When will enough be enough?

I sometimes get the impression that the majority of people have become desensitized to footage of fellow human beings being slaughtered in the middle of a major European city.

Modern technology allows us to video people trying to flee whilst the terrorists take pot shots at them. One such video showed a young man limping, leaving a trail of blood behind him, another was very bravely pulling along the body of another of the fallen. Young women were hanging from windows by the tips of their fingers and others were crying for help in the most unimaginable distress. When exactly will enough be enough?

Not since World War II has there been a time when Europe needs to stand united and legislate new laws that give utmost protection to the bona fide immigrants and take to task those who are here just to incite violence, thinking that they can impose their archaic and often barbaric way of life upon us Europeans. Some might argue (at least in the case of France) that the hatred is born and bred at home and the attackers might be holding French passports. In the latter case, new laws have to be passed with haste to allow the government to strip citizenship and take all the necessary precautions and actions to remove these evil human beings from society permanently.

Something has to change and something has to give. But will it?

It is not a problem exclusive to Europe. Lebanon, Syria, or Iraq. These acts are no less serious because they happen to happen “there”. Scores of videos showing the decapitation of anyone who doesn’t agree with their barbaric ideology, children shot point blank and/or buried alive, the rape of countless women, the selling of young girls in slave markets and all this in 2015. Need I continue? Isn’t it high time that the Western World takes a no-nonsense approach and sends a clear message to the perpetrators and those who support them?

Yes we do know who they are. We have known for years. But they are “allies” so we cannot really do anything about it or so we think. Just Google ‘Clinton Wikileaks’: those who are uninformed are in for quite a nasty surprise.

I might be out of my depth discussing the above – I am sure there are those who will say as much and they would probably be right. However there is one thing I know very well – our entertainment. We do take the latter very seriously in the West and it is ingrained in our culture…

Many will ask why I am bothering to write “off topic” and how this is relevant to classical music. But it is very relevant and this recent attack could indeed mark the end of live performances, theatre and cinemas.

Hyperbole? Think about it – how many attacks will it take in Europe for people to start avoiding theatres, stadiums and restaurants? Few other venues lend themselves better to be used as a platform for mass carnage than a space where hundreds of people sit in close proximity to each other whilst they enjoy themselves with their guard let down. Make no mistake, these terrorists knew exactly what they were doing and they drove the stake right at the heart of one of the world’s most beautiful, cosmopolitan cities. I am afraid to say that if such an attack would happen in Malta it would wipe tourism out for months if not years, crippling the industry altogether.

Globally, change for the worse has already happened. How many opera productions were modified, changed or dropped altogether because it “might” offend some minority or other? I am also guilty of the latter – in the 2012 proms I wanted to dress as a Knight of Malta but had second thoughts after someone pointed out to me that it would be seen as a provocation by some since it evoked memories of the crusades! For crying out loud, it is 2015 and some living with us in the streets of London and Paris seem to think that the price for blasphemy should be death – think Charlie Hebdo and the Scandinavian incidents. A simple YouTube search will serve you with an alarming number of results of some of these “protests” and some of the “messages” conveyed during such rallies.

What is sure is that something has to change and something has to give. We can’t ignore helping genuine refugees who are fleeing this exact same massacre in their troubled lands; but we can’t continue to succumb to pressure to give up our way of life or our own security at the same time. It is a very tough act to balance.

A no-nonsense approach with people who refuse to integrate or are troublemakers strikes me as a very civil, fair and logical solution to the plight Europe is facing. Yes, we need to take serious action against those who hate our way of life and we would have the full support of the real Muslim moderates who are escaping that way of life anyway. Think of the Australian model – they seem to handle this nonsense in a concise and strong way.

Priorities must be put in the right order. The Mediterranean is in turmoil with scores of men, women and children drowning and washing up on beaches, hundreds of thousands fleeing persecution and certain death from countries like Iraq and Syria, the ever-growing threat of global terrorism and an ever-growing dangerous far-right movement in the Western world, yet what some want us to worry about in Malta is whether a Muslim woman can wear a “Niqab” or “Burka” in public. This mollycoddling and fake liberalism has to stop. These absolutely ridiculous requests and expectations have to be ignored and focus must be directed to the issues that matter.

I am inclined to think that a family of refugees fleeing the threat of beheadings, rape, slavery and wanton murder would not be concerned about Christian symbolism such as Father Christmas, Baby Jesus and the occasional cross. It is neither racist nor bigoted to be proud of our way of life. We don’t have to change for anyone and the real, moderate Muslims will appreciate and embrace the new culture that took them in and they will be thankful that they are in a safe place where they can go about their business in peace.