Akayed Ullah, 27, detonated a rudimentary pipe bomb in a New York City subway on December 11, injuring five people. |
On 9/11, I typed, “Now, we are all Israelis.”
At the time, what I meant was that Muslim terrorists had come after us in New York CIty in a rather big way, just as they’d been attacking Israelis decade after decade, even as the world yawned indifferently or cheered the terrorists on.
Now, what I mean is that terrorist attacks have been normalized in the West, even in New York City, which has seen one attack after the other, beginning with the political assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1990 by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born American citizen radicalized in Pakistan, who was later involved in the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.
Let’s not forget that in 1994, Lebanese-born Rashid Baz shot at a van filled with Orthodox Jewish students, killing Ari Halberstam and wounding three children.
Who can forget the 1997 Brooklyn-based Palestinian bomb plot to blow up the New York subway trains—or the lone, Palestinian shooting attack on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.
New York’s terrorist hall of shame includes (clockwise from top left) El Sayyid Nosair, Rashid Baz, Faisal Shahzad, and Ahmad Khan Rahimi. |
One can write that Palestinian Arabs export terrorists—not just terrorist ideology.
Then there was the 2010 attempted car bombing in Times Square by Pakistani Faisal Shahzad. Or Afghan Ahmad Khan Rahimi, an American citizen, who injured 31 people with a pressure-cooker in Chelsea in 2016. Or Uzbekistani Sayfullo Saipov, who rammed his rented truck into a crowd, killing eight people and wounding 12.
Earlier today, presumed Bangladeshi, Akayed Ullah, detonated a pipe bomb in the subway at 42nd Street, injuring himself and others. He said he’d been inspired by ISIS.
Now, what I mean is that New Yorkers have also become as resilient as Israelis; perhaps a little blasé as well. Life goes on for us. Streets are closed but the subways are running. Offices stayed open. Trials went forward. People lunched. Dinner plans have not been cancelled.
I called my son to make sure he was fine. I made some other personal family calls too.
Ah, this is relatively new. The Israeli-like fear that someone one knows, and loves, might have become a statistic in the war against the Jews and against the West that lies heavily is upon us.
Phyllis Chesler, a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum, is an emerita professor of psychology and women’s studies and the author of sixteen books.
