James O'Brien: We Should All Be Equally Disgusted By Islamist And Far-Right Terror
18 March 2019, 12:13
James O'Brien had this powerful message for people who have a different reaction when there's an Islamist terror attack than when there is a far-right one.
Following the attack on two Christchurch mosques in New Zealand last week, this morning there was a shooting in the Dutch city of Utrecht which police say may be terror-related.
That led to certain people on social media speculating almost with glee that it was an Islamist attack.
And James O'Brien asked why the response wasn't heartbreak to both types of terror attack.
He said: "Why have you picked a side in a battle between violent extremists?
"They are enemies of all of us, whether they're driving trucks up the promenade in Nice, or whether they're blowing themselves up in the Manchester Arena, or whether they're marching into a synagogue in America and shooting people dead, or whether they're marching into a mosque in New Zealand and shooting people dead.
"Why? What has happened in your world to make you think that you are, in some way, in some sense on the same team as these terrorists.
"I don't think that that act of potential terror in Utrecht changes qualitatively when we find out who's done it. I don't care who's done it.
"My disgust and my heartbreak will be identical. Why would yours be different?"
