Donny: How come you don’t roll on Saturday Walter?
Walter Sobchak: I’m Shomer Shabbos.
Donny: What’s that Walter?
Walter Sobchak: Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don’t work, I don’t drive a car, I don’t f***in’ ride in a car, I don’t handle money, I don’t turn on the oven, and I sure as sh*t don’t f**king roll! Shomer shabbos!
So goes one of my favorite dialogues from my favorite all-time movie, The Big Lebowski. I can particularly relate to it, since I, myself, am Shomer Shabbos. Which means that I should add the line “And I don’t blog on Shabbos.” As a consequences of this, I am late on big stories when they occur on Shabbos, as is the case with the beheading of Paul Marshall Johnson. So anything I might add to this subject is prone to ‘being old.’
Nevertheless, I cannot remain silent in the face of such an atrocity, especially since many people are still blaming these brutal actions on the US and Israel. When are these people going to learn that terrorists are murdering people because they are not Muslims but rather “infidels”? It could not be any clearer.
The kidnappers of 49-year-old Mr Johnson, who carried out their threat to execute him despite a last-minute plea from his tearful wife, issued a statement on an Islamic militant website saying that “the infidel got his fair treatment”.
You want the root cause of terrorism, and you needn’t look any further than the cancerous ideology of Islamic fundamentalism. And like cancer, it needs to be cut out.
What we are seeing in the world are the direct results of appeasing terrorism. Had Israel been allowed to fight PLO Arab terrorism with all of its might, and had Yasser Afatrat not been given “respectability”, then I am sure terrorism would not be what it is today. Sure, it might exist. But it would not be as malignant. The terrorist network would certainly not be as established, and terrorists would understand that their actions have consequences. Instead, terrorists understand that any actions against them have consequences. They understand that anti-terror efforts by the likes of the US and Israel are met with resistance by the likes of Europe, as well as resistance by left-wing elements in these countries. And an enemy lacking unity is weak.
Ok, so there has been some good news. But we need a more unified front against terror. The terrorists should be the ones fearing for their lives, not us.
Update: If you have come here to see pictures of the beheading, you won’t find any here. And quite frankly, I find it disgusting that people would even want to view them. I think Michele articulates it well.
