Madrid

In one of Osama bin Laden's post-9/11 broadcasts, his voice on the tape refered to the "tragedy of al-Andalus." The fall of Grenada in 1492 lead directly to the intolerant Spanish repression of Jews and Moors. Spain demanded conversion. Those who didn't convert were expelled, and those who did were subject to the inquisition. But, for all this, perhaps more important was the end of any Islamic state in Iberia. What precisely constitutes the "tragedy of al-Andalus" I can't say for sure, but I am pretty sure that Spain was assessed for this 500 year old event.

One must wonder, once more, about an ideology that kills commuters and office workers in revenge for a 500 year old injustice. I will suggest that the back and forth between the Moors and Christians in Iberia is not a simple one-sided affair. To propose a "tragedy of al-Analus" is to ignore all of the reasons why Castile and Aragon desired a unified, Christian Spain. We can quibble with the policies of Ferdinand II and Isabella, but what is totally outrageous is planting bombs on commuter rail lines as some kind of revenge against what happened in Andalusia some five centuries ago.

The enemy is terror and let all free peoples stand together against it.