By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--February 15, 2015
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During an interview on Tuesday, Obama said, “It is entirely legitimate for the American people to be deeply concerned when you have a bunch of violent, vicious zealots who behead people or randomly shot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris,” comments which caused a storm for failing to acknowledge that the target was chosen to attack Jews.(Jerusalem Post, Feb. 12, 2015) “Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday, Ben-Dahan of the Bayit Yehudi party said it was impossible that the Islamist terrorist who attacked the kosher supermarket, Amedy Coulibaly, chose the target at random, given the details of the case released by the French police. “Coulibaly himself told BFMTV, a French radio station he called while he was holding the customers in the store hostage, that he had chosen the shop because he was targeting Jews. “If you close your eyes and pretend that anti-Semitism and Islamist terrorism doesn’t exist it just leads to more tragedies. “We’re in a very grave situation when the leader of the US, who is meant to be the leader of the democratic world, ignores reality and does not see with open eyes Islamic terror as it really is and how it appears in many places around the world.” “Ben-Dahan went on to criticize Obama’s general Middle East policy, saying he had made several mistakes, including his Cairo speech in 2009, allowing the regime of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to fall, and for failing to address the Syrian civil war in which the deputy minister noted “more than 200,000 civilians have been killed.”Meanwhile two gunmen are still at large after the attack in Copenhagen which police are investigating as a ‘terror act’.
“It is believed the target was Lars Vilks, the controversial Swedish cartoonist who drew the Prophet Mohammed as a dog. (Daily Mail) “Three police officers were also injured in the attack on the cafe, which was hosting a debate on art and freedom of speech when it was targeted. “Denmark's security service, PET, said the circumstances surrounding the shooting 'indicate that we are talking about a terror attack.' “Controversial Lars Vilks was said to be talking at the event, entitled Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Speech “The cafe had been hosting a debate titled Art, Blasphemy and Freedom of Expression, featuring a number of controversial speakers. “Niels Ivar Larsen, who was speaking at the event, told how he forced to take shelter as the gunmen opened fire indiscriminately at the cafe. “He said: 'I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. “Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie.' “Vilks, a Swedish artist known for his provocative drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the Prophet as a dog in 2007. “As a result, he is guarded by police any time he visits Denmark. Some are speculating he was the intended target of the attack. “Sweden's security police said Swedish bodyguards were with Vilks at the time of the shooting. “Authorities in southern Sweden said they were helping Danish police in the hunt for the gunmen. Sweden is joined to Denmark by bridge, and transit across is largely unchecked - sparking fears they may have followed Mr Vilks into the country in an assassination attempt.”Meanwhile, it is time for western leaders to do so much more than walk arm-in-arm in a photo-op ‘Je Suis Charlie’ rally; so much more than laughingly pose for selfies during sombre memorials honouring the dead. Most significantly, it is time for the western leaders to to stop downplaying the horrors of Islamist terrorism by watering down the terminology used to identify terrorists and terrorism. It’s time for all Western leaders to protect the civilian populations of their countries against the spreading scourge of what the honest and rational among us call: ISLAMIC TERRORISM.
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