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Paris, Brussels, where next?

The expected has happened. London is probably in the terrorists' sights. I suspect that the British will take one more serious incident on the cheek, but the one after that will be followed by a wave of thuggery against anyone who looks as if they might be a muslim, together with attacks against their property. After that it will be tit-for-tat.

People expect to be able to go about their daily business without the risk of being killed or maimed. If politicians do not act effectively and decisively, then vigilante groups will take matters into their own hands. That is the route to a breakdown in civil order.

This is one of those situation where the Jews are the canary in the cage. First they came for the Jews... and Islam comes with antisemitism built-in. The Israelis have had to deal with this same situation for the past couple of decades. Their solution - and it has only been a partial solution - has been to take draconian measures which have led to accusations of apartheid. Although they have been accused of it, there has not been ethnic cleansing, concentration camps and genocide. However, the innocent have certainly suffered along with the guilty as the entire community has come under suspicion.

Where should the suspicion stop? As Mao famously pointed out, the terrorist swims in the sea of the people. If the community will not root out and disown the fanatics in its midst, they are going to pay the price. Ultimately, it is their choice. We also have a own choice. We can continue to pretend it is a fringe issue, but in the face of this threat - and it is a very old one - politicians must be prepared to do what is distasteful and at least follow the Israeli example if anything like normal life is to continue. If they do not act now and do the minimum needed to preserve public security, then pressures will build for measures that would be infinitely worse.

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