Karl Popper, in a much-misunderstood and abused footnote to his The Open Society and Its Enemies, wrote of the “paradox of tolerance”. It’s not a very clear or well-developed argument, but its essence is that, if a society extends tolerance without limit, that will inevitably lead to tolerating the violently intolerant.
As I said, it’s not a very well-developed argument, and it certainly doesn’t mean what the left have persuaded themselves that it does: that it’s ok to smash the heads of people who disagree with you. But it does provide something of an insight into the mindset of “progressives” who endlessly fawn over one of the most regressive ideologies of the past millennium.
The arrest of an “ISIS bride” in the rural NSW town of Young has shocked the local community who say the alleged actions of a “minority” do not reflect the town’s relationship with its growing Lebanese Muslim community.
Miriam Raad, the wife of ISIS’s star Australian recruiter Muhammad Zahab, has been living in the town since being repatriated from a Syrian camp in October.
In recent years, Young has become known as the unofficial Muslim capital of the outback.
Just FYI, numb-nut journalists: rural NSW just an hour or two from Canberra is not “outback”. It’s “the country”. I digress, but only to show how clueless the modern legacy media are.
Anyway, the establishment of halal abattoirs was the drawcard for an influx of Muslims, who now also own many of the region’s farms. As they will, the legacy media manage to gin up a couple of Boomer greybeards, drunk on their own moral purity and only too eager to demonstrate their right-on “tolerance”.
Vicky Powderly, 65, a born-and-bred Young resident, said […] though Ms Raad’s arrest isn’t the first Islamic State-related arrest to have occurred in the town, she said she couldn’t blame the local Muslim community.
The Australian
“Isn’t the first Islamic State-related arrest to have occurred in the town.”
Yeah, you know, cause multiple Islamic State arrests could happen anywhere.
Haisem Zahab was arrested in Young in 2017 and later jailed for nine years with a non-parole period of six years and nine months for designing guided missiles and laser warning devices for Islamic State.
The highly skilled electrical engineer is the cousin of now-deceased Islamic State fighter Muhammad Zahab, whose widow Ms Raad, was charged last week with entering an ISIS-controlled area, believed to be the Syrian city of Raqqa.
Zahab joined the Muslim diaspora in Young, claiming to be looking for a “quieter life in the country”. In fact, he was building and testing guided rockets destined for Islamic State.
However, neighbour Kerry Barr, 78 […] said Haisem Zahab had paid for his crime and deserved a chance.
“I hope there’s no trouble. He’s had a lot of time to think about how he was conned.”
Yeah, about that…
Zahab used online profiles tagged “I’m back kuffar! So die in your rage” and “Victory or Martyrdom”. Sentencing Zahab, NSW Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Bellew said he was “guarded” about the now 48-year-old’s prospects of rehabilitation.
He viewed Zahab’s claims to have renounced Islamic State with “considerable scepticism”, noting that he had continued to refuse to provide police with passwords to his phone and an encrypted USB stick that could have unlocked further incriminating evidence.
Justice Bellew found that the assistance Zahab provided to Islamic State “was both substantial and tangible” and rejected as “fanciful” his claim that he was unaware of the evil nature of the terror group.
Like the “ISIS Brides”, the missile-maker went in for Islamic State, eyes wide-open and eager. His uncle was a Kuwait-based major arms-smuggler for ISIS.
Islamic State had begun manufacturing unguided rockets on an industrialised scale but lacked the technical expertise to produce guided rockets.
Zahab was determined to fill the gap, working every day for six months using hobby rocketry and computer software to perfect his design, some of which featured 100kg warheads.
He bought rocket components claiming they were for his son who was “really into space” and test-flew them on his property […] he later sent Islamic State “a full chemical munitions cookbook”.
The Australian
It’s a wonder Obama didn’t invite him to the White House along with “Clock Boy” Ahmed Mohamed.
As it happens, though, the bomb-maker isn’t the only member of Young’s vibrant Muslim community who is all ga-ga for jihad.
One of the so-called “ISIS brides”, Mariam Raad had been under close surveillance by police and security agencies since being repatriated from Syria in October. Ms Raad has been living in Young, in south central NSW […]
[Police] allege that “newly obtained evidence enabled the JCTT to charge the woman”.
Ms Raad has been refused bail and is due to face Wagga Wagga Local Court on Friday.
Other members of the group of 17 women and children repatriated last year may also be charged, The Australian understands.
Some country towns sure do ‘ave ‘em.