Conjoined twins juxtaposed by a man’s inhumanity

Melbourne’s surgeons displayed humanity at its peak while an Islamist terrorist presented the city with evil personified.

While one man’s inhumanity towards others was clearly evident in the murderous carnage inflicted on the innocent in Bourke Street, across town a team of our nation’s best surgeons and medical specialists were performing another medical miracle.

Soon after, a Somali refugee took revenge on innocent Victorians, the people who had generously provided him with shelter, food and clothing. Earlier on Friday, a team of surgeons worked for six hours to enhance the lives of two toddlers from Bhutan.

As we lamented the futile death of Sisto Malaspina, we rejoiced at the deeds of our surgical magicians who have bestowed the gift of independent life to two little girls.

Lyle Geyer, Essendon, Vic

Your headline says “Violent Islam strikes Bourke St” (10/11). What else did anyone expect? Islam is inherently violent because it explicitly calls for death for infidels, apostates and homosexuals. Those of us who have expressed concern about the ideology of Islam have been accused of Islamophobia. It is not a phobia to be afraid of being blown up or dismembered.

Why have successive Australian governments not heeded the calls to halt Muslim immigration? Of course the majority of Muslim immigrants are not violent but we cannot predict which individuals will be. The creed calls for violence. Governments would not knowingly admit Nazis or their sympathisers, so why admit members of a religion many of whose adherents commit to violence in the name of Allah?

Babette Francis, Toorak, Vic

What a comfort it must be for the family and friends of Sisto Malaspina to know that his killer was a Somali Muslim who was on a terror watch list. That means we get to watch each time one of the other 300 on the watch list decide it’s his turn to martyr himself in the cause of Islam.

Maybe the next one or two will kill many more than just one innocent bystander. Why don’t we just deport the 300?

Gary Carter, Leeming, WA

Well done, Prime Minister Scott Morrison. He had the courage to say what a large number of Australians think and that few politicians have dared to say: “The Australian Islamic community and its leaders must take responsibility for the acts of terror committed by Islamic fundamentalists”. The problem, as always, is that reasonable interpretations of the Koran provide full justification for these acts of terror.

Tony Young, Blackbutt, Qld

Anne Aly has an impressive resume. But her response to Scott Morrison’s comments about the Bourke Street attack was left-wing Labor bile, devoid of any attempt at reason. Just politicise the matter, ignore the facts and put the onus on the government. This was a despicable attempt to divert attention from radical Muslim terrorism. As the PM said, we must be kidding ourselves.

Don Spence, Ashmore, Qld

In Bourke Street, a truck loaded with combustibles burns but doesn’t explode, a gallant bystander dies while two others are treated for wounds, and a knife wielding member of the religion of peace is shot by police.

Australia breathes a sigh of relief when the chief commissioner of Victoria Police reassures us that the device certainly wasn’t sophisticated and the thug responsible, though on the police radar, wasn’t considered a realistic threat.

The Prime Minister quite rightly labels it as evidence of the radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam and draws the ire of anti-terrorism expert Anne Aly, who would benefit from a trip to Syria and Western Iraq.

John McHarg, Maylands, WA

Labor MP Anne Aly continues to deny there is a problem with Islam in Australia, as does Suresh Rajan. Talk such as this is dangerous. The community was divided long ago when immigration policies allowed all and sundry into this peaceful country.

Aly says “the threat to individual safety perpetrated by jihadists pales in comparison to the number of women being killed by domestic violence”.

Different issue. Once again trying to deny there is a problem with Islamic jihadists in Australia.

I challenge all deniers of Islamist terror. These people are a danger to peace and the community by continuing to gloss over gross acts in the name of Islam.

Brett Gerrity, Yokine, WA