In light of the yesterday's terrorist attack in France, let's take a moment to reflect. Twelve people were killed including four well-known cartoonists at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, who were in a staff meeting. These people spent their talents daring to satirize political leaders, religious leaders, and most importantly showed no fear satirizing Mohammed and Islam. Ironically, Stephane Charbonnier, editor in chief of Charlie Hebdo once quipped that "a drawing has never killed anyone." At this writing, the terrorist are still at large.
This isn't the first time I have written about cartoonists being targeted by Islamic terrorists Remember Molly Norris from her "Draw Mohammed Day" incident in 2010? Her call to pen was in response to a "South Park" episode that was scrapped by weak-kneed television executives who, maybe rightly, feared this kind of scenario.
To keep this all in perspective, here is list of terrorist attacks around the world since 2000. If you make to the bottom of this list, you may notice that attacks are only getting more frequent and the UN responds by declaring that the world must work to curtail...hate speech.
[Note: This list is from Wikipedia and contains only attacks or attempted attacks. There's another long list that contains potential attacks that were stopped before they could carry out any violence.]
2000
Yemen/United States
October 12, 2000 – Attack on the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. 17 American sailors were killed, 39 injured.
Indonesia
December 24, 2000 – Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings of churches in eight cities, 18 killed.
2001
United States
September 11, 2001 – 4 planes hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda hijackers: two planes crashed into World Trade Center and one into the The Pentagon. Nearly 3000 dead.
India
December 13, 2001 – Suicide attack on Indian parliament in New Delhi by Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organizations Jaish-E-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba, aimed at eliminating the top leadership of India and causing anarchy in the country. 7 dead, 12 injured.[12]
Indonesia
October 12, 2002 – 2002 Bali bombings in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people and injuring 240.
2003
Indonesia
August 5, 2003 – 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia; suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the JW Marriott Jakarta lobby, killing 12 and injuring 150
Turkey
November 15–20, 2003 – 2003 Istanbul bombings, killed 57 people and wounded 700.
2004
Spain
March 11, 2004 – Madrid train bombings, killed 191 people and wounded 1,800.
Russia
September 1, 2004 – Beslan school hostage crisis, approximately 344 civilians including 186 children killed.
Indonesia
Australia
September 9, 2004 – 2004 Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia; suicide bomber exploded a one-tonne car bomb, which was packed into a small Daihatsu delivery van, outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan District, South Jakarta killing 9 and injuring over 150
Netherlands
November 2, 2004 – The murder of Theo van Gogh by Amsterdam-born jihadist Mohammed Bouyeri.
2005
India
July 5, 2005 – Attack on the Hindu Ram temple in Ayodhya, India. 6 dead.
United Kingdom
July 7, 2005 – Multiple bombings in London Underground. 53 killed by four suicide bombers. Nearly 700 injured.
Egypt
July 23, 2005 – Bomb attacks at Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian resort city, at least 64 people killed.
Indonesia
October 1, 2005 – 2005 Bali bombings in Jimbaran & Kuta, Bali, Indonesia; a series of bombings kills at least 20 and injures over 100.
India
October 29, 2005 – 2005 Delhi bombings, India. Over 60 killed and over 180 injured in a series of three attacks in crowded markets and a bus.
Jordan
November 9, 2005 – 2005 Amman bombings. a series of coordinated suicide attacks on hotels in Amman, Jordan. Over 60 killed and 115 injured. Four attackers including a husband and wife team were involved.
2006
India
July 11, 2006 – 2006 Mumbai train bombings, Mumbai. Seven bomb blasts over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai. 209 killed and over 700 injured.
2007
United Kingdom
February 1, 2007 – The 2007 plot to behead a British Muslim soldier – A group of British Pakistanis in Birmingham, England planned to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier in order to undermine the morale of the British Army and inhibit recruitment of Muslims.
Iraq
August 14, 2007 – Qahtaniya bombings. Dour suicide vehicle bombings in two predominantly Yazidi towns in northern Iraq. 796 killed, 1,562 wounded.
2008
India
July 26, 2008 – 2008 Ahmedabad bombings. 56 dead, over 200 injured.
India
September 13, 2008 – Bombing series in Delhi, India. Pakistani extremist groups plant bombs at several places including India Gate, out of which the ones at Karol Bagh, Connaught Place and Greater Kailash explode leaving around 30 people dead and 130 injured, followed by another attack two weeks later at the congested Mehrauli area, leaving 3 people dead.
India
November 26, 2008 – Muslim extremists kill at least 166 people and wound numerous others in a series of coordinated attacks on India's financial capital, Mumbai. The government of India blamed Pakistan based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and stated that the terrorists killed/caught were citizens of Pakistan, a claim which the Pakistani government first refused but then accepted when given proof. Ajmal Kasab, one of the terrorists, was caught alive.
2009
Somalia
June 18, 2009 – 2009 Beledweyne bombing by Al-Shabaab. 35 dead.
Indonesia
July 17, 2009 – 2009 Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels bombing in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia; suicide bombers hit the Marriott and 5 minutes later the Ritz-Carlton. 9 killed and 53 injured
United States
November 5, 2009 – Fort Hood shooting, at Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas. 13 dead, 33 injured.
United States
December 23, 2009 - Abdul Farook Abdulmutallab was arrested after Northwest Airlines passengers jumped him to avoid his detonating an explosive device above the city of Detroit.
2010
Russia
March 29, 2010 - Moscow Metro bombings. 40 dead, 102 injured. Caucasus Emirate claimed responsibility.
United States
May 1, 2010 – 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, New York, New York, USA. Faisal Shahzad, an Islamic Pakistani American who received an American citizenship in December 2009, attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square working with the Pakistani Taliban or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Pakistan
May 28, 2010 – Attacks on Ahmadi Mosques Lahore, Pakistan. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed attacks on two mosques simultaneously belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, killing nearly 100 and injuring many others.
India
December 7, 2010 – 2010 Varanasi bombing, India. 2 dead, 37 injured.
Sweden
December 10, 2010 – 2010 Stockholm bombing, Sweden. killing the bomber and injuring two people.
2011
Russia
January 21, 2011 - Domodedovo International Airport bombing. 37 killed, 173 wounded.
Germany
March 2, 2011 – 2011 Frankfurt Airport shooting, Frankfurt, Germany. 2 dead, 2 injured.
China
July 18, 2011 – 2011 Hotan attack, Hotan, China. A group of 18 young Uyghur men who opposed the local government's campaign against the full-face Islamic veil perpetrated a series of coordinated bomb and knife attacks and occupied a police station on Nuerbage Street, killing two security guards and taking eight hostages. The attackers yelled religious slogans, including ones associated with Jihadism.
Nigeria
December 25, 2011 - Christmas Day bombings were bomb blasts and shootings at churches in Madalla, Jos, Gadaka, and Damaturu. Over 41 people are reported dead.[33]
2012
Iraq
January 5, 2012 Iraq bombings, Baghdad and Nasiriyah, Iraq by Islamic State of Iraq. 73 dead, 149 injured.
Iraq
February 23, 2012 Iraq attacks, Baghdad, Iraq by Islamic State of Iraq. 83 dead, 250+ injured.
Iraq
March 20, 2012 Iraq attacks, Baghdad and at least 9 other cities, Iraq. 52 dead, ~ 250 injured.
France
March 20, 2012 – Toulouse and Montauban shootings in France. 7 dead, 5 injured.
Russia
May 3, 2012 - Makhachkala attack. 14 dead, including 2 suicide bombers, 130 wounded.
Libya/United States
September 11, 2012 – 2012 Benghazi attack on the U.S. Consulate. 4 dead, 11 injured.
2013
India
February 21, 2013. – 2013 Hyderabad blasts, two bomb blasts killed 16 people and injured 119.
United States
April 15, 2013. – Boston Marathon bombings. Two brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnev, planted two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The blast killed 3 and injured 183 others. [Trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnev began on Monday in Boston]
Turkey
May 11, 2013 – Reyhanlı bombings, killed 52 people and wounded 140.
United Kingdom
May 22, 2013 – Two men with cleavers kill British soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich.[36][37]
Syria
August, 2014. - Islamic State fighters massacred some 700 people, mostly men, of the Shu'aytat tribe in Deir ez-Zor Governorate.[38]
Kenya
September 21, 2013 – Westgate shopping mall attack, 67 killed, 175 wounded.
Pakistan
September 22, 2013 – Peshawar church attack, 80-83 killed, 250 wounded.
Nigeria
September 29, 2013. - Gujba college massacre. 44 students killed by Boko Haram
2014
Nigeria
February 14, 2014. - Borno Massacre at lest 200 killed by Boko Haram[43]
Nigeria
May 20, 2014. - Jos bombings at least 118 killed and over 56 injured[44]
Belgium
May 24, 2014. - Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting. Gunman opened fire at the Jewish Museum in Brussels killing 4 people.
Australia
September 23, 2014. – 2014 Endeavour Hills stabbings. Numan Haider, an Afghan Australian stabbed two counter terrorism officers in Melbourne, Australia. He was then shot dead.
Russia
October 5, 2014 - 2014 Grozny bombing. 5 officers and the suicide bomber, were killed, while 12 others were wounded.
Canada
October 22, 2014 – 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Lone attacker shot a soldier at a war memorial and attacked Parliament.
United States
October 23, 2014. – Zale H. Thomson, also known as Zaim Farouq Abdul-Malik, attacked four New York policemen in the subway with a hatchet, severely injuring one in the back of the head and injuring another policeman in the arm before being shot to death by the remaining officers, who also shot a bystander.
Nigeria
November 28, 2014. - Kano bombing. Around 120 people were killed and another 260 injured.
Russia
December 4, 2014. - 2014 Grozny clashes. 26 total dead, including 14 policemen, 11 Jihadist from Caucasus Emirate, 1 civilian
Australia
December 15, 2014. – 2014 Sydney hostage crisis.[disputed – discuss] 2 dead, 4 injured.
Pakistan
December 16, 2014. – 2014 Peshawar school attack. Over 140 people dead, including at least 132 children.
Yemen
December 16, 2014. - Two suicide car bombers rammed their vehicles into a Shiite rebels' checkpoint killing 26, including 16 students.
Nigeria
December 18, 2014. - 2014 Gumsuri kidnappings. Boko Haram insurgents killed 32 people and kidnapped at least 185 women and children.
Syria
December 18, 2014. - Mass grave of 230 Tribesmen killed by Islamic State found in Eastern Syria.
Nigeria
December 22, 2014. – Boko Haram insurgents bombed a bus station in the city of Gombe, killing at least twenty people.
Iraq
December, 2014. - Islamic State militants execute 150 women Iraqi province of Al-Anbar, some of whom were pregnant at the time, who refuse to marry their fighters.
Iraq
December 24, 2014. - A suicide bomber killed 33 people and wounded 55 others in Madaen, about 25 km (15 miles) south of Baghdad.
Somalia
December 25, 2014. - Al-Shabaab (militant group) attack in Mogadishu leaves 9 dead.
Cameroon
December 28, 2014. - Boko Haram attacks village in Cameroon leaving 30 dead.
2015
France
January 7, 2015. - At least 12 killed in shooting at office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Paris.
Any questions?
***UPDATE***: Here is an Op/Ed by Ayaan Hirisi Ali Our Duty Is To Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive that was published on The Daily Beast. If you don't know about her, read up. She is truly an inspiring woman. Most recently, Brandeis University cancelled their plans to give her an honorary degree and revoked their invitation to speak at their commencement because they "...cannot overlook that certain of her past statements are inconsistent with Brandeis University’s core values." After reading this article by Ms Ali, I wonder just exactly what those "core values" might be? Incidentally, DB has also published all of the offending cartoons.
This isn't the first time I have written about cartoonists being targeted by Islamic terrorists Remember Molly Norris from her "Draw Mohammed Day" incident in 2010? Her call to pen was in response to a "South Park" episode that was scrapped by weak-kneed television executives who, maybe rightly, feared this kind of scenario.
To keep this all in perspective, here is list of terrorist attacks around the world since 2000. If you make to the bottom of this list, you may notice that attacks are only getting more frequent and the UN responds by declaring that the world must work to curtail...hate speech.
[Note: This list is from Wikipedia and contains only attacks or attempted attacks. There's another long list that contains potential attacks that were stopped before they could carry out any violence.]
2000
Yemen/United States
October 12, 2000 – Attack on the USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. 17 American sailors were killed, 39 injured.
Indonesia
December 24, 2000 – Christmas Eve 2000 Indonesia bombings of churches in eight cities, 18 killed.
2001
United States
September 11, 2001 – 4 planes hijacked by 19 al-Qaeda hijackers: two planes crashed into World Trade Center and one into the The Pentagon. Nearly 3000 dead.
India
December 13, 2001 – Suicide attack on Indian parliament in New Delhi by Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist organizations Jaish-E-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Toiba, aimed at eliminating the top leadership of India and causing anarchy in the country. 7 dead, 12 injured.[12]
Indonesia
October 12, 2002 – 2002 Bali bombings in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people and injuring 240.
2003
Indonesia
August 5, 2003 – 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia; suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the JW Marriott Jakarta lobby, killing 12 and injuring 150
Turkey
November 15–20, 2003 – 2003 Istanbul bombings, killed 57 people and wounded 700.
2004
Spain
March 11, 2004 – Madrid train bombings, killed 191 people and wounded 1,800.
Russia
September 1, 2004 – Beslan school hostage crisis, approximately 344 civilians including 186 children killed.
Indonesia
Australia
September 9, 2004 – 2004 Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta, Indonesia; suicide bomber exploded a one-tonne car bomb, which was packed into a small Daihatsu delivery van, outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan District, South Jakarta killing 9 and injuring over 150
Netherlands
November 2, 2004 – The murder of Theo van Gogh by Amsterdam-born jihadist Mohammed Bouyeri.
2005
India
July 5, 2005 – Attack on the Hindu Ram temple in Ayodhya, India. 6 dead.
United Kingdom
July 7, 2005 – Multiple bombings in London Underground. 53 killed by four suicide bombers. Nearly 700 injured.
Egypt
July 23, 2005 – Bomb attacks at Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian resort city, at least 64 people killed.
Indonesia
October 1, 2005 – 2005 Bali bombings in Jimbaran & Kuta, Bali, Indonesia; a series of bombings kills at least 20 and injures over 100.
India
October 29, 2005 – 2005 Delhi bombings, India. Over 60 killed and over 180 injured in a series of three attacks in crowded markets and a bus.
Jordan
November 9, 2005 – 2005 Amman bombings. a series of coordinated suicide attacks on hotels in Amman, Jordan. Over 60 killed and 115 injured. Four attackers including a husband and wife team were involved.
2006
India
July 11, 2006 – 2006 Mumbai train bombings, Mumbai. Seven bomb blasts over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai. 209 killed and over 700 injured.
2007
United Kingdom
February 1, 2007 – The 2007 plot to behead a British Muslim soldier – A group of British Pakistanis in Birmingham, England planned to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier in order to undermine the morale of the British Army and inhibit recruitment of Muslims.
Iraq
August 14, 2007 – Qahtaniya bombings. Dour suicide vehicle bombings in two predominantly Yazidi towns in northern Iraq. 796 killed, 1,562 wounded.
2008
India
July 26, 2008 – 2008 Ahmedabad bombings. 56 dead, over 200 injured.
India
September 13, 2008 – Bombing series in Delhi, India. Pakistani extremist groups plant bombs at several places including India Gate, out of which the ones at Karol Bagh, Connaught Place and Greater Kailash explode leaving around 30 people dead and 130 injured, followed by another attack two weeks later at the congested Mehrauli area, leaving 3 people dead.
India
November 26, 2008 – Muslim extremists kill at least 166 people and wound numerous others in a series of coordinated attacks on India's financial capital, Mumbai. The government of India blamed Pakistan based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and stated that the terrorists killed/caught were citizens of Pakistan, a claim which the Pakistani government first refused but then accepted when given proof. Ajmal Kasab, one of the terrorists, was caught alive.
2009
Somalia
June 18, 2009 – 2009 Beledweyne bombing by Al-Shabaab. 35 dead.
Indonesia
July 17, 2009 – 2009 Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels bombing in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, Indonesia; suicide bombers hit the Marriott and 5 minutes later the Ritz-Carlton. 9 killed and 53 injured
United States
November 5, 2009 – Fort Hood shooting, at Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas. 13 dead, 33 injured.
United States
December 23, 2009 - Abdul Farook Abdulmutallab was arrested after Northwest Airlines passengers jumped him to avoid his detonating an explosive device above the city of Detroit.
2010
Russia
March 29, 2010 - Moscow Metro bombings. 40 dead, 102 injured. Caucasus Emirate claimed responsibility.
United States
May 1, 2010 – 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt, New York, New York, USA. Faisal Shahzad, an Islamic Pakistani American who received an American citizenship in December 2009, attempted to detonate a car bomb in Times Square working with the Pakistani Taliban or Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Pakistan
May 28, 2010 – Attacks on Ahmadi Mosques Lahore, Pakistan. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed attacks on two mosques simultaneously belonging to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, killing nearly 100 and injuring many others.
India
December 7, 2010 – 2010 Varanasi bombing, India. 2 dead, 37 injured.
Sweden
December 10, 2010 – 2010 Stockholm bombing, Sweden. killing the bomber and injuring two people.
2011
Russia
January 21, 2011 - Domodedovo International Airport bombing. 37 killed, 173 wounded.
Germany
March 2, 2011 – 2011 Frankfurt Airport shooting, Frankfurt, Germany. 2 dead, 2 injured.
China
July 18, 2011 – 2011 Hotan attack, Hotan, China. A group of 18 young Uyghur men who opposed the local government's campaign against the full-face Islamic veil perpetrated a series of coordinated bomb and knife attacks and occupied a police station on Nuerbage Street, killing two security guards and taking eight hostages. The attackers yelled religious slogans, including ones associated with Jihadism.
Nigeria
December 25, 2011 - Christmas Day bombings were bomb blasts and shootings at churches in Madalla, Jos, Gadaka, and Damaturu. Over 41 people are reported dead.[33]
2012
Iraq
January 5, 2012 Iraq bombings, Baghdad and Nasiriyah, Iraq by Islamic State of Iraq. 73 dead, 149 injured.
Iraq
February 23, 2012 Iraq attacks, Baghdad, Iraq by Islamic State of Iraq. 83 dead, 250+ injured.
Iraq
March 20, 2012 Iraq attacks, Baghdad and at least 9 other cities, Iraq. 52 dead, ~ 250 injured.
France
March 20, 2012 – Toulouse and Montauban shootings in France. 7 dead, 5 injured.
Russia
May 3, 2012 - Makhachkala attack. 14 dead, including 2 suicide bombers, 130 wounded.
Libya/United States
September 11, 2012 – 2012 Benghazi attack on the U.S. Consulate. 4 dead, 11 injured.
2013
India
February 21, 2013. – 2013 Hyderabad blasts, two bomb blasts killed 16 people and injured 119.
United States
April 15, 2013. – Boston Marathon bombings. Two brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnev, planted two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The blast killed 3 and injured 183 others. [Trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnev began on Monday in Boston]
Turkey
May 11, 2013 – Reyhanlı bombings, killed 52 people and wounded 140.
United Kingdom
May 22, 2013 – Two men with cleavers kill British soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich.[36][37]
Syria
August, 2014. - Islamic State fighters massacred some 700 people, mostly men, of the Shu'aytat tribe in Deir ez-Zor Governorate.[38]
Kenya
September 21, 2013 – Westgate shopping mall attack, 67 killed, 175 wounded.
Pakistan
September 22, 2013 – Peshawar church attack, 80-83 killed, 250 wounded.
Nigeria
September 29, 2013. - Gujba college massacre. 44 students killed by Boko Haram
2014
Nigeria
February 14, 2014. - Borno Massacre at lest 200 killed by Boko Haram[43]
Nigeria
May 20, 2014. - Jos bombings at least 118 killed and over 56 injured[44]
Belgium
May 24, 2014. - Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting. Gunman opened fire at the Jewish Museum in Brussels killing 4 people.
Australia
September 23, 2014. – 2014 Endeavour Hills stabbings. Numan Haider, an Afghan Australian stabbed two counter terrorism officers in Melbourne, Australia. He was then shot dead.
Russia
October 5, 2014 - 2014 Grozny bombing. 5 officers and the suicide bomber, were killed, while 12 others were wounded.
Canada
October 22, 2014 – 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Lone attacker shot a soldier at a war memorial and attacked Parliament.
United States
October 23, 2014. – Zale H. Thomson, also known as Zaim Farouq Abdul-Malik, attacked four New York policemen in the subway with a hatchet, severely injuring one in the back of the head and injuring another policeman in the arm before being shot to death by the remaining officers, who also shot a bystander.
Nigeria
November 28, 2014. - Kano bombing. Around 120 people were killed and another 260 injured.
Russia
December 4, 2014. - 2014 Grozny clashes. 26 total dead, including 14 policemen, 11 Jihadist from Caucasus Emirate, 1 civilian
Australia
December 15, 2014. – 2014 Sydney hostage crisis.[disputed – discuss] 2 dead, 4 injured.
Pakistan
December 16, 2014. – 2014 Peshawar school attack. Over 140 people dead, including at least 132 children.
Yemen
December 16, 2014. - Two suicide car bombers rammed their vehicles into a Shiite rebels' checkpoint killing 26, including 16 students.
Nigeria
December 18, 2014. - 2014 Gumsuri kidnappings. Boko Haram insurgents killed 32 people and kidnapped at least 185 women and children.
Syria
December 18, 2014. - Mass grave of 230 Tribesmen killed by Islamic State found in Eastern Syria.
Nigeria
December 22, 2014. – Boko Haram insurgents bombed a bus station in the city of Gombe, killing at least twenty people.
Iraq
December, 2014. - Islamic State militants execute 150 women Iraqi province of Al-Anbar, some of whom were pregnant at the time, who refuse to marry their fighters.
Iraq
December 24, 2014. - A suicide bomber killed 33 people and wounded 55 others in Madaen, about 25 km (15 miles) south of Baghdad.
Somalia
December 25, 2014. - Al-Shabaab (militant group) attack in Mogadishu leaves 9 dead.
Cameroon
December 28, 2014. - Boko Haram attacks village in Cameroon leaving 30 dead.
2015
France
January 7, 2015. - At least 12 killed in shooting at office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Paris.
Any questions?
***UPDATE***: Here is an Op/Ed by Ayaan Hirisi Ali Our Duty Is To Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive that was published on The Daily Beast. If you don't know about her, read up. She is truly an inspiring woman. Most recently, Brandeis University cancelled their plans to give her an honorary degree and revoked their invitation to speak at their commencement because they "...cannot overlook that certain of her past statements are inconsistent with Brandeis University’s core values." After reading this article by Ms Ali, I wonder just exactly what those "core values" might be? Incidentally, DB has also published all of the offending cartoons.
26 comments:
One of the reasons I was so incensed with the partisan "torture report" is that it increased the risk to American lives. We face an enemy unlike any we have faced in the history of our nation. It is a faith based attack. In World War II, Nazis were put on trial for crimes after the war was over for crimes they had committed. That war was fought between military, men in uniform. We "torture" people to possibly prevent future attacks against innocent citizens. The people we are dealing with hide their faces and commit acts that even the most hardened guerilla fighters would reject. I have no qualms about anything we do to jihadists.
Good thing they're the religion of peace.
"The future does not belong to those who slander the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh)" - Barack Obama at UN 2012
Prescient guy! He must have known that the cartoonists future would be gunned down by Islamists. No future for you!
And of course, no "journalists" would dare ask him to elaborate upon that statement.
I bet those French people who were in that magazine office wished they had a gun to fight back. Even the police ran, they aren't armed.
As I scan the list, I recall how almost every attack targeting the US has been played off either in the media or by officials as an isolated incident.
Far from being a pack of closet Jihadists, I think the left is compelled to defend violence against speech because it aligns with their own impulses to silence dissent.
Tryanmax - Interestingly, Bill Maher has been very critical and vocal in condemning the left for even thinking of defending Islamic violence against speech. I have to point out that he has learned his lesson since 2001 that it is Islam that is the problem. I am surprised that I agree with him 99%. He still thinks that all religions are stupid, but he has been very bright eyed about Islamic terrorists and violence.
They seem to have the two remaining brothers cornered in a small wooded area near a small town, Crepy en Valois, just north of Paris.
80,000+ police and Gendarmes have been deployed in the hunt for them.
Also, I think USA Today was right to run the radical nutgall Islamic cleric's column.
Kit - I agree 100% with you that USAToday was right. I will link to the article later.
From the News:
—The remaining Charlie Hebdo shooters who took hostages in Dammartin-en-Goëlle have been killed. Hostage is safe.
—The hostages in the Parisian kosher deli have been freed. Agence France-Presse reports that the hostage taker has been "neutralized". No other word on the status of him or his alleged female accomplice.
Kit - Here is a link to the
USA Today Choudary op/ed
At least this fun-loving cleric states right out that "...Islam does not mean peace but rather means submission to the commands of Allah alone".
And then he goes on to ask "So why in this case did the French government allow the magazine Charlie Hebdo to continue to provoke Muslims, thereby placing the sanctity of its citizens at risk?" Basically he is justifying any of the attacks by stating outright that it was Charlie Hebdo's carttoonists who are at fault and why did they force these duty bound Muslims to slaughter them? If Charlie Hebdo had just kept their hateful cartoons to themselves, they'd still be alive.
You hear all sorts of bad stuff about the French, but they don't blink when it comes to killing bad guys..I also expect that their intelligence arm will be busy "neutralizing" would be terrorists in other countries for awhile.
After reading the Choudary's op/ed, he is right. It is too dangerous to have so many freedoms. Therefore, I recommend France, and perhaps other western countries, ban all forms of Islam. Active practitioners will be initially fined and deported and eventually jailed or otherwise eliminated. The safety of the people is just too important to allow the free practice of this religion.
Claire Berlinski, author of the magnificent Why Thatcher Matters and a reporter from Turkey for a decade, moving to Paris to get away from the constant violence of Turkey, happened to walk right into the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack. She has written about what she saw.
It was written yesterday, before they were captured.
First paragraph:
-----------------------------------------------------
If I sound incoherent, it’s because I am shaken. The reasons will be obvious.
I had no intention of reporting on this from the scene of the Charlie Hebdo massacre. I was walking up Boulevard Richard Lenoir to meet a friend who lives in the neighborhood. But the moment I saw what I did, I knew for sure what had happened. A decade in Turkey teaches you that. That many ambulances, that many cops, that many journalists, and those kinds of faces can mean only one thing: a massive terrorist attack.
-----------------------------------------------------
LINK
Today she did a 33min long interview w/ Power Line Blog.
LINK
Error: I wrote "before they were captured". I meant "before 1 was captured, 3 were killed, and 5th was on the loose."
Bev, If you think a drawing has never killed anyone, then you clearly missed the wave of Smurf-related suicides in the 1990s! ;-)
In all seriousness, I agree with Koshcat. As there is apparently too much freedom, let's ban the freedoms that are hurting people... like worshiping Islam, preaching environmentalism, protesting against corporations, drug use, violence in films (in fact, actors all around earn too much, we need to regulate their pay), etc.
BTW, it's interesting to see that Anonymous has decided to attack jihadist websites. It's interesting that it took them this long to decide that terrorists who murder civilians wholesale are at least as bad as people who want to play videogames on Sony's network. Nice priorities, jerks.
So here's something I nominate for a Darwin Award. 4 peeps were shot trying to rob a gun store in Kansas City today. Really, did they think that gun shop owners and employees were not experts at and willing to using guns stop them?
That's "perps" not "peeps"..,
A rather unnerving thought from Charles Krauthammer.
LINK
"I think we’re now in sort of the third stage of the jihadist war against us. The first, of course, is 9/11 — all of the attackers were from the middle east. And then, for the last year or two, we have seen the ‘lone wolf’ attacks — usually homegrown, but fairly unstable and one-on-one, and it looks as if fairly disorganized or acting out of inspiration, but not on instruction or with training. Here we have perhaps the beginning of the third wave, the third stage, and this is the trained local cells, who have learned their trade in the Middle East, are connected in some way — as we heard: the 50 calls among the two groups here, and the obvious connection with al-Qaeda in Yemen.”
(Transcript from National Review)
Also, you don't need a lot of sophistication. You can use knives or hatchets to carry out a low-level attack like the ones we have seen over the past few years. If this is, as Krauthammer says, an indicator of things to come then the next few years could get pretty scary.
Think about this, instead of one or two crazed disorganized schizophrenics with shotguns or semi-automatic weapons imagine 3 or 4 or even 5 Jihadis, with training in Iraq, Syria, or Yemen or wherever, going into a major metropolitan area or schoolyard and opening fire.
Let's see - so Boko Haram strapped a bomb to a 10 yr old girls and killed 20 people. Yesterday.
And the German weekly that republished the Charlie Habdo cartoons was firebombed late last night. No casualties...
Its worth noting those clowns had been on the radar of law enforcement for years. Those are the sorts of guys who in the US get grabbed up in FBI stings on a fairly regular basis.
American law enforcement isn't grabbing up all the idiots though. A lot of Somali Americans have killed and died for radical Islam abroad. Sadly, its only a matter of time before one does so here.
*Shrugs* I'm not hiding under the bed or anything. In terms of the odds terror is very low on the list of probable deaths (at least for people living in the West). Just yesterday I was almost hit by a drunk driver.
Anthony - I agree with you. The odds are very low here and getting hysterical over the prospect serves no purpose. And I say that as someone who has been in a terrorist attack. That being said, we can't ignore the obvious either. And that is Islamic terrorists are the problem and only moderate Muslims can change that. Just like it took moderate white people to neutralize the KKK and other white supremist groups. And moderate Christians who stopped burning and killing "heretics".
Bev,
Boko Haram is also said to have massacred an entire town.
Yes, Kit. They slaughtered 2000 women, children and elderly because they couldn't outrun them. And the world yawns...
Bev,
To be fair to the world, I think they were distracted by events in Paris.
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