The Martyrdom of Father Hamel and ISIS’s Total-War Strategy

[Valin]

National Review:

The terrorists take special joy in attacking the oldest Christian institution in the West.

Tom Rogan

July 26, 2016

 

By all accounts, Father Jacques Hamel’s 86 years were defined by honorable service to his congregants and his faith. He served the picturesque town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, perched on a forested bend of the Seine River. But earlier today, two ISIS fanatics entered Father Hamel’s church and slit his throat. They also critically injured a nun before being shot dead by French SWAT officers.

 

ISIS’s war against humanity rumbles on. But although the investigation has just begun, we can already make some key observations.

 

First, it is noteworthy that ISIS’s media arm rapidly claimed responsibility. That suggests the organization is ramping up its propaganda effort in conjunction with its global war. In recent weeks, we’ve seen ISIS attackers murder a French police officer and his girlfriend, bomb Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, bomb hundreds of civilians in Iraq and Syria, slaughter patrons at a Bangladesh bakery, rundown 84 innocents in Nice, detonate a suicide vest at a German concert, and stab passengers on a German train. Multiple other ISIS plots — including a plan to massacre fans at a European Cup soccer-watch party — have also been prevented.

 

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[Valin]

Update

Four Jailed Over Islamist Killing of French Catholic Priest During Mass

Peter Caddle

11 Mar 2022

Four men have been sentenced over the terror killing of a Catholic Priest in France, an attack that was perpetrated by self-described Islamic State members.

Sentences between seven years and life in prison have been handed down to four men in relation to the Islamic terror killing of French Priest Father Jacques Hamel, who was murdered at the foot of his church’s altar while celebrating mass.

The brutal killing — which saw the 85-year old have his throat slit while worshippers were taken hostage — occurred only weeks after a Tunisian drove a truck through a crowd of French civilians celebrating Bastille Day in 2016, an attack that killed 86 people.

According to a report by Reuters, none of the men sentenced on Wednesday had been present during the attack, but all were found to have some involvement with the two terrorist killers — both of whom claimed membership of the Islamic State.

Three of the defendants were handed down sentences ranging from eight to 13 years, with the fourth man — who is assumed to have been killed in a drone strike in Iraq in 2017 — being sentenced in absentia to life in prison for sponsoring the attack.

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H/T Rantberg