Daniel Pipes on Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, the former UNC student who tried to run people down in the Pit on March 3:
Taheri-azar represents the ultimate Islamist nightmare: a seemingly well-adjusted Muslim whose religion inspires him, out of the blue, to murder non-Muslims. Taheri-azar acknowledged planning his jihad for over two years, or during his university sojourn. It?s not hard to imagine how his ideas developed, given the coherence of Islamist ideology, its immense reach (including a Muslim Student Association at UNC), and its resonance among many Muslims.
As for polls that show a growing distrust and fear among Americans of Islam, he adds:
The Muslim response of denouncing these views as bias, as the ?new anti-Semitism,? or ?Islamophobia? is as baseless as accusing anti-Nazis of ?Germanophobia? or anti-Communists of ?Russophobia.? Instead of presenting themselves as victims, Muslims should address this fear by developing a moderate, modern, and good-neighborly version of Islam that rejects radical Islam, jihad, and the subordination of ?infidels.?
