If you regularly scan the headlines of major news sources of late you will have noted a curious tendency. When it comes to terrorism, the only stories which seem to get any traction are those which lament the “rise” in what is widely termed “far-right extremism.” This umbrella description covers everything from neo-Nazis to white supremacists to anti-vaxxers to, believe it or not, violent “incels” (involuntary celibates who apparently target women out of frustration over their lack of sexual gratification).
We are led to accept that this form of terrorism is ubiquitous, on the increase, and poses some kind of “existential threat” to Western societies. Even our public safety ministry here in Canada is keen to trumpet this menace, although they have elected to label it “ideologically-motivated violent extremism“ or IMVE (as if not all terrorism is, at its core, ”ideological”).
They were standing at the corner that would become an intersection of good and evil. They were innocents waiting for the light to change at Hyde Park and South Carriage roads in London, Ont., so they could safely cross. A dark-haired man. Two women wearing kameezes, traditional Muslim clothing. A couple of kids — a teenaged girl and a little boy — who would make everyone take 
