August 11, 2006

"Moussauoi Day" in Britain

August 10th. A day that can be added to the yahrtzeits of September 11th and July 7th imposed on our world by Islamic terror.

I think of it as "Zacharias Moussaoui Day" for Britain. A day that unfortunately America wasn't fortunate enough to have been granted by fate.

Had the so-called 20th hijacker been discovered in the USA as today's plotters were in the UK, the catastrophe of 9-11 would have been avoided and more than 3,000 innocent men and women would still be enjoying their lives and families today.

So, what will Britain do with this gift of fate?
This gift of life.

Will it regard it as a wake-up call?
Or simply press the snooze button until the next alarm.
I fear the latter ... true to European type.

Despite the upheaval at Heathrow airport, I chose not to cancel my plans to catch El Al's overnight flight to Israel. The Islamists may want to wipe Israel off the map but, so long as it IS on the map, I'm damned if they're gonna stop me visiting it.

By my 8 pm check-in Terminal 3 was eerily quiet. Most travellers had either cancelled or been cancelled. The few passengers trudging toward their departure gates seemed helpless and vulnerable without their faithful carry-ons and backpacks. Instead, all of us carried a small plastic bag containing tickets, passport, money and any essential medicines. That's all.

Possibly the most painful wrench was having to part with cellphones. It was a truly eerie feeling not seeing or hearing a single cellphone in use between check-in and the gate. And it was comical listening to the pre-flight announcements about switching off cellphones which no-one had with them.

To call home before boarding I had to use a payphone. I haven't used a payphone in years! It was truly like going back in time. Walking around clutching ziplock bags, bereft all our gizmos and gadgetry.

But then I thought: Isn't that exactly what the Islamists want? To take us all back in time?
To a primitive dark-age of Sharia law, holy wars, imprisonment of women, summary execution and beheadings.

It reminded me of the plane that landed in Riyadh airport and whose captain announced:
"We have just landed in Saudi Arabia. Please set your watches back 300 years".

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