French authorities seem in denial about recent Islamic terror attacks and the reality of Jihad in France. Will the Western world continue to ignore the true enemy until it is too late?

We had to check the news twice: a driver in France plowed his car into a group of people in the marketplace.

Wait – didn’t that happen two days ago? Nope, It happened yet again.

In the first attack, a driver plowed his car into a group of people on Sunday in the city of Dijon, wounding 11 people, two of whom sustained serious injuries, and seriously injuring 2 others. Witnesses claim that the attacker yelled “Allahu akbar” before slamming his car into the group. French officials hesitated, calling the event a terrorist attack, citing the driver’s a criminal background and claiming lack of information in guessing the motives behind the attack.

The next day, another man plowed his van into a group of holiday shoppers in the marketplace in the city of Nantes. He injured 11 people, five critically. Eyewitnesses said the terrorist also yelled, “Allahu Akbar” as he drove into the crowd, before stabbing himself with a knife.

French officials still refuse to call the attack “terrorism,” opting to characterize it as a criminal case instead because the perpetrator had a history of mental instability and a criminal record. Refusing to call these incidents “Islamic terror attacks” ignores the dangerous pattern emerging in France: Jihad is a real threat that continues to grow.

The Saturday prior to the car attacks, a man attacked French police in a suburb of the city of Tours, injuring two officers before being shot dead.  According to witnesses, here too, the assailant committed his act in conjunction with shouting “Allahu akbar.” The man was an East African immigrant who was known to be drawn to Radical Islam.

Then on Monday night, after the car attack, a gunman shot into the office of a synagogue in Paris, where the rabbi and his assistant were working. Fortunately the gunman missed his targets and no one was injured. Just a month earlier, a Jewish woman in Paris was raped in front of her husband during a home invasion, and the attacker told the victims they were being targeted “because you are Jews.”

The French Connection: Arab Immigration and Islamic Terror

For some time now, people have been saying that France has a problem. Many years ago they opened their doors to Arab immigration. By 2010, French legislators voted to ban burkas in the public square due to security concerns. At that time they joined a small group of about a half dozen other countries who have nationally outlawed face veils in public.

Many say that it is because of France’s open-door policy over the last decade that has increased the Muslim population to nearly 10% – the highest in all of Europe.

A Muslim woman wearing a hijab, a traditional head covering, seen walking in France. Photo by Serge Attal/Flash 90

According to a report by the Associated Press, recently ISIS and other terrorist organizations have been repeatedly calling for attacks against France because of their collaboration with the United States in airstrikes against targets in Iraq.  These calls to action specifically list the use of cars and knives in committing these “lone wolf” attacks.

It has been said that anti-Semitism never actually disappeared, it just became passé, so people kept it to themselves. But now, in this new environment of pro-Arab Europe, not only anti-Semitism, but acts of violence against all non-Muslims has become vogue. When national leaders deny the reality of Islamic terror and extremism, the larger problem becomes harder to contain. For France, this may only be the beginning of a drawn out fight to combat extremism among a population ripe for recruitment. Should things spiral out of control, how long will it take for similar trends to take hold in other countries around the world, including the United States?

Author: Penina Taylor, United with Israel