The deadly shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025, which left 16 people dead and 40 more hospitalized, represents a form of spiritual terrorism that defies conventional political reasoning, argues political commentator Barry Cooper. In an analysis for the National Post, Cooper contends that Western nations, including Canada, must understand this distinction to confront the threat effectively.
The Faulty Lens of Political Explanation
In the wake of the attack, carried out by a father-and-son team of Pakistani origin, many sought political explanations. Some Australian critics linked the violence to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government's intention to recognize a Palestinian state, framing it as a consequence of appeasement. Others, including liberal-democratic journalists, rightly pointed to rising antisemitism in Australia since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
Cooper acknowledges these views contain elements of common sense. Tolerating antisemitism can indeed be seen as a weakness to be exploited. However, he argues this logic only goes so far, akin to the "appalled" reactions from politicians who describe such evil as "beyond comprehension."> For Cooper, the events are comprehensible, but only through a critical framework separating political from spiritual terrorism.
Political vs. Spiritual Terrorism: A Critical Distinction
The core of Cooper's analysis hinges on defining two types of terror. Political terrorism, he explains, uses violence as an instrumental means to achieve plausible political change. Historical examples include the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) during Canada's October Crisis of 1970 and the Provisional IRA in Northern Ireland. These groups were ultimately willing to negotiate and end their campaigns in exchange for political concessions.
In stark contrast, spiritual terrorism, as exhibited by Islamist extremists, is not instrumental but expressive. Its goal is not negotiation but the enactment of a utopian, apocalyptic vision. From the Hamas massacre of October 7 to the Bondi Beach shooting, the violence is meant to "globalize the intifada."> For its perpetrators, the cause is singular and non-negotiable: the existence of Israel as the central oppressor, with Palestinians as the universally oppressed.
Implications for Canada and the West
Cooper warns that this ideological framework poses a direct challenge to Canada. The logic that fueled the Sydney attack, he states, would impart the same meaning to a similar event on Canadian soil. The West's mistake, and Israel's, is attempting to reason or negotiate with "utopian fanatics" whose worldview is fundamentally spiritual and absolutist, not political and pragmatic.
The solution, therefore, cannot be found in the political accommodations that ended conflicts with the FLQ or the IRA. The spiritual terrorist, operating from a Manichean worldview of oppressor versus oppressed, sees compromise as heresy. Cooper's analysis suggests that recognizing this nature of the threat is the first, essential step for Western democracies in formulating a defense that goes beyond political pieties and understands the ideological war they are in.
