On Tuesday, the British prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, told the Labour Party Annual Conference that Britain stood “at a fork in the road.”
“We can choose decency, or we can choose division,” he said. “Renewal or decline.”
He was right—but the choice his country faces is not the one its prime minister had in mind. The real fork in the road would be made clear two days later in Manchester, when a terrorist targeted British Jews on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
On Thursday morning, Jihad al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent, attacked people outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, first with a car, then a knife. Police said he was wearing a vest with “the appearance of an explosive device.” Two people died and three others were injured. Al-Shamie was shot dead by police. On Friday, the two victims were identified as 53-year-old Adrian Daulby and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz. One of the men was likely accidentally shot by police, the Manchester Policy Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said.
Starmer described the terror attack as “absolutely shocking.”
But nothing at all about this attack was shocking. The Islamists among us and their allies have been very clear about their plans. They have told us repeatedly what they intend to do. Only someone who is living in a delusion can be surprised when they carry out their threats.
