It seems as if the whole world is celebrating Ahmed al-Ahmed, who tackled one of the jihad mass murderers at Australia’s Bondi Beach, last Sunday, but there are more than a few notable holdouts.
“Ahmed al Ahmed,” Bernie Sanders wrote on Monday, “a Muslim father of two, risked his life to disarm a murderer who was shooting down Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney. Religion must not divide our common humanity. We must stand together and end antisemitism, Islamophobia and all hate — no exceptions.”
The superannuated socialist was not alone. Ahmed al-Ahmed has been hailed around the world, and deservedly so, as he prevented many more people from being killed. Ahmed al-Ahmed is, however, more valuable to some, like Bernie Sanders, for his appearing to prove that the problem of terrorism is not a problem of Islam. It is not accidental that Sanders went out of his way to identify al-Ahmed as “a Muslim father of two,” while referring to the jihadi al-Ahmed tackled simply as “a murderer,” without noting that the murderer in question was acting in accord with the teachings of Ahmed al-Ahmed’s religion, which contains core texts teaching venomous hostility to Jews and including such indelible exhortations as “Kill them wherever you find them” (Qur’an 2:191, 4:89, 4:91, cf. 9:5).
Some Muslims, however, being better informed about their religion than Bernie Sanders is, demonstrated that they were well aware that the Bondi Beach murderers were Muslims. They knew that Ahmed al-Ahmed was a Muslim as well, and weren’t happy about that at all.
The Daily Mail reported Thursday that “Ramallah News, one of the most popular news outlets in Palestine,” by which the politically correct rag likely means Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, as well as Gaza, “shared a story about Mr al-Ahmed’s brave actions on Sunday.” Yet among Palestinian Arabs, al-Ahmed’s actions were not regarded as a cause for celebration: “Ramallah News’ post about Mr al-Ahmed was quickly spread around Arab communities, which overwhelmingly condemned him for saving Jewish lives.”
Nor was this a matter of one or two fanatics who were so blinded by hatred that they didn’t see all the peace and love that was breaking out everywhere: “According to analysis by a senior researcher for Palestinian Media Watch, Ahron Shapiro, of the 1,000 comments left under the article – 75 per cent were unsupportive of Mr al-Ahmed, 20 per cent were supportive and five per cent were neutral.”
This is striking. Ever since 9/11, the “experts” have repeatedly assured us that among Muslims worldwide, jihad terrorists and their sympathizers are a tiny minority of extremists, whom ordinary Muslims abhor them as much as ordinary Christians find the Ku Klux Klan and Westboro Baptist Church abhorrent. 75%, however, is not exactly a tiny minority.
Al-Ahmed’s Muslim critics didn’t hold back. “Treason comes to you from the closest people,” one wrote. Another fumed: “He sold himself and his life for the safety of the Jews.” one said.
Some were sure that al-Ahmed just did it for the money, as if there weren’t any less hazardous ways to earn some scratch. “He played it right,” one wrote: “he wants the money.” Another agreed: “He has received a million dollars in rewards … he acted ‘manly’ in the wrong place.”
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One of al-Ahmed’s critics wished that the putative hero would get his comeuppance: “I wish it (the bullet) hit (his) heart.” Some went even farther, hoping to get a chance to do it themselves: “By Allah we will surely chop you to pieces … we will not leave a trace of you.” Another hoped that Allah would take care of the problem of Ahmed al-Ahmed himself: “May God send you a disease.”
These reactions won’t surprise anyone who is familiar with the bellicose teachings of the Qur’an and Islamic tradition, and with the deep hostility of those same sources toward Jews. To those who believe that Allah has commanded them to wage war against unbelievers and subjugate them under the hegemony of Islamic law, and that the Jews are the worst enemies of the Muslims (Qur’an 5:82), Ahmed al-Ahmed has indeed committed not a praiseworthy act, but a treasonous one.
The problem the West faces, however, is that the vast majority of people assume Bernie Sanders is correct, and that Ahmed al-Ahmed manifested the true face of Islam. They will before too long discover this was not so, and the discovery will not be pleasant.
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