Ramadan Rampage
Yes, it is that time of year again: Ramadan, when the Muslim faithful believe Allah handed down the first verses of the Koran to Muhammad. It is increasingly also a time when infidels are beheaded, stabled, blown up, run down and shot. This year is no different.
Yes, it is that time of year again: Ramadan, when the Muslim faithful believe Allah handed down the first verses of the Koran to Muhammad. It is increasingly also a time when infidels are beheaded, stabled, blown up, run down and shot. This year is no different.
From the Philippines to Kabul, from Egypt to London, the Islamic militants are trying to please Allah the way they like best — killing unarmed women, children and babies. Nearly 150 people have been killed since Ramadan started on May 26th. There are 19 more days to go.
The latest Islamic terror attack took place this weekend in London, England. Seven people were murdered and scores more were wounded. The U.S. is overdue for another attack. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said that it was “right around the corner.”
Did Theresa May Wake Up?
British Prime Minister Theresa May spoke to her country Saturday night and called the attack “Islamist extremism.” Progress moves slowly. She announced a four point plan. She warned British citizens that “We will have to have uncomfortable conservations.”
Churchillian she isn’t. If polls are correct, she has now only a one-point lead over the Labor candidate whose campaign manager is a communist.
Waiting in the wings is the Muslim mayor of London, who urged residents of the teeming city not to be “alarmed.” They should not be afraid, but any civilized man or woman not alarmed is in denial.
Here’s a thought: Victims of the attack were taken to multiple London hospitals. In the maternity wards of those same hospitals, women in the new Britain are choosing the name Mohammed more than any other name for their newborn sons.
Did You Notice?
While European leaders and liberal elites on both sides of the Atlantic condemned the attack, their anger was not nearly as intense as it was at Trump for withdrawing from the Paris climate pact.
President Trump and Vice President Pence both sent condolences and pledges of support. The president praised police and first responders. “We are with you,” was his message.
Trump also tweeted, “We need to be smart, vigilant, and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety.” CNN commentator Resa Aslan, a self-described “modern secular Muslim,” called the president a “piece of sh-t.”
A Few Conclusions
Radical/extremist mosques should be closed, whether they are in Paris, London or Dearborn, Michigan. The French are doing it. So should we.
We need more security, more vigilance, more common sense, more vetting, more reasonable limitations on immigration from Islamic countries. But none of this will work unless our children are taught the value of Western Civilization and unless we rediscover moral courage which creates the necessary political will.
Known Wolves
British authorities have arrested 12 people connected to Saturday’s London attacks. Just like Salman Abedi, who carried out last month’s concert bombing in Manchester, the jihadis who went on this Ramadan rampage were known extremists.
It is extremely disturbing that they could pull off the London attacks, even as British authorities are still actively investigating the Manchester bombing and making arrests in that case. News broke Saturday that a 17th person had been detained in that investigation.
Moreover, The New York Times reported Saturday that Abedi met an ISIS squad in Libya that was “linked to the November 2015 Paris terrorist attack.”
What is the point of “terror watch lists”? Are they nothing more than just that — databases of known extremists that we double check names against AFTER we witness the latest attack?
It turns out that one of the jihadists involved in Saturday’s slaughter had been filmed last year in a documentary about Islamic extremists in Great Britain. He had also been reported to the police several times for his extremism, including “trying to radicalize children in a local park.”
By some estimates, there are at least 3,000 known Islamic extremists in Great Britain. Perhaps as many as 400 have fought for ISIS in Iraq and Syria and returned to the UK.
Islamists who despise Western Civilization do not have to live in Western countries that value religious liberty and women’s rights. The British government should begin tackling its extremism problem by immediately deporting the 400 ISIS fighters and any of the 3,000 extremists who are not British citizens.
Perry’s Pearls of Wisdom
Singer Katy Perry responded to the Manchester bombing by telling her adoring fans, “No barriers, no borders, we all just need to co-exist.”
She followed up on that pearl of wisdom with this gem offered at Sunday night’s benefit concert for the Manchester victims:
It’s not easy to always choose love, is it? Especially in moments like these, right? … But love conquers fear and love conquers hate… Just touch the person next to you. Make human contact. Tell them, ‘I love you.’ … I encourage you to choose love even when it’s difficult.
When I read that statement, a couple of thoughts came to mind. I don’t begrudge anyone trying to make 12- and 13-year-old girls feel better after what they have witnessed in their country. But let me point out the obvious: What is okay to tell 12and 13-year-old girls is not an effective strategy to prevent more 12- and 13-year-old girls from being buried.
If entertainers, misguided clerics and university professors want to sing “Kumbaya” and “Over the Rainbow” together, they should pause to recognize that these are not songs they would be allowed to sing in large portions of the Islamic world.
The problem that the West has, particularly in Europe, is that their anti-Islamic terror policies all too often resemble a Katy Perry concert.
If you want your little boys and girls to grow up to adulthood, all of us in the West better start making adult decisions about how to remove from our midst the people who yearn to kill us.
President Donald Trump gets it. It is hard to find a European leader who does.
Celebrating Israel
Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the 1967 Six-Day War. In the days and weeks prior, vast Arab armies had mobilized on Israel’s borders. On May 28, 1967, Gamal Nasser, the leader of Egypt, declared:
We will not accept any … coexistence with Israel… Today the issue is not the establishment of peace between the Arab states and Israel… The war with Israel is in effect since 1948.
Four days later, President Abdul Rahman Arif of Iraq, said:
The existence of Israel is an error which we must put right. This is our opportunity to wipe out the disgrace which is Israel which has been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear — to wipe Israel off the map.
By this point, more than 450,000 Arab troops, 2,800 tanks and 800 aircraft had surrounded Israel. Then on the morning of June 5, 1967, the Israeli military launched a surprise offensive. In the first day of fighting, the Egyptian and Syrian air forces were largely destroyed.
The Israeli military campaign was stunningly successful. Jerusalem was liberated and reunified on June 7th and the war ended three days later.
As former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren wrote in The New York Times:
Israelis are celebrating 50 years since the Six-Day War — and with good reason. That victory saved us from destruction and reunited our holiest city. Ultimately, it also brought us peace with Egypt and Jordan and a strategic alliance with the United States.
You can read more of Ambassador Oren’s opinion piece here.