Thread by @cjwerleman

Whoa - just seeing this 2015 article for first time.

Their mother died soon after me and my friends carried her from the beach, but I’m now learning the father passed away, too.

I always assumed he survived the blast as he was walking & talking fine😥

google.com.au/amp/s/www.news…

She was slumped over a table and non-responsive. He was standing next to her but asking me where his wife was. We guided him to the roadway out of concern there were more suicide bombers about, and then returned to her and placed her on a makeshift gurney.

He asked we call his sons at the hotel they were staying to inform them what happened. I made the call but when a friend saw I was unable to speak, she grabbed the phone.

We then continued sorting injured from the dead, as we waited what seemed like an eternity for ambulances.

The night of 1 October 2005 would turn out to be the most pivotal moment in my life. It radicalized me into hating Muslims/Islam, which led me to writing a book dunking on religion, which in turn led me into a career in journalism & 5 years of studying terrorism at university.

In the 4 years spanning 2005 to 2009, I was on a vengeance against Islam - but thankfully an Islamic scholar in Jakarta snapped me out of my psychosis - which is why I've spent past 12 years warning others about the seductive lure of Islamophobia.