Witnessing the terrorist acts that are conducted in the name of religion around the world, one can only wonder how did this all start? In the late 1970’s, three important events took place around the world whose consequences we are all still feeling.

In 1977, Israel elected for the first time a religious party to form its government, namely the Likud Party headed by Menachem Begin. Begin — a wanted killer who had been the leader of the terrorist group “Stern Gang,” which killed many people in massacres in Palestine — became Israel’s prime minister and began a new criminal wave of Jewish terrorism which continues today under Ariel Sharon.

In 1978, for the first time, a non-Italian was elected head of the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul, a Pole, collaborated closely with the Reagan administration. This was the beginning of the neo-conservative movement, which has now reached its zenith with the presence of the Israeli gang inside the Bush team: Men like Wolfowitz, Perle and others who have put Israel’s interests at the heart of US foreign policy.

Finally, In 1979, the Islamic revolution took place in Iran and increased the appetite of extremist Islamists for violence as a means of achieving their political agenda.

Terror knows no country, knows no face. It could come dressed in a turban or a suit or a skull cap (yarmulka). We all need to staunchly address it, fight and eradicate it. The Saudi government did well by addressing its internal problems, but it still has a long way to go. We all hope that the American administration will have the courage to condemn and disassociate itself from the terrorist and criminal Ariel Sharon and address his bloody policies seriously. Only then will the world begin to see its leader as fair and honest. Anything less than that specific war on terror could only be seen as a half-baked effort.