Did The American Press Cover This?

The U.K. Daily Mail posted a video today of Iranian students refusing to walk of American and Israeli flags. Please follow the link to view the video. It is an amazing step forward for protesters in Iran. There have been a lot of protests in Iran lately–some sponsored and paid for by the government and some protesting that government. The thing to remember about Iran is the population demographic. Because of the tremendous loss of life during the war with Iraq from 1980 to 1988, there is a generation of Iranians that is essentially missing. The median age of the Iranian population is 30.1 years, and generally speaking these young people want to westernize the country. The government represents a generation that is dying and desperately trying to hold on to its power.

The article at The U.K. Daily Mail reports:

This is the incredible moment hundreds of Iranian students refuse to step on the American and Israeli flags amid anti-government marches in the country and a warning to its leaders from Donald Trump to ‘not kill protesters’. 

The clip taken at Shaheed Beheshti University on Sunday shows crowds deliberately avoiding walking over the Stars and Stripes and the Star of David before furiously berating those that do. 

Ali Khamenei’s regime is said to have painted the flags at the main entrance of the university for students to walk over as a sign of disrespect. 

In 2016, Iranian professor Sadegh Zibakalam, who has avoided walking on the flags in the past, said: ‘It is a sign of disrespect toward that nation. Placing the flag of a country on the ground and stepping on it is an error, a sign of disrespect toward that nation.’

Thousands had on Saturday gathered in front of the gate of the Amirkabir University of Technology near the former US embassy in Tehran to protest the government and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for mistakenly downing a civilian passenger plane.  

President Trump issued a stark warning to the leaders of Iran Sunday, tweeting: ‘To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. 

‘More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!’

Stay tuned. America is once again standing up for freedom. We can’t and shouldn’t ‘nation build,’ but we can certainly encourage other people to work for freedom in their own countries.

It Is Happening Here

CBS News is reporting today on a machete attack in an Ohio restaurant. The attacker was described as having a ‘Somali background.’ He is believed to have traveled to Dubai in the UAE in 2012. The Blaze reported that Hany Baransi, the owner of Nazareth Restaurant and Deli, believes that his business may have been targeted because he hangs his native Israeli flag in his business.

CBS News reported:

Police said the man walked into the restaurant, had a conversation with an employee and then left. He returned about a half hour later. That’s when police said he approached a man and a woman who were sitting just inside the door at a booth and started the attack.

Pegues reports the suspected attacker has a Somali background, and officials believe he may have traveled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in 2012. Pegues reports that law enforcement is concerned that this incident has the hallmarks of the type of so-called “lone wolf” terrorist attack that they have been working to stop.

Police said employees and patrons tried to get the man to stop.

“Some of the patrons there started throwing chairs at him just trying to get him out of there,” Weiner said.

There is an important message here–the patrons probably limited the number of casualties and the severity of the injuries by fighting back with chairs. A person with a concealed-carry permit would have also been very useful at this point.

There are two things we need to remember about this attack–the person used a machete–not a gun–the problem was the person–not the weapon. A person with a legal gun could have ended the attack quickly. The other thing to be aware of is that Americans need to begin to take more responsibility for their own safety. Until the War on Terror is over and young men are no longer encouraged to kill Americans in America and anywhere else, Americans need to be aware of their surroundings and ready to take action to defend themselves. Even something as simple as throwing a chair, a full glass of water or cup of coffee, or a piece of silverware may be enough to distract an attacker long enough to prevent tragedy.