Once again, a muslim has killed multiple people in the name of islam, this time in Barcelona. It follows a pattern of terror attacks involving driving vans into crowds of people to ensure maximum casualties, in this case, 13 dead and at least 30 injured. And, in what has become a shameful sham, world leaders, including the British Prime Minister, have all condemned the tragedy and pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice, while denouncing terrorism.
I do not share their sentiments. And I never will. The reason is simple: they have all failed to acknowledge root of these killings - islam. When this glaring fact is brought to their attention, they call it islamophobia and preach tolerance. They say it is the work of "extremists" or "jihadis", and those who follow, literally, the words of the koran, regarded by muslims as the holy and unassailable word of Allah, the "most benevolent and merciful" god of islam and all muslims. Why should they then not follow it to the letter? They are only being true to their faith in doing so.
It will be easy to hate muslims and go after any muslim on the streets in retribution for what their fellow adherents have done, and this has actually been done, but this would not only be counterproductive, but also illegal, and most certainly inhuman.
It is time we admit that islam is a problem. A huge one. It is not islamophobia to do so. The quagmire here is how to raise this issue without endangering muslims. But it is one we must confront if we're to start making any impact on this "war against terror". It is a 'war' that will never be won until the enemy is correctly identified and isolated. Until then, we shall continue to live in the very real fear (phobia?) of the next, inexorable, 'terror' incident.
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