It has often been said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Last week someone came up with a campaign to “hug a terrorist”, presumably following in the footsteps of hugging a tree and David Cameron’s ludicrous “hug a hoodie” faux pas. The resulting video has already gone viral, and is multiplying on YouTube and social media generally, but clearly whoever came up with the idea - perhaps the young guy doing it - hasn’t stopped to think.
Yes, what is happening to Gaza is unthinkable, and yes, young girls are to be treasured, even adored, but unless you are a doting father or similar close relative, they are best adored from a distance, and without a camera, as Jeremy Dixon found to his cost in 1995.
Seriously, after the conviction of Max Clifford and even worse of Rolf Harris, you’re walking around a city centre with two underage girls asking them to hug strangers?
Okay Omar, you’re in Canada, not the UK, but 20, 30, 40 or more years from now that will be used as proof that you are part of an international paedophile ring. Or should that be pedofile? We say “paedo”, you say “pedo” - let’s call the whole thing off! Even if you don’t suffer personally, imagine what damage this could do to a celebrity in the future, Justin Bieber perhaps? Imagine 40 years from now a 60 year old Justin Bieber standing in the dock accused of hugging a Syrian refugee or someone else. What would he say?
“Heck, I wasn’t even in Canada, July 2014.” Like it did Rolf Harris any good that he wasn’t in Portsmouth in 1969.
Then the prosecution produces a photograph of him hugging Grace Kesablak at Hollywood. “How old was that child, Mr Bieber, and why did you have your chin on her chest?”
If all this sound laughable, it won’t sound quite so laughable to Rolf Harris, nor to any future victims of this witch-hunt which is likely to be expanded from “untouchable” celebrities to doctors, teachers especially, and who knows who else?
Hug a terrorist? Better off killing them, at least if you’re a member of the Israeli Government you can shed a few crocodile tears, apologise for the odd spot of collateral damage and get on with the job of organised mass murder without anyone accusing you of being a closet paedophile.
[The above article was originally published July 28, 2014.]
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