Christchurch Massacre Put in Context: An Excuse for Hostility
No one in their right mind can have any reaction to the massacre of innocent Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand than outrage and deep sympathy for the victims and their families.
Professor Bill Rubinstein
What should not be overlooked, however, is that slaughters of innocents, often nearly as deadly as the one in New Zealand, are carried out literally every week by Islamic terrorists around the world against Christians and other non-Muslim religious believers, with virtually no publicity, let alone worldwide condemnation, and no international outpouring of grief.
Some points to consider:
- Since January 1, 2019, less than three months ago, there have been nine reported deadly attacks on Christians by Muslim terrorists, carried out solely because they were Christians, and apparently for no other reason. The most deadly occurred on March 11 in a village in Nigeria, in which 46 people were killed by Fulani Muslim terrorists, among them a local pastor and his wife. Also in Nigeria, on February 26, 32 people were killed in a targeted attack on Christians. On January 27 in the Philippines, 27 worshipers at a Catholic church in Jolo were killed, and 111 injured, by Muslim terrorists. None of these attacks received more than cursory publicity in the West’s press or media if any. The Australian Jewish community issued no solidarity statements, and no rallies to mourn these dead were held in Australian public squares.
- Needless to say, Islamic terrorists and murder campaigns against Christians did not begin on New Year’s Day. In 2018, there were no fewer than 80 deadly attacks on Christians around the world by Muslim terrorists. At Alindao in the Central African Republic, on November 15, 2018, 42 people, including the local priest. were killed and 24 injured in an attack on the local Catholic cathedral. On October 18, 2018, 36 persons were killed in a Christian village in Nigeria by Muslims shouting “Allahu Akbar!” On November 2, 2018, three busloads of Coptic Christian pilgrims in Egypt were machine-gunned at close range by Islamic terrorists, killing seven. To its credit, the Egyptian government pulled no punches and immediately killed nineteen of the terrorists. Probably none of these massacres, and certainly very few, were carried out by a lone, demented, maladjusted lunatic as in Christchurch, but by organised and well-armed groups of Islamic fundamentalists who undertook these murders as a component of their twisted religion. The complete silence about most of these killings in the Western media is deafening.
- Islamic religious terrorism has not been confined to Christians and Jews. Hindus have been frequently targeted in Pakistan and elsewhere, as have been Buddhists and Sikhs. If Jews in Israel have largely avoided these slaughters, it is only because of wide-ranging security measures put in place by the Israeli government, especially the construction of the Separation Wall, which has almost certainly saved many dozen, perhaps hundreds, of Israelis from being murdered. One lapse or slip-up, and there will certainly be a bloodbath, as every Israeli knows.
The Left and Islamic sources have been quick to take the appalling massacre in Christchurch as the excuse to demand the silencing of opinions highlighting and condemning Islamic terrorism. In some cases, they have used it as an opportunity to attack Israel.
An example which has been brought to my attention is a New Zealand website “Kia Ora Gaza Mission”, which describes itself as “a New Zealand network dedicated to supporting international efforts to break the inhuman siege of Gaza.” In a posting on March 16, “Zero Tolerance of Bigotry, Racism, and Hate Group,” it announced that a vigil would be held in Auckland, to be attended by the co-leader of the Green Party, a Green MP, a Methodist minister, and the Mayor of Auckland, which has been organised to “oppose any form of bigotry and racism, including anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, Zionism [etc.].” The next day, the Kia Ora Gaza Mission deleted the word “Zionism,” from their announcement. It may be that participants in their rally protested at the inclusion of “Zionism,” or that this organisation was having second thoughts. Nonetheless, it is disturbing.
In New York, Chelsea Clinton received international publicity (it was reported on “your” ABC) for being” accused of stoking hatred during a vigil for the victims of the Christchurch massacre.” A student, identified as Leen Dweik, claimed “People haven’t forgotten the Islamophobic mob she incited against [Ilhan Omar]. This right here is the result of a massacre stoked by people like you and the words that you put out into the world.” Omar, a newly elected left-wing Democratic member of the US House of Representatives, received widespread negative hostility last month for using anti-semitic language.
Bill Rubinstein taught at Deakin University and at the University of Wales.
A most timely and necessary reminder, Bill Rubinstein. The alleged killer of these Muslim people in the two NZ mosques has enabled so many to forget this. And that may become a real worry.