Simon O'Connor: The five-letter word media won’t say

From a failed airline hijacking to riots in France, our inability to name causes and motivations is undermining our ability to respond to reality.

There seems to be one five-letter word that much of the mainstream media cannot simply bring itself to say: Islam.

As you know, in recent days, yet another Islamic terrorist has sought to bring death to innocents. On this occasion, it was an attempt to hijack an aircraft and then use it as a flying bomb into Tel Aviv. Had the terrorist succeeded, hundreds, if not thousands, would have died.

I’ve actually flown this route from Dubai to Tel Aviv on Fly Dubai,

 and we can now expect major changes around security 

and other procedures.

Listening to mainstream media on the matter was excruciating. One News talked incessantly about an ‘extremist’ and even of a ‘religious extremist’ yet refused to mention the specifics of this extremism. It was not a Catholic nun or a Hindu brahmin; it was an Islamic extremist. This was known and yet media made the conscious and deliberate choice to exclude this information.

I’ve always contended that if you cannot define an issue, there is no way you can resolve it. This goes for every issue.

The same is true of when police release statements about searching for a woman and yet it turns out it is actually a man who identifies as a woman. Police and media in these instances prefer to adhere to ideology rather than apprehend the offender.

Running alongside the inability to identify the motivations of the attacker was the very clear decision by some media outlets, and I am thinking of the New York Times in particular, to downplay this act of terrorism. It was simply an ‘altercation’ or ‘fight’. It reminds me of the ‘mostly peaceful protest’ claims of a CNN reporter during the BLM riots.

Had this hijacking attempt been targeting any other country or group of people, it would be front page news for days. As it stands, there is some reporting but quickly pushed to the periphery.

Sadly, but not unpredictably, we see a flood of conspiracy theories already including that this was a false flag operation. It would be lazy thinking to dismiss such claims if they were not usually a cover for antisemitism from elements of the radical left and Islamists. This fusion between Islam and the radical left is a growing and a manifest challenge to Western society.

The same reluctance to clearly identify causes and motivations can be seen elsewhere, including in the reporting around the latest riots in France. The idea that these are spontaneous student protests is ridiculous. Are we really to believe that students were poring over budget documents, or inexplicably for teenagers, demanding more teacher supervision than less?

It is even more absurd when you hear these claims and then consider that the rioting students are simultaneously attacking teachers and burning down their schools.

These protests are being fuelled, funded, and rallied by the radical far left in France. In many ways, I suspect this is a test run before the upcoming presidential elections which the left will likely lose.

As an aside, these riots stand in stark contrast to the visit of the Pope only a few days earlier. Nearly a million French people turned out to see him. No violence, no attacking police – just calm, dignity, and beauty.

The example of the attempted hijacking of Fly Dubai and the troubles in France share the same narratives and tactics. They are also the same tactics and narrative that has followed Israel since the horrific and barbaric attacks by Hamas and Gazans on October 7th, three years ago today.

It is what I call the abuser’s profile. Put simply, the abuser acts as you would expect – abusively, violently, and aggressively, but as soon as there is any pushback they immediately switch to being the victim. They cry foul, declare the response disproportionate, claim that they are in fact the victim of violence, and ensure there are plenty acolytes around to film and then curate the content to manipulate the narrative.

The days since October 7th are the clearest case in point. Western sympathisers with Islamic terrorism and antisemitism have spouted hatred on the streets, week after week. They have reimagined Hamas as the victim and not the abuser. That Israel pushed back is argued as unfair, unjust, and disproportionate. When activists use this latter word, what they really mean is a preference for inaction and preferably capitulation.

When it comes to the riots in France, headlines are busy decrying the police pushback on the violent students and their far-left and Islamic supporters. Headlines and images used imply the police are at fault, not those instigating the escalating violence. Again, the word ‘disproportionate’ is used as if there is some magical way for authorities to respond to such disorder. Importantly, use of this word is designed to undermine authority. Whether Israel or the French police, the implication is they are not acting justly and fairly, and that it is the terrorists and rioters who are the true victims.

Notice the framing of this image, from the lack of context 

in the headline, to the choice of student, and the large 

overbearing police officer.

The pro-Hamas crowd in New Zealand follows the same pattern. Violent, abusive, property damaging – yet the moment anyone challenges them, they switch to be the crying victim.

Sadly, far too many supposedly intelligent people fall for the performative nature of these abusers. This demonstrates not only an intellectual weakness, but a moral one as well.

Not only do we need to speak openly and freely about what is happening, and define who and what is behind various actions, we must also have a sufficient moral grounding to discern between good and evil.



We no longer recognise evil

Simon O'Connor 1 Mar  Read full story

And so we can say, the co-pilot of the Fly Dubai plane is not some misguided Omani, but an Islamic terrorist.

The rioting French students and their radical supporters are not victims, but the instigators of violence and destruction.

And Hamas are not freedom fighters, but embracers of a culture of death.

As many will know, I visited Israel and the Gaza border after October 7th. This image is the one that has impacted me the most. The door handle of a shelter for Israeli civilians, being held shut by a father, until Hamas terrorists shot through the door. All those within died and the evidence of this remained clear to see.

Just one of the many civilian vehicles shot up by Hamas and Gazans who crossed the border.

Simon O'Connor a former National MP graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Political Studies . Simon blogs at On Point - where this article was sourced.