18 January 2015

Islam, a religion of peace — and Kalashnikovs

The West was terrified by the horrific massacre at the French weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. But it should not have been surprised. This was not an attack by a mentally deranged, lone-wolf gunman. This was not an “un-Islamic” attack by a bunch of thugs — the perpetrators could be heard shouting that they were avenging the prophet Muhammad. Nor was it spontaneous.

If there is a lesson to be drawn from such a grisly episode, it is that what we believe about Islam truly doesn’t matter. This type of violence, jihad, is what they, the Islamists, believe. [The Sunday Times (£)] Read more