The
intensity and scale of Islamist terrorism is getting worse. It was only
in June that we were horrified by 38 dead in a beach hotel in Sousse,
Tunisia. Now the black box from the downed Russian tourist jet, with its
reported recording of an explosion, seems to confirm the findings of
British and American intelligence: that a terrorist bomb destroyed the
plane 23 minutes after it took off from Sharm el-Sheikh airport. Up to
20,000 British holidaymakers are in limbo as flights home are suspended.
It is part of a litany of dreadful incidents. Recall the acid attacks on women tourists in Zanzibar or the terror that engulfed Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall. Yet the magnitude of this latest crime suggests a tipping point. Islamist terrorism, with its horrifying images of beheaded hostages, or indiscriminate killing everywhere from Nigeria to Syria, is no longer something sadly to shake your head over as the TV pictures speed by.
The mounting wave of violence, and the perpetrators’ barbaric indifference to the deaths of innocents, is beginning to change our mental map of the world. Be careful as a westerner where you go for that winter suntan or exotic diving trip. The wrong choice could cost you, if not your life, then a considerable amount of time and money. It is a mood of closure that, however understandable, has dangerous ramifications.
It is part of a litany of dreadful incidents. Recall the acid attacks on women tourists in Zanzibar or the terror that engulfed Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall. Yet the magnitude of this latest crime suggests a tipping point. Islamist terrorism, with its horrifying images of beheaded hostages, or indiscriminate killing everywhere from Nigeria to Syria, is no longer something sadly to shake your head over as the TV pictures speed by.
The mounting wave of violence, and the perpetrators’ barbaric indifference to the deaths of innocents, is beginning to change our mental map of the world. Be careful as a westerner where you go for that winter suntan or exotic diving trip. The wrong choice could cost you, if not your life, then a considerable amount of time and money. It is a mood of closure that, however understandable, has dangerous ramifications.
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