Sunday, July 10, 2005

London Bombings: Jihadist Grievances Can't Be Accommodated

Christopher Hitchens, in an extraordinary piece in the Daily Mirror, which has been quoted on numerous blogs, argues that one cannot negotiate with jihadists or deal with their "grievances." The most powerful passage of this piece says:
We know very well what the "grievances" of the jihadists are.

The grievance of seeing unveiled women. The grievance of the existence, not of the State of Israel, but of the Jewish people. The grievance of the heresy of democracy, which impedes the imposition of sharia law. The grievance of a work of fiction written by an Indian living in London. The grievance of the existence of black African Muslim farmers, who won't abandon lands in Darfur. The grievance of the existence of homosexuals. The grievance of music, and of most representational art. The grievance of the existence of Hinduism. The grievance of East Timor's liberation from Indonesian rule. All of these have been proclaimed as a licence to kill infidels or apostates, or anyone who just gets in the way.

What more needs to be said?

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