Steyn in the Spectator
These days, whenever something goofy turns up on the news, chances are it involves a fellow called Mohammed. A plane flies into the World Trade Centre? Mohammed Atta. A gunman shoots up the El Al counter at Los Angeles airport? Hesham Mohamed Hedayet. A sniper starts killing petrol station customers around Washington, DC? John Allen Muhammed. A guy fatally stabs a Dutch movie director? Mohammed Bouyeri. A terrorist slaughters dozens in Bali? Noordin Mohamed. A gang-rapist in Sydney? Mohammed Skaf.Maybe all these Mohammeds are victims of Australian white racists and American white racists and Dutch white racists and Balinese white racists and Beslan schoolgirl white racists.
But the eagerness of the Aussie and British and Canadian and European media, week in, week out, to attribute each outbreak of an apparently universal phenomenon to strictly local factors is starting to look pathological. “Violence and racism are bad”, but so is self-delusion.
the spectator
Steyn is writing about the riots in Sydney. But he is also making the point that the issue of assimilation versus maintaining a distinct, religiously mandated, cultural and political identity is one which the West has yet to come to grips with.
The multi-cultural happy chat hits the wall when the Khadr family and their supporters become involved. It hits the wall hard.
Written by jay on December 22nd, 2005 with
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