It is not this time – a response to the terror in France

As we once again watched a terrorist event unfold across our screens, the familiar images tore at our hearts and at our souls and at the very core of our beings.

We witnessed a Muslim security guard pleading for his life, as he was executed by a Muslim terrorist. We felt the fear and the helplessness of hostages hiding in a freezer, while terror was unleashed above at a kosher deli. We saw how Jews were once again targeted at that kosher supermarket, just as they were previously in a Jewish Museum and a Jewish school. We saw the anguished face of a father holding a child in his arms as he escaped a massacre. We saw how cartoonists – cartoonists ­­­– were murdered for the heinous crime of humour.

And then we read how this would lead to a wakeup call for the world. We heard the same thing about the September 11^th attacks. We also heard the same thing after the bombings in London, and in Spain, and in Mumbai and in Bali.

Yet, the world has not woken up. Because while at least 17 people have been murdered over the last few days in France, somehow the major focus of human rights organisations and United Nations resolutions, and boycotts – have and still remain focused on the State of Israel – a country that has been fighting this terrorism for decades.

Now, it doesn’t take a genius to realise that not all Muslims are terrorists, and anyone who says differently is wrong, but it also doesn’t take a genius to realise there is a radical form of Islam in the world right now that is cruel, unforgiving and murderous. Christianity went through a dark period in their history at the time of the Crusades where Muslims and Jews and many others were butchered, and so too is Islam going through their own similar dark period right now, where the radicalism of some of their believers is looking to unleash a similar fate upon the world.

Yet, the greatest asset to fight this radical Islamic terrorism is not just the guns and armies and the intelligence community, it is the Muslim community itself. Because ultimately the only way to destroy it, is not from without, but from within. And the same horror and disgust that is shown by Muslim organisations at the terrorism that we have witnessed in France, also needs to be shown at the terrorism that is launched in Israel. The many kind and decent people who practice Islam should not have their names muddied by their leaders who cling to the term of ‘legitimate resistance’ whenever Israelis are attacked.

There is no doubt that this terrorism has spread fear throughout the world. And there is no doubt that there are many prepared to kill for their evil and twisted cause. And there is also no doubt that at times, the situation appears to be hopeless, as the wheels of society seem to be coming off. But because we do value life more than we value death, we continue to fight for it.

And there may well come a time when the forces of darkness overcome the forces of light – but it is not this time.

And there may well come a time when the good in the world is overwhelmed by the bad – but it is not this time.

And there may even come a time when our courage deserts us, and fear takes hold removing our will to resist the evil that surrounds us – but it not this time.

For we will not go quietly into the night. We will kick and scream and tear and fight and yell and argue and protest.

Because after every night, there is day.

And after every storm, there is sunshine.

And after every winter, there is spring.

For in the end, good will always outweigh bad.

Light will always remove darkness.

And the world we live in, with all its scars and its hurt and its pain and its tears, will still be one that holds wonders and dreams and hopes for all of us.