Terrorist attack a grim reminder of dangers of hate speech

The superb commentary from Henry Ergas warns us of the dangers for Australia if no legal limits are applied to Islamist hate speech masquerading as freedom of expression (“Return of Islamist terror a test for our lax laws”, 3/1).

It is only a matter of time before hate speech manifests itself as violence beyond synagogue burnings. One may look to a poet such as WB Yeats for a poetic addendum that well describes our current political climate: “The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”

Galya Kay, Bondi Junction, NSW

Henry Ergas informs us of the sentencing of those held responsible for the appalling murder of French schoolteacher Samuel Paty with a warning that our own laws are woefully deficient where rhetorical devices are used to incite violence.

That he does so referencing the end of the Roman republic, the turmoil of Elizabethan England and the evolution of US jurisprudence also makes for uplifting reading. But we crash back to earth when we realise that law reform in this area has a probability of zero in being put to work.

Ergas says we are not up to the required level of intellectual sophistication and he is probably right. But what is also lacking is the political will, which can emerge only if leaders are prepared to first take a moral stance.

Jim Wheeler, Tamborine Mountain, Qld

US President Joe Biden proved to be utterly hopeless in his handling of the latest terrorist attack on American soil. He fumbled, stumbled, rambled, bloopered and totally failed to give his citizens the safe harbour assurances they sought as he struggled with a pesky teleprompter.

At times such as this, citizens need a message from the heart, not random words the listener realises are not the speaker’s but come courtesy of electronic assistance. With Biden’s final retirement from politics so close, he should resign this weekend, cease harming the image of the West and hand over the job to those who at least know what they’re talking about.

Rosemary O’Brien, Ashfield, NSW

The shocking Islamic State-inspired terror attack in the early hours on New Year’s Day in New Orleans constitutes the latest iteration of such terror on American soil since the attacks on the World Trade Centre twin towers in New York (“New Orleans attack a clear warning ISIS still threatens”, 3/1).

At the epicentre of this attack is a revitalised Islamic State, seeking to exploit the Islamist suspicion that Western support for Israel provides compelling evidence of a deep anti-Muslim antagonism in the West.

Islamic State has been described as a deadly terrorist group. Even more shocking is that the terror suspect in question, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was not only a recent convert to its murderous ideology but had previously served in the US military.

Vincent Zankin, Rivett, ACT

Given the Islamist terrorist attack in New Orleans, Peter Jennings’s advice to Anthony Albanese to call a cabinet national security committee meeting is prudent (“Not alert and not alarmed: our complacency puts us at risk, politically and socially”, 3/1).

But this is the same Prime Minister who ignored the same advice by Peter Dutton in his instant, intuitive reaction to the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. As Jennings concludes, the truth about terrorism is that the Albanese government is not alert and not alarmed.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW

The massacre in New Orleans has confirmed that the US is a ticking time bomb.

The US President, yet again, lost his way, this time when speaking on the attack at a press meeting. He walked off without taking questions.

Joe Biden’s mental failings, known to many but still concealed by the left-wing media, mean the term lame-duck president is grossly inadequate to describe the man who is still in charge. Terrorism is yet another problem for the new management. The situation is the same in Australia.

Graham Pinn, Maroochydore, Qld

The protesters demanding the globalisation of the intifada movement should be careful what they wish for.

Is the terrorist attack in New Orleans really what they want more of?

Shaun Miller, Prahran, Vic