“by Any Means”
Despite the overtures from France and other European nations to back Palestinian statehood, the radical Islamist group urged Muslims to reject such offers, arguing that they are merely intended to “disarm Muslims and neutralise their jihad”.
The publication went on to claim that demands by some in the West for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas “only aim to save Jews from the threat of disappearance and collapse, after the blows dealt to them by the mujahideen.”
Terrorism researcher Marc Hecker suggested that France is being singled out by ISIS and other Islamist radicals over its laws specifically mandating secularism, which he said are interpreted as “institutionalised Islamophobia”.
Such laws in France have been used to shut down Islamist institutions, such as the euphemistically named European Institute of Human Sciences (IESH), a school for Imams in rural Bourgogne. The allegedly Muslim Brotherhood-tied training centre was accused of promoting “armed jihad” in France.
The researcher also noted that French military participation in coalitions fighting jihadist groups in the Sahel region of Africa and in the Levant is characterised as “armed struggle against Muslims.”
“By often targeting France, with large or small attacks (the so-called ‘a thousand cuts’ strategy), terrorist organisations seek to slowly bleed the social body,” Hecker said.
France’s churches are under attack, yet the media and political establishment are pretending not to notice. Last year, we saw blazes at historic churches in Rouen, Saint-Omer and Poitiers – each one another grim statistic in an escalating crisis. For years, we’ve seen Christian places of worship targeted in acts of arson and vandalism.