In December 2018, the world was shocked by the murder of two Norwegian women hiking in Morocco that that murderers recorded and uploaded to the Internet. The men were later arrested, and in court have admitted that one of the reasons they murdered them was because they wanted to “kill Christians”, even though there is nothing to suggest that these women were Christian at all in terms of what information has been made available concerning them:
The alleged leader of a jihadist cell accused of killing two Scandinavian hikers in Morocco admitted to the murders in court on Thursday, saying they were carried out in the name of the Isis group.
Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland had their throats slit while camping in an isolated area of the High Atlas mountains in December.
“I beheaded one of them… I regret it,” former street vendor Abdessamad Ejjoud, 25, told the court, accusing co-defendant Younes Ouaziyad of killing the other hiker.
“We loved Isis and we prayed to God for it,” he said, wearing a long white tunic.
Twenty-four defendants – facing charges including promoting terrorism, forming a terrorist cell and premeditated murder – appeared in the court in Sale, near Rabat, under heavy security.
Three main suspects, including Ejjoud, are accused of direct involvement in the killings.
In theory, the killers could face the death penalty, but Morocco has had a de facto freeze on executions since 1993.
Nature lovers Jespersen and Ueland shared an apartment and went to Norway’s Bo University, where they were studying to be guides.
They had travelled together to Morocco for their Christmas holidays.
Their lives were ended in the foothills of Toubkal, the highest summit in North Africa, some 80 kilometres from the tourist hub of Marrakesh.
Ejjoud – who had previously been jailed for trying to join Isis in Syria – confessed to organizing the mission to the High Atlas mountains on December 12th during which the tourists were killed.
‘Holy war’
The prosecution has said several potential targets were passed over because the foreigners were accompanied by guides or local residents.
It was four days before the killers selected their targets, according to the prosecution. It said two of them carried out the killings while the third filmed them on a phone.
After the bodies were discovered, the Moroccan authorities were initially cautious, referring to a “criminal act” and wounds to the victims’ necks.
But that changed when the video surfaced showing a victim being beheaded.
In it, one of the killers refers to “enemies of Allah” and says the murders are to avenge the killings of jihadists in Syria.
At the trial Ejjoud said he had “sent around” the footage to online groups of Isis supporters.
A separate video published in the initial aftermath of the murders showed the alleged killers pledging allegiance to Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The only foreigner among the defendants is Spanish-Swiss 25-year-old Kevin Zoller Guervos, who moved to Morocco after converting to Islam.
The others come from modest backgrounds, scraping by on odd jobs and living in neglected areas of Marrakesh, the North African kingdom’s main tourist city.
Investigators said the “cell” was inspired by Isis ideology, but Morocco’s anti-terror chief insisted the accused had no contact with the jihadist group in conflict zones.
Isis has never claimed responsibility for the murders.
Ejjoud said that after being prevented from going to Syria he “decided to carry out holy war” at home.
He said his group tried to make a bomb “but it did not work” and then plotted to “attack Christians as they are killing Muslims”.
At an earlier hearing, the court accepted a request by the Jespersen family’s lawyer for the government to be held “morally responsible” for the killings so they could receive compensation.
The trial opened on May 2nd but was adjourned to May 16th and then paused again after a brief hearing.
The court on Thursday set the next hearing for June 13th. (source, source)
The case is very sad an indicative of the thought processes of these men. However, it is interesting to see the association between a particular ethnicity- European -and Christianity.
It is true that for a long time, Europe was a main center of Christianity and in a certain sense it remains so, but mostly for historical and administrative purposes. Christianity has save for a handful of nations (such as Poland, Romania, and Lithuania), and small communities within the other nations is completely gone. The people do not believe nor care at all about anything of religion, and for that matter their own lives. It is in part why so few are getting married and why the birthrates are so low, for the people would rather indulge themselves in passive entertainments for their lives, whether they end naturally or they take their own as euthanasia has become popular.
Secular governments have adopted and worked with Christianity and Christians, but history shows that, especially in the West, they never were directly dependent on each other, and the Church herself has emphasized this, because the Church is universal and surpasses national and tribal identities, accepting people of all backgrounds. While different cultures have different modes of expression, there is but one head, one Church, and one end, not multiple heads, and especially not multiple heads as defined by the number of ethnic or political divisions that exist.
The peoples of northern Europe were always difficult to convert, and they were among the first to reject Christianity beginning with the Protestant Revolution and continuing to their complete abandonment over centuries. There was nothing publicly made available from what I was able to find to suggest these women were Christians at all. Clearly, when they were murdered, it was done by associating race (European) with religion (Christianity).
The apostasy of the European people has many consequences, but there is also a hope with it. If one looks at many of the calls for “nationalism” in Europe, there is talk of Christianity but the only practice that one will find at best in most cases is a cultural and nominal association and nothing more. If anything it is an opportunity for Christians- actual ones -to declare their support of the Faith and to disassociate themselves from such politically opportunistic people as much as they can. If they do not, not only will it further the decline of Christianity, but will also advance persecution because in the event a war does happen- and the chances in the next decade are very high that it will -it is possible that those who write the books of history for the future will attempt to blame “Christians” for starting it, when in reality it was a select group of Christ-hating domestic terrorists masquerading as Christians.
The day is coming when due to the changing world climate it will likely no longer be possible to use ethnicity or culture to support one’s Christianity, as one will have to either express his views by his faith or simply apostatize. In the case of Europe, this could change as the Muslim population there comes to a gradual mass realization that most Europeans are not Christians, and in so doing to form what would be, as it has been seen in history’s past, a pagan-Muslim alliance against the Church and Christians to annihilate them from the continent and the world.