Although the Turkish riots in Rotterdam-and despite media portrayals of poor, victimized Muslims, that’s precisely what they were-were intended to help Recep Tayyip Erdoğan consolidate power within Turkey, they have had a corollary effect. Namely, serving as the best single advertisement for Geert Wilders becoming the next Prime Minister of The Netherlands. Can there be a greater indictment of the decades-long failed experiment in multiculturalism and Islamic immigration than what just occurred in Holland, which was witnessed by the entire world?

The fatuousness disguised as intellectualism peddled by frauds like Ian Buruma has turned a beacon of religious and political freedom into a place where ordinary Dutch men and women are menaced by violent Islamic mobs. Where a state-bankrolled “watchdog” says its permissible to send gay people death threats if you happen to be a Muslim. Where parliamentarians such as Geert Wilders himself are censured because they express disapproval of certain ethnic and religious groups. The notion that liberal, Enlightenment values can be reconciled with a retrograde, 7th century Arabian ideology is preposterous, and the only people who still believe in this fantasy are endangering the future of Europe.

Europeans did not resist Ottoman aggression for centuries merely to invite their enemies into their countries and submit to their whims. What happened in Rotterdam yesterday was not an aberration. It was a foretaste of what is to come.

Update: Tommy Robinson right again, the perp arrived in Turkey via Syria. 

ISIS claims responsibility. 

Burying the dead. 

Graphic photos of the Istanbul massacre. 

A profile of the victims of jihad. 

For good ongoing overage of this attack, follow Abdullah Bozkurt’s Twitter feed.

One of the most exasperating parts of following news coverage of the latest wave of Islamic atrocities is the deliberately mendacious way these crimes against humanity are portrayed by the Fourth Estate, the Santa attack inside of an Istanbul nightclub being just the latest example of this willful deception. At least the editors of the Daily Beast had the courtesy to enclose that word in quotation marks, but people who didn’t read beyond the headline of this story would probably be under the impression that a deranged mall santa decided to go on  a bloody rampage, a la A Christmas Horror Story. No, this wasn’t a case of an otherwise non-ideological lunatic going postal, or a person cosplaying a scenario from a Batman vs. Joker film.

It was a calculated jihadist methodically mowing down Kufr and infidels-foreign tourists, but also secular Turks who enjoy living in (relative) freedom-as is prescribed in his scripture, i.e. the Koran. This terrorist was acting upon the same impulse as his fellow Turks, some of whom spent the Christmas season holding Santa Claus at gunpoint in order to express their displeasure at a religious/cultural festival which does not involve rivers of blood. When an acquaintance informed me of this massacre on New Year’s Eve, the way he described it made it seem like an utterly random outbreak of ultra-violence. This popular misconception needs to be challenged at every opportunity, because it is literally taking innocent life.

As horrifying as it is to admit that over 11,000 human beings have had their lives erased because of Islam in 2016 alone, this truth needs to be assimilated if we are to ever hope of living in anything approaching Western civilization. People need to reject the comforting delusions which have made these types of massacres more, not less, likely. We are facing a global ideology which is anti-civilization, anti-thought, and anti-humanity.

Saint Nicholas would not be allowed to live in modern-day Turkey, and if Santa Claus existed I’m almost certain he would have been quickly beheaded by one of the many Sunni terrorist groups operating within that country. 2016 should be a wakeup call to those who have been ignoring the exterminationist war being fought against crusaders and infidels. Continuing to live in ignorance is no longer an option.

Update: I’m not saying it’s an inside job, but…

Erdogan reaches out. 

The assassin was a member of the riot police, according to Turkey’s interior minister. 

Syrian opposition celebrates the assassination. 

The assailant-now deceased-appears to have been a Turkish policeman. Heckuva job, Erdogan! 

Footage of what appears to be the assassination. 

As if we needed another reason to halt our country’s disastrous involvement in Syria, the Russian ambassador to Turkey was just shot and killed in that nation’s capital. Syria, like Lebanon from 1975-1990, is an irresolvable tinderbox with too many warring factions to enumerate, all of whom-even the Kurds-are committing atrocities. Instead of sending more troops to this charnel house, we should be withdrawing every soldier on the ground and cutting off all military supplies to the jihadist rebels. Instead of following this sensible policy, the lunatics serving in Congress have decided that it would be a swell idea to arm these same Sunni terrorists with weaponry capable of downing civilian aircraft.

Just like in Star Wars, there are no good guys in this conflict. Whether it’s the Russian air force indiscriminately bombing Syrian cities and towns, Iranian proxy Hezbollah attempting to ethnically cleanse Sunni villages, American-backed moderate rebels beheading children, or Syrian Christians facing complete extinction at the hands of emboldened Sunnis, there are no parties to this conflict with clean hands. This country has no strategic interests in Syria, other than thwarting the spread of ISIS-which humanitarian, liberal interventionists have facilitated-and preventing jihadist sleeper cells from establishing roots in American soil through refugee resettlement.

CNN is one of those ubiquitous aspects of the American soundscape which I’ve always looked upon as part of our gradual cultural decline. Whether you’re in a dentist’s waiting room, or simply passing by a restaurant on your way home-as I was this weekend-you can’t help but overhear one of that network’s correspondents, news anchors or hosts do their best KCNA imitation. The fact that so many millions of Americans unconsciously imbibe its propaganda on a daily basis merely illustrates how difficult it will be to craft a counter-narrative to the open borders, liberal interventionist propaganda which shapes our government’s domestic and foreign policies. To successfully deprogram the people who are barely aware of the deliberate, pernicious bias which animates the media will be a monumental task.

However, on September 10th I inadvertently watched something of inestimable value on that network, an interview of Howard Lutnick. The CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, a company which lost 658 employees during the 9/11 massacre, including Mr. Lutnick’s brother and best friend, he is a living reminder of the determination and compassion embodied by New Yorkers and Americans. I couldn’t watch that interview without tears welling up in my eyes, because I viscerally remember the horror of that day, as well as the weeks that followed. Although I’m blessed not to have lost any loved ones or friends that day, the desolation and despair those attacks left in their wake, the incalculable human grief and misery they inflicted upon this city and our nation, couldn’t help but make a permanent impression upon my psyche.

I still vividly recall the columns of smoke floating over the my college campus from the scene of destruction at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. The horrifically pungent smell of death wafting its way up to Union Square for nearly a month afterwards. The tangible fear and anxiety which gripped me for the following week whenever I boarded a bus or walked outside of my apartment in Brooklyn. The posters of missing men and women who would never return to their families, which blanketed the entire city and hundreds of which I passed on my way to visiting my late uncle in Cobble Hill later that month. Only later did I, like many Americans, begin to feel the incandescent rage and fury at the anti-civilization that had demolished 2 architectural landmarks which its emissaries could never have even conceived of, let alone designed and erected.

That anger and resentment has only increased in the intervening years, as the ruling class has done everything within its power to condition the American public to accept Islamic identity as equal-if not superior-to Western civilization and American values. Values which courageous FDNY, PAPD, NYPD and EMS workers-as well as heroic civilians like Howard Lutnick-displayed a decade and a half ago. Even as our rights and freedoms have been steadily diminished and we have witnessed Americans being slaughtered again and again on our television screens. With each anniversary of the single worst attack upon American soil the cognitive terrorism conducted by our press organs increases in intensity.

As others have pointed out, the main takeaway from the September 11th atrocities-for the enemedia, at any rate-is that it’s an event which has made the lives of Muslims slightly more uncomfortable. The fact that the commemoration of 9/11 this year coincides with a Muslim holy day-and the presidential candidacy of a man who refuses to pretend that the architects of this unprecedented provocation belonged to a religion of peace-has only intensified the Muslims as victims press coverage, no matter how inane or blatantly false the chimera of Islamophobic backlash is in reality.

The fact that we haven’t spent the past decade implementing measures to prevent future 9/11s from occurring-securing our borders, deporting national security threats, and curtailing immigration from nations which amount to terrorist incubators-but have instead dwelled upon how we can cosset the feelings of Muslims and contextually understand a book which has no context is absolutely infuriating. That future generations of American students will be taught that the victims of 9/11 were actually Muslims, and as abroad Austrians are being condemned by their purported countrymen for celebrating their ancestors’ defeat of an Ottoman army sent to perpetually enslave them, is so galling that it defies description.

The amount of mental space and emotional energy I’ve had to devote to understanding Islam-what motivates its adherents, why it’s persisted into the 21st century despite leaving no cultural or philosophical monuments of lasting significance, why Western intellectuals, going back to Gibbon, maintain that it has something of value to impart to our civilization-is spiritually enervating. I am, like the great Mark Steyn, Islamed out. I want future generations of American children to learn about the brilliance of men like Minoru Yamasaki, who designed an architectural masterpiece which 3 generations of Muslim immigration has never approached, and in all likelihood never will. A man who embodied the best of American values, i.e. individualism, perseverance, and creativity allowed to blossom in freedom, not ethno-religious resentment, ingratitude, and attachments to historic hatreds which will never be eradicated.

We are a warm and generous nation-and have been since our founding. Therefore, we should welcome Muslims throughout the world. As visitors though, not as settlers. Think of how many Ron DiFrancescos could have been admitted to this country in place of the Omar Mateens and Dzhokhar Tsarnaevs. It’s time to move past our culture’s pathological altruism and recognize the sacrifices of the men and women who perished on that bleak September morning. It might be too late to stop the civilizational suicide of our European allies, but there is still hope for us. America needs to preserve the memories of its martyrs and ensure more of them are not sacrificed on the alter of vibrant diversity.

For those of you still laboring under the impression that Islam is not at war with the West-including the presumptive Democratic nominee for President-I have some shocking news. It turns out that the followers of Mohammed have other ideas. The plan to assassinate free speech, counterjihad activist Pamela Geller-which was, thankfully, thwarted through the work of the FBI and a tactically placed drone strike-was simply one of many plots devised by jihadist networks which have agents inside of the United States. Networks that have yet to be penetrated by American human intelligence and which now have a steady supply of recruits thanks to horrifically misguided immigration policies.

What should continue to infuriate those of you who have been paying attention is the way this issue is being framed by willfully ignorant and/or malicious hacks within the enemedia. A typical example of journalistic malpractice can be found in the Daily Mail, which-as Robert Spencer points out-has the strange distinction of being the newspaper most preoccupied with the Islamification of Europe while simultaneously denying that Islam itself is a problem. Apparently, the target of at least 2 known assassination plots provoked her would-be murderers by publicly dissenting from the dogma promulgated by the Fourth Estate’s favorite religion. A religion which is unique in enjoying blanket immunity from criticism.

Perhaps that has something to do with how adherents to the Religion of Peace deal with legitimate critiques of their faith. A pattern of violence and coercion that can be traced back to the founder of this religion, who himself didn’t countenance rational criticism. This campaign of brutality and intolerance has been so successful that it has silenced all but a few courageous voices in the West, which in turn makes it that much easier for jihadists to hunt down its intended targets, a reality which hasn’t been lost on Mark Steyn. It has also turned the mainstream media, ranging from commercial and public broadcasting networks-both radio and television-cable news, national and regional newspapers, and incredibly powerful websites into mouthpieces for the most retrograde, illiberal ideology known to man.

One wonders if the people asserting that Pamela Geller “provoked” these Islamic bombs-duds, fortunately, in this case-feel the same way about Gerard O’Neill and Dick Lehr. Did they provoke mobster James Bulger Jr. through their critical investigative reporting into his murderous criminal empire? What about controversial author and radio host Howie Carr? Was the grizzled Irish mobster nicknamed Whitey justified in his attempt to eliminate Carr for his insolence? Employing the logic used by the regressive left to slander Geller and her allies in the counter-jihad movement, one would come to that ineluctable conclusion.

What’s perplexing  is the implicit assumption that by blackening the name of  notorious “Islamophobes” and trying to preempt any public debate on the nature of Islam these journalists are assuring their own safety, which could not be further from the truth. The idea that you can somehow preserve the institutions of Western civilization  for yourself while eroding them for your perceived enemies-who actually believe in and exercise those values, unlike your reactionary Islamist allies-is a staggering form of cognitive dissonance. The brutal, globally shared execution of non-right wing, non-Islamophobic journalist Steven Sotloff should have demonstrated this, if the murder of dozens of other journalists, NGO workers, and even an Israel-hating, Italian Marxist did not. Somehow, the rather elementary notion that you can’t compromise with people who demand your complete and utter submission-up to and including your own death-hasn’t penetrated the minds of those who man North American and European news desks.

The collective amnesia these individuals must suffer from is astounding to contemplate. I would recommend reading The Camp of the Saints, a grim portrait of the future of the West, but I doubt it would change their minds, which seem predetermined to ignore any portions of reality which conflict with their surreal conception of human nature. Then again, there’s always the chance that some will come to their senses. If so, perhaps Pamela Geller won’t be our Cassandra. If not, we have a bleak future, and many regrets, ahead of us.

Turkey’s historic brutality towards ethnic and religious minorities, particularly what was once a thriving, prosperous Armenian Christian community, is well known throughout the West. The notion that rational individuals with a basic historic awareness would be persuaded to accept Turkish revisionism and holocaust denial is absurd.  However, that hasn’t stopped the Turkish government from spending millions of dollars in an effort to cajole, coerce or bribe governments throughout the world, including our own, to ignore its complicity in one of the greatest crimes of the 20th century. Acclaimed scholars of the Middle East have repeated the lies spouted by fascistic Turkish demagogues as it relates to this subject, and we now have the Wall Street Journal running a full-page advertisement espousing the views of the men who orchestrated the virtual annihilation of the Armenian people.

That is why the Rally For Justice, to be held outside the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles this Sunday, is necessary. It’s an opportunity to remind the the world that the descendants of those who survived the Armenian Golgotha have not forgotten the persecution of their ancestors, and will not remain silent while Turkey attempts to airbrush its crimes out of history, even as its current government commits monstrous new ones upon another demonized minority. I would urge all of this website’s followers who live in Southern California to attend, and those who cannot to spread the word. In the face of unspeakable lies, remaining silent is not an option.

Some Europeans aren’t willing to accept dhimmitude. Free speech is worth fighting for.

In order to illustrate what havoc our government’s encouragement of bad actors like Wahabbist theocracies like Qatar and Saudi Arabia-not to say nothing of Turkey’s latest sultan-we’re going to share video footage that is beyond disturbing. We should preface this with a strong warning that the video you’re about to watch is gruesome, but an example, nevertheless, of why we need to stop interfering in conflicts where there is no exigent United States foreign policy or national security interest.

With that said, here is the latest abomination to occur within Syria.

One of the chief distinctions between the anti-Israel rally and the slightly smaller, yet equally exuberant, pro-Israel counter-demonstration held in Times Square this weekend was the sentiments expressed by the participants. While the former vocalized their antipathy towards Israel and the United States and demanded ordinary Israelis be punished-through measures such as the BDS movement-and spent most of their time anathematizing Jews in the most historically inaccurate way possible, the latter concentrated mostly upon messages of solidarity with Israel.

There were, of course, expressions of hostility towards the jihadists who have instigated the current wave of bloodshed, and who continued to barrage terrified Israeli civilians with Iranian-designed missiles even as this was being written.

However, I saw no generalized contempt for the Palestinian people, or even the bellicose Islamist leaders of neighboring countries who exhorted those currently entrusted with power in the Gaza Strip to stand their ground.

The overwhelming sentiment was one of resilience, not hatred, and was expressed through chants like “Am Yisrael Chai,” the people of Israel live, and the singing of the Hatikvah, the national anthem of Israel.

As well as an attempt to convey, in concrete terms, the intensity of the terror ordinary civilians, especially those living in southern Israel, experience on a daily basis.

And to connect the coercive violence aimed at Israel to the jihadist attacks carried out against similar Western nations throughout the globe.

Specifically, the United States, which has endured jihadist attacks for the past several decades, including lethal assaults initiated by the men currently in charge of the Palestinian Authority and the Gaza Strip.

Needless to say, there are legitimate critiques to be made of the methods Israel employed in responding to the rocket war waged by Hamas, as well as unaffiliated jihadist and Palestinian gangs. If nothing else, the fact that Hamas has been able to enchance its growing diplomatic standing in the Middle East-while preserving its vast, Iranian-supplied weapons arsenal-and was able to deter Israel from a ground invasion bodes ill for the security of Israeli citizens, to say nothing of those Palestinians who will be the unfortunate human shields in future military engagements.

Whether or not the result of this conflict constitutes a victory for Hamas, it is clear to all but the most deluded observers that it is a defeat for the adversaries of Hamas. Rather than Thing, a.k.a. Ben Grimm, Israel reacted to this assault in the dithering, indecisive manner of Shakespeare’s tragic hero, Hamlet. And as we all know, this strategy, if it can be called that, only leads to more bloodshed in the future.

Perhaps most disconcertingly, the inhumanity and barbarity of Islamic law was papered over by the persistently hostile mass media which reported on the Gaza conflict.

As these images from the public execution and dismemberment of suspected “collaborators,” which has drawn remarkably little attention from the fifth estate-with some notable exceptions-demonstrate.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the collective expression of support for Israel we’ve witnessed in New York City, whether from ordinary citizens or self-interested pols, is going to have much of an impact on public discourse. The sad truth is that the dominant media narrative, i.e. Palestinians as perpetual victim and Israel as eternal aggressor, is going to remain in place for the foreseeable future, and not even the most well crafted, factually accurate  publicity campaign is going to alter the status quo.

In fact, it could be argued that the appeal of the formulaic, anti-Israel meta narrative will only grow as those sympathetic to the Islamist cause gain an even surer foothold in the corporate world, within Congress and among influential media organs. The only way to counter this cresting tide is, to paraphrase the great Franz Kafka, take an axe to the frozen sea inside of us. Or in this case, the ice inside of those who willfully ignore the truth before them.

The truth, like life, is not pretty, but it must be told. Israel, like most of the West,  faces an existential struggle. Its preservation does not hinge upon a slick media relations campaign, or a superficially persuasive viral video, but upon disabusing spectators of the fallacies that underlie much of received wisdom about this conflict. And the only way to accomplish that goal is by telling the truth about jihadist dogma and how it informs the actions of  organizations like Hamas.