Sunday, December 20, 2009

Heroes of the Counterjihad

There are many heroes in the Counterjihad movement, and it’s important that we celebrate them.

Some of our heroes are members of the military in various countries, and others are in the police and intelligence services. These people put their lives on the line all the time, and often receive scant appreciation from their governments for their selflessness. In addition to the deadly perils of their jobs, when the winds of ideological fashion shift they are frequently used as political footballs by their superiors.

There are also numerous people who wear no uniform and yet act heroically in the struggle against the Great Jihad. They don’t necessarily bear arms or put their lives on the line, but they are heroes nonetheless.

So what makes an ordinary citizen a hero of the Counterjihad?

First of all, he faces some kind of serious risk by doing what he does. He might be in danger of losing his job, or risk possible arrest, or surrender his own financial well-being for the sake of the cause. The consequences of his actions may include a brick through his living room window or having his car overturned and set on fire. In the most extreme cases he faces bodily harm or even death because of what he chooses to do.

Most importantly, he does not back down in the face of threats and intimidation. It would be so easy and forgivable to retire from the fight and return to the quiet life, yet he persists. A “hate speech” charge or a death threat only serves to make him more resolute in his resistance to Islamization. He serves as a shining example for the rest of us, reminding us of the stark choice between principled behavior and moral cowardice.

What we really need is a Counterjihad Heroes’ Gallery which would recognize and memorialize those who have taken serious risks and made major sacrifices for the sake of the anti-jihad cause. I don’t have the time or resources to add this job to my to-do list, but perhaps someone with web programming skills and access to a secure server could take the idea and run with it.

There are many candidates for our heroes’ gallery, but I’ll pick just three to get the ball rolling. Readers are invited to include their own choices in the comments.

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Hero #1: Oriana Fallaci

Oriana FallaciOriana Fallaci, the late author of The Rage and the Pride and The Force of Reason, is justly celebrated for her many writings that warned of the dangers of Islam. Her body of work was already an inspiration for the rank-and-file of the Counterjihad, but it was her actions during the last few years of her life that made her into a hero.

She was in the midst of a grim struggle against terminal cancer when the Italian government put her on trial for “defaming Islam”. With only a few more months left to live, she could have settled her case by doing the normal cowardly things that most people would do in a similar situation: apologizing, expressing contrition, agreeing to donate money to “outreach” groups, pleading guilty to a lesser charge and paying a fine, and so on.

She could have opted to end her life in quiet and uneventful obscurity. Instead she chose to fight the charge vigorously, and remained an outspoken opponent of Islamization until the day of her death.

Oriana Fallaci was a hero.

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Hero #2: Lionheart

LionheartPaul Ray, the British blogger who posts under the pseudonym Lionheart, has been living under severe threat for several years. He ran afoul of the corrupt police force in his native Luton when he attempted to expose the Pakistani drug-dealing gangs who terrorized his neighborhood. His life was threatened, and he was driven out of his home and business.

Lionheart could have opted to save his skin by shutting up and moving someplace where he would no longer be a thorn in the sides of the South Asian drug dealers. But his Christian faith impelled him to stay and continue his efforts to expose and publicize what was happening in Luton. For his trouble he was publicly denigrated, called a racist and a neo-Nazi, and demonized in the press.
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The climax came when the police charged him with “incitement to hatred” after receiving a complaint from a Pakistani about the “racist” writings on his blog. For the following year they kept him hanging, using the charge to remind him of his powerlessness in the face of the corrupt multicultural regime that now controls the UK. The police have effectively told him that they can’t protect him, although they are conscientious enough to notify him whenever they receive a credible threat against his life.

Lionheart is a hero.

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Hero #3: Fabrizio Quattrocchi

Fabrizio QuattrocchiFabrizio Quattrocchi was an Italian security guard who was taken hostage in 2004 by Islamic terrorists in Iraq. Like so many other infidels who were taken hostage in those days, he faced a grisly death at the hands of his captors. The customary practice was to force the hostage to kneel and be beheaded while videotaping the gruesome process.

Mr. Quattrocchi could have done what so many other victims did. He could have whimpered and begged to be spared. He could even have tried to save his life by reciting the shahada and converting to Islam, as did one journalist who was captured by terrorists in the Gaza strip.

He was facing certain death, and he knew it. The only thing that remained under his control was the manner of his dying.

Fabrizio Quattrocchi chose to set an example for the rest of us, and not go meekly like a sheep to the slaughter. As his captors prepared to videotape his murder, they forced him to dig his own grave and kneel beside it while wearing the hood. He defied them by ripping off the hood and shouting “Vi faccio vedere come muore un italiano!” — “I’ll show you how an Italian dies!” Then the terrorists shot him to death.

Fabrizio Quattrocchi was a hero.

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There are many other heroes who could be named here, some of them famous — such as Geert Wilders — and others anonymous and obscure.

If we lived in a sane society, there would be an annual day on which we celebrated them. It would be marked on all our official calendars: “Heroes of the Counterjihad Day”.

Or perhaps it would be April 14: “Fabrizio Quattrocchi Day”.


Thanks to Henrik from Europe News, who came up with the idea for this post.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Continue to remind and teach us the examples set by these courageous few. Our way is shown clear by those such as these three you highlighted.

Anonymous said...

I definitely think Robert Spencer is a hero of the counterjihad.

PatriotUSA said...

Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer,
and others that I could come
up with, many more true heroes
of Counter Jihad. The three named
are among the best.
Well done.

In Hoc Signo Vinces† said...

Lionheart's success in breaking through the neolibral psychological curtain and bringing people on to the street to demonstrate really can not be underestimated.

heroyalwhyness said...

Baron & Dymphna both belong on that list! Bat Ye'or, Fjordman, Dr. Andrew Bostom, Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, Hugh Fitzgerald, Debbie Schlussel, Brigitte Gabrielle, Ali Sina, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish, Ibn Warraq, Steven Emerson, Dave Gaubatz,Geert Wilders, Theo Van Gogh, Oskar Freysinger, necessitasnonhabetlegem, Raymond Ibrahim, Paul Sperry, Serge Trifkovic, Father Zakaria Botros, Melani Phillips, Lars Hedegaard , Kurt Westergaard, Diana West, Bruce Bawer, Fr. Daniel Sysoyev, Phyllis Chesler, Mark Steyn, The Christian Action Network, Tom Trento . . .oh, this list grows and grows.

Hakugei said...

Don't forget John Smeaton!

Nick said...

4Symbols,

Oh yes the EDL has been a right raging success, eh? Big difference they've made. Half-educated fools who've swallowed what our true enemies preach, and they enforce those views within their own ranks with a truly Orwellian zeal. They're really quite pathetic. Anyone pinning their hopes on that bunch of clowns will be sorely disappointed.

Free Hal said...

Nick,

It's too early to be dismissive about the EDL.

They lack intelligent, strategic leadership, but they will probably get it. And then we'll have to judge whether their effect is good or bad.

Either way, I think your snobbery is misplaced.

Best wishes,

Hal

In Hoc Signo Vinces† said...

@Nick,

Suggest you re-read my comment, the compliment was paid to Lionheart not the EDL.

I have never really judged people on their academic attainments, but I would not reject the clear minds of the "half-educated" for the indoctrinated minds of the over-educated.

No matter what opinion you have of the EDL the demos had an effect on the political elite - that is on the record.

Nick said...

I suggest you re-read my comment, which said nothing about Lionheart at all, but merely addressed your comment about his getting people out on to the street.

The EDL are half educated in the sense that they have swallowed the half truths peddled by those who want people in the UK to believe in "moderate" Islam. To accomodate "moderate" Muslims. To enter into "dialogue" with "moderate" Muslims. To seek the approval of "moderate" Muslims.

In order to - and this is directly from the EDL website - "get radical Islam off the streets".

Now there's a well thought out political agenda, eh?

Funnily enough the EDL people who hold such a song and dance about not offending "moderate" Muslims have great difficulty defining their terms. What, after all, is a "moderate" Muslim?

Well, apparently a "moderate" Muslims is not so "extreme" as an "extremist". I kid you not - this is the kind of thinking that goes on within the EDL.

They have in the past gone out of their way to smear the likes of Robert Spencer and Bruce Bawer. (After all, they're American, don't you know? But don't call us racist ...)

Apparently their work is not to be trusted - or should I say it is not to be read. Honestly some of the creepy people over there are obsessed with the narrative we should be arguing against. I did tell one person over there that he was behaving like Parsons' daughter (from "1984") but he didn't even know what I was talking about. So when you mention people being "indoctrinated" - that's precisely what I was talking about. And the EDL dont' seem to have the intellectual wherewithal, or the political savvy, to break out of that cage and do anything useful.

As for their "having an effect" on the "political elite" - don't make me laugh.

Bobbo said...

I thought I would add a nominee:

Saint Seraphim of Phanarion

here is the link regarding his martyrdom:

http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/Seraphim_of_Phanarion

Some things don't seem to change. This happenen in 1601 and he was on official business.

God bless,

In Hoc Signo Vinces† said...

@Nick

As an unaffiliated observer the deployment of "moderate islam" as a position of a particular organisation within the anti-jehad movement in the U.K. is understandable. The danger with such a stance is that it is hijacked and the "moderate" is highlighted by the oposition and used to dilute the original objection.

Depending on the knowledge base of the audience, the difference is between political sophistication or subtilty. The point of any movement must be to inform potentional allies not grab them by the throat and alienate them. There has been at least three generations of brain washing in the U.K. any message of dissent may have to be subtle in order not to inflict a mental breakdown on the mindset and force the patient back to the comfort zone of the neoliberal psychiatric couch.

To muster anti-neolberal dissent in the U.K. is like digging up the dead thats why the EDL demos should not be underestimated.

Nevertheless the tone of the Parsons' daughter's whisper of the EDL demos gave the political elite a nervous twitch that was felt through out the U.K.

. said...

Please stop knocking the EDL or Lionheart, if only because those who dislike Islam should stick together. Mostly this goes on.

On my home bit drunk at Christmas, I asked a few peoople if they liked Muslims. The answers were all noes. The EDL's existence gave me the confidence to ask if it was just me who finds Islam unlikeable.

I think that Muslims bring this much unpopularity on themselves, and think that alot of people will be glad of the confidence to speak out.