When the mojo wire spat out the first reports of another van attack in London, I immediately started composing a headline incorporating the phrase "Allahu akbar!", which is what Islamic terrorists yell as they massacre innocent "infidels". But then came video from the scene which turned out to be... wait for it... the sidewalk in front of the once-notorious Finsbury Park Mosque. The mosque was associated with Islamic extremism for several years after 9/11, but was shut down and reorganized. AP says it has not been associated with radical views for more than a decade.
If you're looking for Muslims, for any reason, a mosque is where you'll find them, especially after evening prayers during Ramadan, as they get set to break the fast. Shortly after midnight (BST), a van plowed into the crowd gathered in front of the mosque, some of whom were trying to assist someone who had been taken ill. That person later died. A number of people who were hit by the van were injured, some seriously, but so far there have been no deaths attributable to the "incident".
Mohammed Kozbar, chairman of the Finsbury Park Mosque, says the van crash was a "cowardly attack" and urged Muslims going to mosques to be vigilant. Harun Khan of the Muslim Council of Britain said a "white man in a van intentionally plowed into a group of worshippers who were already tending to someone who had been taken ill." Then he uttered the inevitable appeal to sympathy for followers of the Prophet: "It appears from eyewitness accounts that the perpetrator was motivated by Islamophobia."
British Prime Minister Theresa May was quick to jump on the bandwagon, condemning the "sickening" attack while lauding the bravery of those who detained the driver. "Hatred and evil of this kind will never succeed," she said, raising the question of what kind of hatred would succeed. Perhaps the attacker should have emulated other terrorists and used a bomb, or at least a gun?
Mrs May said police were on the scene within one minute of the crash, and had declared it a terrorist attack within eight minutes. This statement was apparently meant to addressing criticism from some that authorities were slow to respond to the Manchester massacre and the London bridge attack, and, together with the lamestream media, took too long to describe the "incidents" as the terror attacks which they were. See "The word our 'leaders' just won't say", WWW 4/6/17.
Inspector Knacker of the Yard said the van driver was detained by the crowd until police arrived. Sky News reported that the mosque's imam prevented the crowd from beating the attacker. He was arrested and, as the Brits say, is helping police with their enquiries. His name, ethnicity and religion have not yet been released, which makes me wonder if he really is "a white man". Suppose he is a fanatic of another Muslim sect, which would mean... just a thought... that the Muslim civil war is now being fought in Europe as well as the Middle East. See "British cops refuse to name London Bridge jihadis", WWW 5/6/17. You can bet that if he really is a white man -- a Polish Catholic, perhaps -- bent on revenge, as the liberal media are already suggesting, he'd be named right sharpish!
UPDATE: Noooooo... not part of the Muslim civil war, as it turns out, but a "revenge attack". London police have arrested 47-year-old Darren Osborne, a father of four who was living in Cardiff, Wales. He is to be charged with attempted murder and the "commission, preparation or instigation" of terrorism.
ISIS is basically extremist Sunnis. If it turns out the Muslims at the mosque were Shi'ites, there's your Muslim civil war.
ReplyDelete