After the recent terrorist attacks by renegade elements of the IRA in Northern Ireland, thousands took to the streets to protest the renewed violence aimed at thwarting the fragile peace process in that region.

Community leaders and politicians asked the public to show its abhorrence at the killings of police constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon, Co Armagh, on Monday night and soldiers Mark Quinsey, 23, and Patrick Azimkar, 21, shot dead at Massereene Army barracks in Antrim on Saturday night.

And thousands took heed by participating in silent vigils across Northern Ireland on March 11. One woman who traveled to Belfast for one such vigil brought flowers in remembrance of the policeman who was murdered. Having lost her son and his friend to similar violence, back in 2000.

Unified, by the killings, both Irish Catholics and British Protestants have sent a message that they will stand together to ensure peace prevails.

British premier Gordon Brown said that Northern Ireland was currently seeing a degree of unity against the attacks “that some people thought they would never see in their lifetime”.

He added that Wednesday’s peace marches highlight “the defiance and the determination to stand up to the evil of criminal violence... to say with one voice that the peace that the people of Northern Ireland are building, no murderers should ever be allowed to destroy”.

Local leaders were able to galvanize thousands into peaceful action, within a few days, with just 3 people killed. Why haven’t leaders of the Muslim world galvanized the Muslim population into physically showing their disapproval of the thousands upon thousands that have been killed by Islamic terrorists across the globe? If Muslims held peace vigils and anti-terrorism marches as often as the extremists hold their” kill all the infidel” and “Islam will dominate” demonstrations, or the violent, reactionary mob rallies when some small thing offends them, wouldn’t it show the world and the Islamic terrorist factions that they don’t approve. Silence indicates complicity and approval.

United we stand, divided we fall. And we WILL fall if we don’t stand up for peace and coexistence.