It seems that the Islamic State terrorists have set their eyes on Rome. A document released some time ago said that a shower of missiles will fall on Rome with a greater ferocity that a shower of hail. They also said that Pope Francis is not their darling. They showed him the red card as well.

Don’t get too excited. They had said that they would release this apocalypse only after they finish their business in Iran, Iraq, Syria and North Africa. That is expected to take some time so the attack on Rome – bar suicide attempts by some lone wolf – will not happen today or tomorrow.

The Swiss Guards – the first line of defence of the Roman Pontiff – were not deterred. The new leader of the Swiss Guard has said that his men are prepared to defend Pope Francis from Islamic terrorists. Colonel Christoph Graf, who was appointed earlier this month as commandant of the Swiss Guard, told the Italian daily Il Giornale that “if something happens, we’re ready.”

But now it seemed that things could be hurried a notch or two. 

Rita Katz (what a horrible surname to have!) the director and founder of a self-styled private intelligence Washington based firm called SITE said that the black-flag brandishing jihadists can act quickly. They have launched a new hashtag on Twitter, saying that that “God willing” we will arrive in the Italian capital. One assumes that their visit will not be a touristic one. It will be a visit that spreads mayhem.

But the jihadists are acting under some curse which thwarts their plans. The Feyenoord’s supporters – they are Northern Europeans not Arabs - got to Rome before them. They were there for their club’s game against Roma. But a good chunk of them decided that they could turn the  Eternal City into a battle zone much before Isis supporters can do the same.  They fought running battles with riot police in some of the most beautiful historical spots in Rome. Anyone who followed the TV coverage must have been shocked.

The mayor of Rome, Ignazio Marino, tweeted that the city had been 'devastated and hurt' by the violent scenes at one of the city's most picturesque locations. Nicola Zingaretti, president of the Lazio region of Rome tweeted: 'The scarring of Rome is the work of uncivilised.'

Rome is no novice for footballing violence. Blood has been shed there by courtesy of the supporters of Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and England in recent years.

Besides, these shameful and horrible scenes we witnessed happened only two days after Chelsea supporters were filmed chanting 'we're racist, and that's the way we like it' while pushing a black man off a train in Paris. Chelsea fans were tear gassed close to the Parc des Princes ahead of their game with Paris Saint-Germain.

Now imagine for a moment that during the violence in Rome or Paris some of the supporters had the black Isis flag in their hands. Imagine the upsurge of Islamophobia that would have been spewed by several sections of the Western media. Imagine what Fox News, for example, would have shown and said. Imagine the panic.

I do not write the above to pooh-pooh the threat by Isis. Not at all. I write it because it seems that sections of the Western media do tend to be selective in their description while covering violence.