Towards Jihadist Pogroms in Europe?
Europol reports indicate that Europe is now home to tens of thousands of radicalized individuals. The attacks in Paris (2015) and Brussels (2016) demonstrate the feasibility of complex operations by small groups.
Will people who criticize Islam be dragged through the courts by a desperate regime, while those who outspokenly fantasize about murdering Jews are granted a blank check?
Is quoting Islamic law "inflammatory"? The answer is completely arbitrary. The European Court of Human Rights often upholds convictions if statements about Islam are deemed to disrupt "religious peace" or "target Muslims". This subjective determination reflects a legal trend in Europe to prioritize "social cohesion" over freedom of speech, unlike the U.S. First Amendment.
"Whomsoever God has cursed, and with whom He is wroth, and made some of them apes and swine, and worshippers of idols — they are worse situated, and have gone further astray from the right way." — Qur'an 5:65.
"And He brought down those of the People of the Book who supported them from their fortresses and cast terror in their hearts; some you slew, some you made captive. And He bequeathed upon you their lands, their habitations, and their possessions, and a land you never trod. God is powerful over everything." — Qur'an 33:26.
In such a cultural context, in this atmosphere of hatred, can it not be considered legitimate or even desirable, from that perspective, to participate in collective action against Jews?
Let us never forget that the vast majority of Muslims in Europe are peaceful and take no part in terrorist activity. But even if only 0.01% of Europe's Muslims were to take up the cause and seek revenge for the supposed "genocide" committed by "the Jews", this would still represent thousands of potential "jihadists".
Europe in 2025 has been facing rising tensions linked to Islamist radicalization, These have been fueled by conflicts in the Middle East, jihadist propaganda on social networks and gaps in security coordination among countries.
Imagine a handful of individuals, mostly radicalized European Muslims, between the ages of 18 and 35, operating in major European cities such as Brussels, Paris or Berlin, and determined to avenge "the Palestinians". This network decides to strike Jewish Europeans, massacre as many as possible, spread terror among Jews and non-Muslims – all "kuffars", unbelievers in Allah -- and to pit one community against another. They gather in unmonitored mosques, on encrypted internet forums or through recruiters in the Middle East. Together, to maximize the psychological and media impact, they plan a coordinated attack, inspired by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Their target: a high-profile public event, such as a cultural festival, a march against antisemitism, a pro-Israel rally, or a so-called "republican march", as it is known in France. Their attack could be paired with a secondary target, such as a Jewish community center or synagogue, to remind the international community who the villain is supposed to be.
The group acquires edged weapons, smuggled firearms (pistols and assault rifles from the Balkans or local criminal networks) — which in Brussels, for example, are reportedly as easy to obtain as a packet of cigarettes — and homemade explosives, produced with available chemicals. Rental vans are available for vehicle-ramming attacks. These "vigilante terrorists", ostensibly supporting Palestine -- although it is still unclear how killing "infidels" makes the lives of Palestinian Arabs any better; there will still be the same atrocious governance and no economic future -- they communicate via encrypted apps, such as Signal, and prepare videos to be streamed live on TikTok. Their subsequent attacks end with the intervention of special forces. The Muslims among the assailants might prefer to die as "martyrs" rather than negotiate.
The death toll could rise to hundreds, depending on the effectiveness of the attack and the speed of the security response. Authorities would declare a state of emergency, tighten border controls and increase surveillance of communities deemed at risk. Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations would break out, deepening social tensions. A group affiliated with the Islamic State or Hamas would claim responsibility for the attacks via a video posted on X, and call for more such actions.
Unthinkable? Europol reports indicate that Europe is now home to tens of thousands of radicalized individuals. The attacks in Paris (2015) and Brussels (2016) demonstrate the feasibility of complex operations by small groups. Conflicts in the Middle East, combined with insufficient coordination among intelligence services and the easy availability of weapons on the black market, have increased vulnerabilities.
In Europe, hatred of Jews is again the norm
What makes the resurgence of jihadist pogroms in Europe not just plausible, but perhaps even likely, is the silky normalization of antisemitic rhetoric. Already in 2018, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights published its second survey on antisemitism in the EU. The survey stated that "antisemitic harassment is so widespread, it has become normalized." In other words, a discourse of murderous hatred towards Jews is resurfacing on European streets at levels not seen since the 1930s and 1940s. In countries such as France, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, those who publicly express hatred of Jews enjoy near-total impunity. In Belgium, the author Herman Brusselmans expressed that "I want to ram a pointed knife straight down the throat of every Jew I meet," and faced no consequences. Adolf Hitler, in his public declarations, was often more restrained than that.
In recent years, the "left" and "far-left" who have attempted to cloak their antisemitism under term "anti-Zionism," increasingly no longer bother with such pretenses. Why should they, when prosecutions for inciting hatred against Jews remain rare? Will people who criticize Islam be dragged through the courts by a desperate regime, while those who outspokenly fantasize about murdering Jews are granted a blank check?
Most European countries lack explicit blasphemy laws (the UK repealed theirs in 2008, as did Ireland in 2020), but hate speech, public order, and anti-discrimination laws are often applied to critique of Islam. The 2008 EU Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia requires member states to criminalize incitement to hatred based on religion, which includes criticism perceived as inflammatory. For instance, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, a lecturer, was convictedfor comments made during a seminar on Islam in Austria, where she described the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's marriage to Aisha as having "pedophile tendencies" due to Aisha's age (married at six, with the marriage consummated when she was nine). This event is said to be historical fact, related by the Hadith, the second most sacred source of Islamic law after the Qur'an. Is quoting Islamic law "inflammatory"? The answer is completely arbitrary. The European Court of Human Rights often upholds convictions if statements about Islam are deemed to disrupt "religious peace" or "target Muslims". This subjective determination reflects a legal trend in Europe to prioritize "social cohesion" over freedom of speech, unlike the U.S. First Amendment.
Organizations such as the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) argue that these laws create a chilling effect, where factual or historical criticism of Islam (such as discussing Muhammad's life) risks prosecution if deemed offensive. Yet these cautions, when it comes to protecting Islam, disappear completely when it comes to demonizing Jews. Then, it is suddenly an open bar. Everything, absolutely anything, can be said about the Jews, the more psychopathic, the better. It is quite obvious that Brusselmans' statements, in the context of anti-Jewish hatred in Europe, can only make simple minds more resolute to "make the Jews pay" for "Palestine". This is not free speech. It is a call to murder.
Can we not see the disturbing similarity between this rhetoric and that of National Socialism in the 1920s? Are we now supposed to distinguish between "bad Nazism" and "good Nazism" — that still calls to murder Jews, this time ostensibly "for the Palestinians"?
In addition, the European "left" and "far-left" — often indistinguishable — have adopted Hamas's false claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Genocide presumably means the total eradication of the Palestinian people. Yet no available data, not even from Hamas, supports this claim. Nonetheless, "left-wing" and "far-left" parties in Europe have made "fighting the genocide of the Palestinian people" a key electoral argument.
Imagine, for a moment, being a young Muslim there — newly arrived or not, or a convert. This individual is saturated daily with messages, both on social media and in the mainstream press, declaring that Israel — "the Jews" — are committing one of the greatest massacres in modern history against Muslims. From birth, this young person has been told day-in and day-out that his primary identity is Muslim, that he belongs to the ummah (the Muslim nation) and to Allah — and that his ties to his family or nationality are secondary, irrelevant, or even meaningless. The Koran, the sunnah and fiqh -- Islamic laws "essential for every Muslim as it ensures correct worship, guides moral conduct, and provides practical solutions for personal and social challenges. By integrating faith into every aspect of life, fiqh helps Muslims live in harmony," teach that Muslims have both the right and the duty to take up arms and fight "in the path of Allah" against the enemies of Islam. "A jihadist," wrote David Patterson, "by sacred Islamic definition, must fight and kill in order to be righteous." Starting, of course, with the Jews — who are described as the sworn enemies of Muslims even in the Qur'an:
Say: "People of the Book, do you blame us for any other cause than that we believe in God, and what has been sent down to us, and what was sent down before, and that most of you are ungodly?..."
Whomsoever God has cursed, and with whom He is wroth, and made some of them apes and swine, and worshippers of idols — they are worse situated, and have gone further astray from the right way. (5:64-65)
And He brought down those of the People of the Book who supported them from their fortresses and cast terror in their hearts; some you slew, some you made captive. And He bequeathed upon you their lands, their habitations, and their possessions, and a land you never trod. God is powerful over everything. (33:26)
In such a cultural context, in this atmosphere of hatred, can it not be considered legitimate or even desirable, from that perspective, to participate in collective action against Jews?
Let us never forget that the vast majority of Muslims in Europe are peaceful and take no part in terrorist activity. But even if only 0.01% of Europe's Muslims were to take up the cause and seek revenge for the supposed "genocide" committed by "the Jews", this would still represent thousands of potential "jihadists".
We owe our Jewish fellow citizens the highest level of protection — and solidarity. It is a moral and civilizational imperative.
Drieu Godefridi is a jurist (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain), philosopher (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain) and PhD in legal theory (Paris IV-Sorbonne). He is an entrepreneur, CEO of a European private education group and director of PAN Medias Group. He is the author of The Green Reich (2020).
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