Bombay India Slaughter by Muslims for Islam Ignored by the Press
Compiled by Lewis Loflin
In discussing incidents of Islamic radicalism like the one below, I urge readers not to blame all Muslims for these atrocities. Most Muslims are not extremists, and broad condemnation only deepens division. We must reject the anti-Western hate that radical groups spread, fueling violence in places like Germany, and support reformers within Islam who challenge these ideologies for a peaceful future. The focus here is on specific acts of terror and the broader patterns they reveal.
Sept. 2, 2006 (AP Extract) - Two Islamists from Lebanon, Youssef Muhammad el-Hajdib (21) and Jihad Hamad (20), attempted to blow up two German trains, partly driven by rage over the 2005 publication of Prophet Muhammad cartoons in a Danish newspaper. These cartoons, republished across Europe in 2006, sparked violent protests and riots across the Muslim world. Hamad told Lebanese interrogators that el-Hajdib saw the cartoons as "an attack of the Western world on Islam." On July 31, 2006, they planted crude bombs on two regional trains at Cologne station, later found on trains in Koblenz and Dortmund. The detonators triggered but failed to ignite the devices—a construction flaw that spared Germany another slaughter like the 2004 Madrid train bombing that killed 191.
December 9, 2008, New York Times - Youssef Muhammad el-Hajdib was convicted on multiple counts of attempted murder for leaving two suitcase bombs on those trains in July 2006. The failed attack deeply rattled Germany, echoing the Madrid tragedy. El-Hajdib and his lawyers claimed "the propane gas devices were never meant to explode," arguing it was staged to incite fear, not kill. German officials countered: "Germany never stood closer to an Islamist attack. The fact that it did not result in a devastating bloodbath was only thanks to a construction error… It was their explicit aim to kill as many nonbelievers as possible." (Remarkably, the New York Times used "Islamist"—a rare break from their usual euphemisms.)
Surveillance cameras at Cologne station fingered el-Hajdib and Hamad boarding trains with large suitcases. A Lebanese court convicted Hamad in 2007, sentencing him to 12 years for his role. Both should’ve faced execution for such intent, but leniency prevailed. Germany has dodged a successful Islamist attack—unlike Britain, Spain, and the U.S.—but officials note several near misses, including the Hamburg cell that helped plan 9/11.
This isn’t an isolated incident. Recall the 2008 Mumbai attacks, where Muslim terrorists killed nearly 200, targeting Hindus, Jews, and Westerners alike. I noted then how "no Muslims poured into the streets to protest the use of Islam to justify mass murder," instead deflecting blame onto politics or Hindu reprisals. The New York Times obscured the Islamist motive, calling it a "mystery" despite clear evidence—like gunmen asking victims’ identities, sparing Muslims, and slaughtering "nonbelievers" for Kashmir grievances. Here in Germany, the cartoon outrage mirrors that supremacist mindset: el-Hajdib saw a drawing as justification for mass murder.
Daniel Pipes observed a "twofold pattern" post-9/11: Muslim exultation and Western denial. After Mumbai, Al-Jazeera’s site brimmed with comments like “Allah, grant victory to jihad” and praise for killing a Jewish rabbi. In Germany, officials admit the intent was to "kill as many nonbelievers as possible," yet media and politicians often twist themselves into knots avoiding "Islamist" or "Muslim." Pipes listed 20 euphemisms—activists, militants, gunmen—used for the 2004 Beslan attackers, anything but "terrorists." This denial, whether from political correctness or self-loathing, blinds the West to the radical sea these fish swim in.
Pipes’ 2006 Pew survey review found alarming support for terror among Muslims: 13% in Germany, 22% in Pakistan, and 69% in Nigeria justified suicide bombings at times. Confidence in Osama bin Laden hit 48% in Pakistan and 68% in Egypt. These numbers suggest deep roots for terrorism, often ignored by a press more eager to shield than expose. In Britain, Habib Khan stabbed Keith Brown to death in 2008, yet multiculturalism smeared Brown as the racist—Khan’s light sentence reflects the same reluctance to confront radical motives head-on.
Germany’s near miss wasn’t luck—it was incompetence by killers steeped in an ideology exported by Saudi Wahhabism, the root of Al-Qaeda, and backed by Pakistan’s terrorist state. As I wrote about Mumbai, "Pakistan was behind this just as they are behind Taliban attacks in Afghanistan," with Saudi money fueling the fire. The cartoon plot fits this pattern: Arab radicals, trained abroad, targeting Western "infidels" over perceived slights. Germany’s open borders amplify the risk—serious curbs on Muslim immigration, especially from Arab and Pakistani sources, are overdue.
What will it take to wake the West? Pipes warned only "massive deaths, say 100,000 casualties in a single WMD attack," might jolt us from this slumber. Short of that, we deploy defensive measures against "activists," not terrorists. The Mumbai killers smiled into cameras as they shot up a train station for 40 minutes, police too timid to act. Germany dodged that fate in 2006, but the intent was the same. Print a cartoon of Mohammed, and radicals riot—kill for Islam, and too many stay silent. Reformers within Islam need our support, but until the West names the enemy—radical Islam, not vague "militants"—these near misses will edge closer to catastrophe.
“Western denial: The fact that terrorist fish are swimming in a hospitable Muslim sea nearly disappears amidst Western political, journalistic, and academic bleatings. Call it political correctness, multiculturalism, or self-loathing; whatever the name, this mentality produces delusion and dithering.” —Daniel Pipes
Explore more on Islamist terrorism from Sullivan-County.com:
I’d like to thank Grok, an AI by xAI, for helping me compile and expand this article with material from prior works. The final edits and perspective are my own. —Lewis Loflin
