The enemy within
Despite terror attacks, Europeans still have no idea what they are up against
LONDON - It is not surprising that the first four suicide bombers in British history were Muslim natives and citizens of the UK, or that a young Egyptian doctoral student from the University of Leeds in northern England assisted them.
This is not surprising to those who are somewhat familiar with the fanaticism prevalent in Muslim European communities and the radical anti-West atmosphere rampant in Britain's universities, the University of Leeds included.
However, the enlightened British public opinion is in a state of shock, or even more so, in a state of denial and repression.
Self-deception
By Sever Plocker
The Islamic and Arab nations are overjoyed because the time has come to exact revenge on the British "Jewish crusader" government – these are the words that open al-Qaeda's claim of responsibility for the July 7 attacks in London
The revelation of the terrorists' background refuted all the baseless theories regarding the motives of the murderous attack in London. The local press published several articles written by dist5inguished intellectuals that blamed Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians, as well as the U.S. operation in Iraq and the West's refusal to help the poor Muslims, for the attack.
These analysts were silenced only when the true profile of the terrorists was revealed (they were born in England, well-educated, prosperous individuals).
The terrorists, as it turns out, were not Palestinian refugees who had been expelled from their homes during the 'cruel' Israeli occupation, nor were they members of an underground organization who had arrived in the UK from the shiite neighborhoods of Basra, Iraq.
Intellectual elites understand terrorists
They were well-to-do British Muslims who had decided to launch a bloody Jihad in their own country and kill dozens of people in the name of Islam.
A member of a respected Egyptian family who had obtained his doctorate from the University of Leeds after receiving a USD 50,000 scholarship, assisted in the preparation of the lethal bombs.
This is the enemy within that threatens Britain and all of Europe.
But the intellectual elites in Europe are not only unwilling to confront this threat, they are actually caressing and flattering it; they understand the terrorists' "motives and plights," and are indirectly (and sometimes directly) justifying their actions.
Intellectual discourse in the universities is filled with left-wing slogans that are critical of the West in general and the U.S. and Israel in particular; these slogans target what is referred to as the "new imperialism."
In the eyes of the average university student in Leeds, Yorkshire or Oxford, U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - not the kind Muslim neighbor who is preparing a bomb in his backyard - pose the greatest danger to mankind..
El-Qaeda has become a European organization, and its members feel like fish in water there. It was Muslim university students in Munich who had come up with the idea to attack the Twin Towers, those who planned the Madrid bombings were affluent residents of southern Europe, and the London suicide bombers played cricket with their British friend and led a subsidized life.
Suicide bombings have the characteristics of an epidemic: They infiltrate society's circulatory system and infect entire communities. The suicide bombers are perceived as Shahids (martyrs) and role models. We the Israelis are already aware of this phenomenon, but the British and the rest of the Europeans have not comprehended this notion as of yet. They still believe it is possible to appease the enemy from within.
