not that I don’t care, and that I don’t feel the least shred of human sympathy for those people who went out for a drink and a good meal at a popular restaurant, a raucous rock concert, a soccer game, and then had their lives changed forever if not ended entirely. It’s just that at this particular point in time, I am a bit tired of making easy feel-good, symbolic gestures about Islamic terrorism. Once you’ve made them … then, what for a follow-up?
I’ve so been to this rodeo before. 9-11. Beslan. The train bombings in Madrid. The bus bombings in London. The slaughter in the streets of Mumbai, and at the Boston Marathon finishing line. Westgate Mall. The murder of staff members of Charlie Hebdo, and the Jewish supermarket in Paris. Intifada without end in Israel. Und so weiter. I won’t even start on the list of bombings and slaughters across the Middle East; merely observe in passing that in those circumstances the usual Muslim suspects are slaughtering each other, rather than doing the business to outsiders.
The only thing more inevitable than the candle-light vigils, the moments of silence and the mounds of flowers piled up at the sites are the lamentations from the Muslim communities about the never-yet materialized anti-Muslim backlash. There comes a point where one gets tired of it all, of doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results. There is a lack of seriousness about the problem of deliberate Islamic aggression in Western countries; an unwillingness to defend those values we have developed sometimes painfully over a long time; values such as freedom of speech and intellectual inquiry, a separation between the state and religion, a rule of law and not of the mob one law, applied equally across class, race and sexual divides and an unfettered press. This lack of serious intent is perhaps more marked in Western Europe, as it appears from various sources. The various no-go areas common to French metropolitan areas are not so firmly established in the US yet, and the mass sexual trafficking of vulnerable young women by Muslim men so recently demonstrated in places like Rotherham, England appears to have been landed on like a ton of bricks by civil authorities in the US. We are not yet being swamped by thousands of Middle Eastern faux-refugees arriving daily, as is happening in Germany.
But Beslan, Mumbai, Westgate, Charlie Hebdo … it will happen here, and probably sooner than later. Not all the candle-light vigils, moments of silence, and sorrowful hashtags and logos will prevent it. Only determination on the part of individuals and our leaders to do the difficult, the harsh and the necessary will do that.
The local news radio station reported yesterday a bomb threat against a local mosque. Then they reported that the state police had interviewed the individual who appeared to be responsible, but didn’t arrest him. Then they played a ~20 second sound bite from the local CAIR spokesman who said what you’d expect him to say.
So, what happened here? I assume the police would have arrested anyone who really had made a bomb threat against a mosque. Did this individual say something that wasn’t a threat but that the mosque reported as a threat? Or what?
What’s clear is that the ratio station decided that it’s reasonable to call CAIR for response on this story, and did not provide any background about CAIR beyond identifying it as the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
So, what happened here?
I agree. My parents taught me long, long ago that you can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.
When the Euroweenies start to show that they understand they have a problem and are truly desirous of addressing it in an effective way, I’ll start paying attention and offer what support I can.
In the meantime, there’s no point in wasting my time and energy.
When the supposedly moderate, peaceful majority of Muslims start making life very uncomfortable for the jihadis, I will believe they are moderate and peaceful. Simply “not supporting” jihadis is completely inadequate. They must actively oppose them, boot them from their mosques, socially isolate them, get them out of their communities. Then, and only then will I believe the moderate, peaceful Muslims want to live with us peacefully. Until then they just haven’t joined up yet.
You will know France is serious when they start taking aggressive measures to regain control of their own suburbs (“banlieue”). I will be over here waiting, but not holding my breath.
Here are the two best articles I have read on the impact of Friday the 13th on French, and European, politics:
“Why France will do nothing about the Paris Massacre: Spengler” By David P. Goldman on November 15, 2015
http://atimes.com/2015/11/why-france-will-do-nothing-about-the-paris-massacre/
“Why the Paris Massacre Will Have Limited Impact” by Daniel Pipes ”¢ Philadelphia Inquirer ”¢ November 17, 2015
http://www.danielpipes.org/16272/why-the-paris-massacre-will-have-limited-impact
Do read both of them, they may be depressing, but I think they grasped the nettle.
Seen on Instapundit, posted by Ed Driscoll:
SEEN ON FACEBOOK: “It must be incredibly frustrating as an Islamic terrorist not to have your views and motives taken seriously by the societies you terrorize, even after you have explicitly and repeatedly stated them,” self-described “Iraqi born writer & founder of the Global Secular Humanist Movement” Faisal Saeed Al Mutar notes:
Even worse, those on the regressive left, in their endless capacity for masochism and self-loathing, have attempted to shift blame inwardly on themselves, denying the terrorists even the satisfaction of claiming responsibility.
It’s like a bad Monty Python sketch:
“We did this because our holy texts exhort us to to do it.”
“No you didn’t.”
“Wait, what? Yes we did”¦”
“No, this has nothing to do with religion. You guys are just using religion as a front for social and geopolitical reasons.”
“WHAT!? Did you even read our official statement? We give explicit Quranic justification. This is jihad, a holy crusade against pagans, blasphemers, and disbelievers.”
“No, this is definitely not a Muslim thing. You guys are not true Muslims, and you defame a great religion by saying so.”
“Huh!? Who are you to tell us we’re not true Muslims!? Islam is literally at the core of everything we do, and we have implemented the truest most literal and honest interpretation of its founding texts. It is our very reason for being.”
“Nope. We created you. We installed a social and economic system that alienates and disenfranchises you, and that’s why you did this. We’re sorry.”
“What? Why are you apologizing? We just slaughtered you mercilessly in the streets. We targeted unwitting civilians – disenfranchisement doesn’t even enter into it!”
“Listen, it’s our fault. We don’t blame you for feeling unwelcome and lashing out.”
“Seriously, stop taking credit for this! We worked really hard to pull this off, and we’re not going to let you take it away from us.”
“No, we nourished your extremism. We accept full blame.”
“OMG, how many people do we have to kill around here to finally get our message across?”
Ooops. Here is the link I should have added above:
http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/219146/
If you’re waiting on our Leaders to act, they have – they opened the borders. A harsh but necessary act the possessed the Will to carry out.
Against us.
I hear that some bien pensant French are blaming the Paris terror attack on Israel, Jews, and America.
Such foolishness does not inspire sympathy or a desire to help.
“When the supposedly moderate, peaceful majority of Muslims start making life very uncomfortable for the jihadis, I will believe they are moderate and peaceful.”
This.
And the same goes for the American Left, which be relied on to make empty expressions of support for liberty in between thuggish attacks on its enemies du jour.