The countdown hits zero, the lights dim, the anticipation in the crowd is palpable, a giant screen begins to play a montage of Taylor Swift’s “eras” transporting fans through time, the dancers begin to take the stage, and then Swift emerges singing her first notes to Miss Americana. At least that is how it is supposed to go. But Wednesday evening, the night before Swift’sEras Tour was supposed to kick off for three nights at Ernst-Happel stadium in Vienna, news broke about a thwarted terrorist attack targeting concertgoers. This ultimately led to the decision that none of us even in our wildest dreams expected: the cancellation of all three concerts that were to take place in Austria’s capital.
Authorities had intercepted a plot involving radicalized youth, two of whom are confirmed to have pledged allegiance to ISIS. The plot, which was uncovered thanks to intergovernmental intelligence, was a disturbing plan that would have likely led to a mass casualty event. In his statement following the announcement, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer called the cancellation a “bitter disappointment” and went further to note that “we live in a time in which violent means are being used to attack our Western way of life. Islamist terrorism threatens security and freedom in many Western countries. This is precisely why we will not give up on our values such as freedom and democracy but will defend them even more vehemently.”
And Swifties, probably without even having seen his statement, heeded his words.
By Thursday morning, after a night of screaming and crying, thousands of Swifties took over the streets of Vienna, gathering in groups singing through Swift’s discography, including en mass on Corneliusgasse, a street resembling the name “Cornelia Street,” the iconic place Swift lived in her “Lover era” and the name of one of her songs. From morning until the police shut it down at 10:00 pm, Swifties came together singing and dancing to songs from each era, wearing the outfits they had planned for the concert and trading friendship bracelets, a tradition at Swift’s concerts. In an act of defiance of Islamist terrorists who seek to target our way of life, the smallest men who have ever lived, Swifties sent the ultimate message: terrorism won’t win.
But, while the attack was stopped, one would be sorely mistaken to think this means we are out of the woods. One could hope that given Swift’s high profile, this will be a wake-up call to the Western world about the threat of online radicalization, because when they’re chanting on the streets to “globalize the intifada,” this is what it really means.
The reality is the targeting of concerts by Islamist terrorists reflects a disturbing trend of choosing high-profile, densely packed events to maximize the impact and carnage. This has been seen over the last number of years, from the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris, the targeting of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, the attack at a Moscow concert hall, and most recently the horrific attack by Hamas at the Nova music festival, where over 300 were murdered and hundreds more were taken hostage, some of whom are still being held by Hamas today, over 300 days later.
We as Canadians are not immune. In the two weeks leading up to the news of the terrorist plot in Vienna, a Canadian traveled to Israel with the explicit purpose of committing an act of terrorism. Khaled Hussein, a man from Edmonton was convicted in a U.K. terrorism case for his affiliation with Al-Muhajiroun, which is headed by pro-ISIS preacher Anjem Choudary. The RCMP also just recently announced the arrest of father and son, Ahmed and Mostafa Eldidi, for allegedly planning a terrorist attack in Toronto for ISIS. Even more concerning is that Ahmed reportedly immigrated to Canada in 2015 after having allegedly committed violence against a prisoner of ISIS as seen in a video the terrorist group released themselves. While both the Conservatives and NDP have called for a parliamentary committee to investigate the matter, in its usual manner of sweeping glaring failures under the rug, the Liberal government has said there will merely be an internal investigation. There appears to be no conversation about a real plan to address this glaring threat to our society.
The threat of Islamist terrorism, and especially online radicalization, is a significant challenge for Western societies that we ignore at our own peril. ISIS is the prime example of an extremist group leveraging social media and online forums to disseminate propaganda, recruit followers, and plan their attacks—all in the service of disrupting societal stability and undermining our hard-won democratic values. These platforms enable them to reach those who can be influenced as they seek a sense of belonging and purpose. ISIS has been incredibly successful in exploiting the internet for recruitment, with several prominent cases of youth from Western countries going to Iraq and Syria to join them in their fight to “create the caliphate.”
Austrian police officers watch swifties gathering in the city centre in Vienna, Aug. 8, 2024. Heinz-Peter Bader/AP Photo.
Even young women have joined to become their wives, despite the oppression of women which plagues Islamic fundamentalist ideology. The threat that groups such as ISIS have continued to pose over the last decade shows the need for a comprehensive response that combines technology, intelligence, and community engagementWhat became apparent to me gathering at Corneliusgasse, surrounded by the love and joy of other fellow Swifties, is that a clear education of the threat that radical theocratic terrorists pose to us goes beyond just the threat against the concerts in Vienna.
From October 7 to this foiled plot, the ideology driving all these attacks is one and the same. The willingness to kill civilians is the same. The end goal is the same. Austria has been on high alert since October 7th when it lifted its warning level to four, the second highest.
On Thursday night, as I sang and danced with thousands of Swifties the way we would have at Ernst-Happel stadium, there was a feeling of defiance. In a bout of Swifties versus ISIS, the Swifties will come out on top.
Sadly, it’s not unusual for live events to be targeted by the worst in humanity. Frankly, this is because such gatherings represent the best of humanity. For the hours you are at the Eras concert, all differences melt away as we trade friendship bracelets and scream sing to All Too Well (10-minute version) together. We cannot let cowardice win. Unfortunately, history has also shown that we quickly move past these events, failing to take seriously the lessons they teach us—in this case, the growing spectre of online radicalization and the threat it poses to Western democracies. The time is now for governments to seriously address this problem and ensure that the smallest men truly cannot win.
