Tarheels and Terrorists

Mohammad Reza Taheri-azar, an Iranian-born Muslim, raised in the US, drives a large rented SUV into a crowd of students at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, then calmly calls the police to announce his crime. When asked why he did it, Taheri-azar replies that he was attempting to kill Americans in response to America’s crimes against Muslims. He is proud of his actions. In a rational world, Taheri-azar’s actions and his self-declaration of terrorist intent would be enough to definitively label his act an example of Islamic terrorism. But not everyone at the University of North Carolina agrees, offering a fascinating glimpse into how multiculturalist thinking forces otherwise intelligent people to deny reality:

While Taheri-azar's actions and intentions seem pretty straightforward, the reaction by the Chapel Hill community has reflected political ideology more than reality. Though school officials and students have denounced the incident, they have not called it an act of terrorism. UNC-CH Chancellor James Moeser didn't use the word "terrorism" once when he gave his first public comments on the incident. In fact, no one from the school administration has uttered the term. "In times like this, it is so important for our community to pull together, remain calm and offer comfort and assistance to one another," Moeser said in a statement. He added that the school would host an event on the incident once students return from spring break.

On Monday, some students took the initiative to denounce the attack and stage a rally to label it as an act of terrorism. Jillian Bandes, a columnist who was fired from The Daily Tar Heel in September for comments she made about Muslims and terrorism, told The News & Observer, "Why not label terrorism? Not doing so suggests a certain leniency toward that kind of thing."

But many of the attendees at the rally were there to denounce the use of the term. Muslim students told the media they were offended by those who believe it was an act of terrorism. By Monday afternoon, signs were seen in the Pit that called the rally organizers racists and asking about 100,000 people killed in Iraq.

A UNC sophomore, Johnathan Pourzal, told the Durham Herald-Sun that the mission of the event organizers offended him. "By calling it religious violence, you are telling people that Muslims are violent," he said.

Muslims, within the US and abroad, have come to understand the West far better than most Westerners do. They understand Western self-loathing, which expresses itself in multiculturalism and the identity politics it spawns. And they understand the Western fear of being labeled racist (the worst thing that can happen to a white person). Having understood these things, the radicals amongst them are more than happy to use it to their advantage. Taheri-azar committed a terrorist act in the name of Islam. Those are the facts. That "Muslim students" at the University of North Carolina and their lefty supporters want to deny reality and claim otherwise – and slander into silence those who disagree – should tell your everything you need to know about those "Muslim students", their leftist supporters and the sort of ideological indoctrination now on offer at American universities.