The new Taliban

Both Power Line and Little Green Footballs point to a Jerusalem Post story about an extraordinarily gruesome murder in Gaza. A young woman was attacked by several vigilantes and beaten into a pulp before a crowd of horrified bystanders. Her apparent crime: being seen in public with her fiance. John, at Power Line, commented:

To their credit, PA policemen have arrested two suspects. "This does not represent Islam," a student said. But he didn't dare give his name, and bystanders who watched the murder in progress didn't dare call the police until the perpetrators had left the scene. So I guess that's the question that needs to be resolved. The McCartney murder in Northern Ireland may have been a turning point in public attitudes toward Irish terrorism. Who knows, maybe this crime could mobilize popular opinion against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Palestine.

I don't put much credit in John's hope that this will be turning point, although it certainly would be nice if it was. To me, this has all the hallmarks of a Taliban-like resurgence, and I would not be at all surprised if Israel finds herself with a neighbor that is not only armed to the teeth and desperate for her destruction, but also one that is advancing the most radical, misogynistic, anti-Western version of Islam around.