‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’ by Edmund Burke, is one of my favourite quotes.
It does not surprise me that wicked people do wicked things, but I find the acquiescence of so many of the rest quite alarming. Unfortunately this latest war between freedom and tyranny has been no exception. In post Apartheid South Africa, given our own history of oppression, the almost uniform silence (or worse support) for the advance of radical Islam is even more disturbing. But Stephen Mulholland’s piece last week in the Citizen entitled ‘Sorry, but they are fascist’ reaffirms my faith that there are still some good people with the courage to stand up to evil.
Mulholland, despite the risk to his career and possibly his wellbeing, came out in support of George Bush’s statement that the free world is at war with Islamic fascism. In this feisty attack on radical Islam (perhaps the most fierce ever seen in mainstream South African newspapers) he asks
Who is that has been bombing embassies in Kenya and Tanzania slaughtering the innocent including blacks and Muslims? Who is it that blows up people who have nothing to do with Islam’s issues in Bali nightclubs? Who is it that murders 52 commuters going about their lawful business on the London Underground? Twice these maniacs attacked the World Trade Centre in New York finally assassinating thousands of poor souls including Muslims and achieving nothing but the visitation on the Middle East of America’s angry vengeance. Who was it who attacked commuter trains in Madrid on March 11 2004 at the peak rush hour wounding 2 050 ordinary citizens and executing 192 others? |
No it was not the CIA, MI 5 or the Jews. Mulholland makes it clear who is to blame. ‘It was Islamic fascists’, he bravely declares. But Mulholland doesn’t stop there. He proceeds to debunk the myth that so many Islamist apologists repeat ad nauseum that Israel’s ‘occupation’ is the root cause of terrorism.
Don’t give that tired old claptrap about how the Jews have robbed the Palestinians of their homeland. For pity’s sake there are in the entire world a mere 15 million Jews against almost 14 billion Muslims. Fewer than half of those Jews live in tiny Israel where they are crowded in at 300 to the hectare. The fact of the matter is that the Israelis have withdrawn from disputed areas. They have shown themselves willing. |
Mulholland also exposes the true agenda of the jihadists. Quoting Bibi Netanyahu he writes
It is not a conflict about this or that settlement. It is a conflict about Israel’s very existence. And to them any Israeli sovereignty over any piece of land is anathema. |
Then he insightfully asks ‘how do you negotiate with this nonsense?’
Winning this war against radical Islam will take more than guns and tanks; it requires us to be victorious on the battlefield of ideas as well. Publicly naming and shaming the enemy in a major South African newspaper as Stephen Mulholland has done is a small but significant step in the right direction. Hopefully his courage will influence other good men not to do nothing.
Write to the Citizen in support of Mulholland's opinion piece: [email protected]
Oh dear. I fear that Stephen Mulholland may have a Fatah against him now. Pity, I liked him.
Posted by: Derikboy | August 23, 2006 at 11:44
Brilliant article - at least we know that some people, despite all the bias, can see the truth and are willing to stand up for it!
Posted by: Nili Scham | August 23, 2006 at 12:09
Yes, it was a brave article. Should watch the letters pages at the Citizen for the backlash!
There are a handful of columnists/opinion piece writers in SA that see the truth.
Peter Fabricius is one. He writes for the Independent newspapers. Really good.
But its just a sober handful amidst a myriad of appeasers/anti-western hate mongers.
Posted by: Steve | August 23, 2006 at 13:33
Derikboy must mean a FatWa. I think "Fatah" means "victory" if I can trust my rusty Arabic. And "Hamas" literally means "violence" in the ancient Hebrew of Genesis. A blogger once issued a secular Fatwa against those who threaten our freedom.
Posted by: Infidel | August 23, 2006 at 14:07
You really know your stuff Infidel. Hopeful it will serve you in good stead if ever the radical Islam wins and a black burqa descends on Southern Africa.
Posted by: Mike | August 23, 2006 at 15:41
There are actually 1.4 billion arabs, not 14 billion. ;-)
Posted by: Roy | August 23, 2006 at 15:57
Eish! Roy meant to say 1.4 billion Muslims. There are probably around 300 million speakers of Arabic, some of which are "nasara" (christians) like the Copts.
Mike, "al-maut efdal min azzimi" - better dead than dhimmi. Like King David said: "Gam ki elech b’gai Tzalmavet lo ira ra ki atah imadi."
Posted by: Infidel | August 23, 2006 at 20:51
Derikboy did mean "Fatwa", which is the "I'm going to kill you all costs in the name of peace" or something.
For the non-hebrew here... what does "Gam ki elech b’gai Tzalmavet lo ira ra ki atah imadi." mean?
Posted by: Derikboy | August 24, 2006 at 09:48
Its a quotation from the Psalms...
"Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me”
That even in the valley of the shadow of death we must still find God for He is with us.
:-)
Posted by: Steve | August 24, 2006 at 10:16
King David had it easy though. Lets see him walk in the south african valley of the shadow of death fearing no evil!
Posted by: Steve | August 24, 2006 at 17:16
Ummm...just for interests sake - please note that the comment posted above was not posted by me.
Posted by: Steve | August 24, 2006 at 18:10
how do the handful of intelligent courageous journalists in our country like Mulholland manage to work with the dhimmi brain-dead SA media without pulling out their hair or worse?
I see that Syria is banging the war drums and remember that some of its scuds are armed with VX nerve gas. Not that you will read that in the SA media, too pissed off with the Jooooos for daring to fight back (incompetently or not) against the jihad.
Posted by: Lawrence | August 25, 2006 at 15:40