COMMENT ‘‘Quit studying and get busy doing something Worry less about terror, more about refugees

Arecent letter-writer accuses “leftists” of having a distorted view of reality, but it takes only a cursory look at some statistics to see just how shaky his own worldview is. (“Trump is protecting his people, as he promised,” letter, March 7.)

A Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security study from January 2017 shows that since 9/11, 123 people in the U.S. have been killed by MuslimAmerican extremists. None of these extremists had family backgrounds from the nations in the process of being banned by the U.S. In the same time period, more than 240,000 Americans were murdered by other means.

Looking through recent terrorist incidents, the total number of people killed in Canada by radical Islamic terrorism since 9/11 is two, both Canadian Forces members. In fact, the largest recent act of terrorism in Canada was the murder of six Muslims at a mosque in Quebec City this year by a person with ties to far-right, nationalist politics.

In Europe, 143 people were killed by terrorism in 2016, which is tragic and a high number compared with recent years. The height of terrorism in Western Europe, however, was in the 1970s, often at the hands of the IRA and Basque terrorists.

(Incidentally, there have never been any deaths from radical Islamic terrorism in Sweden, so I’m not sure why the writer warns of Canada becoming “another messed-up Sweden.”)

Despite increased attention on terrorist attacks in the West, from 2001 to 2015, only about 2.2 per cent of worldwide deaths by terrorist attack have occurred in western countries.

No one is “pretending that radical Islamic terrorism doesn’t exist.” It does, and appropriate measures should be taken to prevent it, obviously. Many plots have been stopped thanks to the efforts of the authorities.

We need to remain diligent in this respect. But if we extend this concern beyond North America and Europe for a moment, maybe a different worldview can be gained.

For instance, of the refugees entering Europe and North America, the vast majority are from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. In Syria, the ongoing civil war has caused an estimated 470,000 deaths since 2011, including an estimated 80,000 civilians, including deaths from radical Islamic terrorism. In Iraq, tens of thousands have been killed by terrorism since 2006, including more than 6,900 in 2015 alone. Similar numbers exist for Afghanistan.

From 2001 to 2015, 25 Muslimmajority countries accounted for 75 per cent of the world’s fatalities from terrorist attacks.

These countries are where people are in true danger from terrorism, where civilians are being murdered in mass numbers by war and radical Islamic terrorism. The refugees the letterwriter implies we be wary of are the real victims of terrorism.

Those who oppose such measures as the U.S. immigration ban do so not because they don’t believe in or care about the loss of life. They oppose it precisely because they do care. The difference is their empathy extends beyond European and North American (read: predominantly white, Christian) nations.

They see people in need whom we, as safe, prosperous nations, can help. They care more about real dangers to many than perceived dangers to few. Kyle Wells lives in Saanich.