Volume 88 | Issue 9 | obiter-dicta.ca
The Definitive Source for Osgoode News since 1928
Monday, January 19, 2015
terror in a
peaceful time
ê The world isn’t becoming more dangerous. It just seems like it.
michael capitano › news editor
I
t’s been ov er thirteen years since terrorism made its way into the public consciousness
through the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Yet, despite tightened security, increased
antipathy towards Muslims, and years of war and
torture, the slew of recent terrorist activity makes
it seem like the West’s attempt to subdue extremist militant behaviour has only served to alter the
nature of terrorist activity. Instead of methodical,
large-scale attacks, over the past year we’ve seen a
rise in guerilla-like, small-scale attacks using any
means necessary.
Just last week: Boko Haram used a 10-year-old
girl as a suicide bomber, killing up to 20 people
in a crowded Nigerian market and massacred two
thousand more; two brothers claiming to work for
al-Qaida attacked the Parisian satirical magazine
Charlie Hebdo, while a third person murdered a
police woman and took hostages in a kosher market.
According to Prime Minister Steven Harper, it’s
clear that “[t]he international jihadist movement has
declared war. They have declared war on anybody
who does not think and act exactly as they wish they
would think and act.”
While this may be true, Harper’s statement and
others like it, at their base, are rooted in hypocrisy. Colonialism, in and of itself, had the exact
same mission and has been largely successful. The
fact that we’re seeing pushback now is evidence
that centuries of anger can no longer be contained.
But anti-Muslim sentiment is increasing as well.
In Germany, there have been calls for the end to
the “Islamization” of the West. With the rise of IS,
» see terror, page 11
In this Issue ...
editorial
Thoughts on Charlie Hebdo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
news
Terror in a Peaceful Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cover
opinion
Effectiveness of CIA Torture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
arts & culture
Jurisfoodence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
sports
Toronto Raptors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10