Two Years Later

It's been two years since martyrs for Islam killed over 190 people on their way to work on a idle Thursday morning. At the time of the occurence, the civilized world was still reeling from the Bali bombings, which came just 15 months after the mass murder where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center once stood in New York. I was living in Scotland at the time, and was getting ready for work, the television tuned to BBC News 24 (the Beeb version of CNN). By the time I got to work that morning, my eyes were rimmed red, and I had once more strengthened my resolve that Islam must be stopped. The polite world was faced with an enemy that it had no idea how to deal with, and I hoped that soon the world would see that the only way was to expel them, destroy them. Before they destroyed us.

Since March 11, 2004, Britain has been hit. July 7th, 2005 was the date when four British Muslims detonated backpacks of explosives on the London Underground and a city bus, killing more than 50 people. And still I wait for the world to wake up and admit the threat. I wait.

Recently, at least 45 people have been killed in riots over cartoons. Cartoons. Over the centuries, wars have begun over many things, but to think that so much destruction has been due to a few editorial cartoons. Politicians around the globe have called for appeasement to the overly-sensitive, highly volatile Muslims, who have been bombing, torching, and destroying property in the name of their obviously very thin-skinned god. "Journalists" and "news" outlets (highly deserving of the sneer quotes) have been too afraid to publish the 'toons, and instead are hiding behind a shield of "respect" for Islam - a religion that respects no one - not even its own followers. In Canada, a lone cry was heard in the wilderness. Above the nervous chattering teeth, the voice of Ezra Levant of the Western Standard led the call to defend freedom of speech. Our own Foreign Affairs Minister, Peter MacKay, decried Ezra's right as a publisher, and apologized to the Muslim community. Weak-kneed should not be part of his job criteria.

Today, around 150 people in Toronto stood behind Ezra, stood behind Denmark, and stood behind the right of free speech in democracies around the world. As we stood outside the Danish Consulate, my husband was draped in the flag of Denmark, and I waved my friend's copy of the Western Standard which featured the cartoons. A Coptic Christian who had escaped Egypt came up to me, and begged me for the issue. He said it was so important that people see it, and know that they are free. I turned to my friend - the wonderful MustControlFistOfDeath - who simply nodded, and I handed the magazine to this very brave man.