Paris and Brussels Terror Attacks: Europe Pays Heavy Price For Its Complacency

Europe faces an existential crisis. Current European leadership and European leading elites have manoeuvred Europe into a situation that will spin out of control and result in a vicious circle of violence. History teaches that in the long run ethnic minorities can bring about unrest. The imams in Europe, very often in the payroll of Saudi Arabia or another Gulf country, take care that their fellow Muslims retain their religious integrity and keep themselves away from the infidels. Meanwhile European authorities struggle with violent criminals who converted to radical Islam and became even more dangerous. The Dutch jihadist reintegration approach helped criminal and jihadist El Bakraoui to evade the Belgian justice system, before he blew himself up in Brussels. To understand what is happening on the old continent, let us bring up tree main topics, and then elaborate on them.

1. The US, NATO, Brussels, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are in alliance to use terrorism in the proxy war against Syria, Russia and China. This policy has come home to roost. It is not Russia, as Hillary Clinton once said, but Turkey and Europe that regret their policy in Syria¹⁾Classic Hillary Clinton: Russia and China will pay a price for “holding up progress in Syria” Source Youtube 2012.
2. Leaders from the Gulf countries support European Muslim communities financially; in many cases Europe-based imams do not even speak any of the European languages. Surprising as it is, European leaders encourage Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Kuwait to meddle with European internal affairs by letting them have a say in religious matters. Turkey’s government refers to the Turks that immigrate to Europe as the Turkish diaspora. Recep Erdogan, Turkey’s president, promotes Turkish nationalism among Turkish Muslims in Germany.
3. Authorities fear the revenge of the people on Muslim minorities. European ruling elites are terrified at the onslaught on minorities by uncontrolled mobs. There have been numerous attacks on mosques and refugee homes.

1.  The Syrian proxy war comes to the street of the European capitals.

In 2012, two years before the tragic events in Ukraine unfolded, a document of the Department of Defence obtained by “Judicial Watch” describes the situation in Syria as a proxy war with Russia, China and Iran on one side, and Western countries, the Gulf States and Turkey on the other²⁾Department of Defense Information Report, Not Finally Evaluated Intelligence August 2012. Not only did the “Friends of the Syrian” alliance provide the Jihadists with arms, but NATO also supplied the Patriots air defence system to protect the supply routes into Syria. Christians in Europe already warned from the very beginning of the consequences of the war in Syria for the Christians there. A conservative Christian European newspaper wrote in 2013: “The decision of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and some European countries to provide the Syrian opposition with more weapons will also have significant implications for Christians in Syria.”³⁾Arming Syria rebels bad for Christians Source Reformatorisch Dagblad 2013-07-03

The European governments were ambivalent in their attitude and approach to Europeans that traveled to Syria in support of the different jihadist groups. Peter van Uhm, Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army until 2008, said in 2011: “I have nothing else than respect for the Dutch who go to fight in Syria”⁴⁾Retired Army Commander “Has Respect” for  Syria-Goers, Source nltimes 2014-05-05 The primary concern voiced by Frans Timmerman, Vice-President of The European Commission, was that these young fighters could die in Syria.⁵⁾Timmermans worries about European jihadists in Syria Source BNRadio 2013-03-22 From the very beginning, National Security agencies in Europe were aware of the enormous risk these Jihadists posed to society. Not only did the “respected” European Jihadists spread terror among the poor Syrian and Iraqi population, but they were also a threat to Europeans if they returned to their country of origin.

The Brussels suicide attacks are a direct consequence of this lenient European approach to the Jihadists. In 2013, a major Dutch newspaper wrote: “Jihad fighters who have come back from the Syrian Civil War are still not prosecuted in the Netherlands.” “According to various sources in the Dutch Muslim communities, Jihadists from Belgium also chose the ‘Netherlands-route, because of the milder approach of the Dutch authorities to such fighters.“⁶⁾Syrian-goer not persecuted in The Netherlands Source Volkskrant 2013-10-19  While this is not yet clear for the international mainstream media, Ibrahim El Bakraoui, the jihadist that blew himself up in Brussels, wanted to be deported by the Turkish authorities to the Netherlands rather than to Belgium, to avoid prosecution there. The Dutch authorities helped El Bakraoui to evade the Belgian justice system.

Between 2012 and 2016 European Jihadists paraded in the social media in graphic images, holding cut-off heads, while Dutch authorities tried to resocialize these very same terrorists. According to the Dutch National Television: “The Dutch Jihadists who have returned from Syria so far are not immediately arrested and prosecuted, but get help and support to reintegrate and rebuild their livelihoods. With this approach the authorities hope to prevent the cities to which the fighters have come from being further radicalized.” “The Dutch authorities have taken a range of administrative steps like helping the Jihad combatants in finding a job and education, and providing them with community activities for the youth. The idea is not to let the returnees alienate themselves from society; it is believed that repressive measures might further radicalize them.“⁷⁾Returned jihadis not arrested but helped Source Een Vandaag 2013-11-16 While the mayor of Amsterdam keeps on talking with returned jihadists, the city witnessed its first beheading. This month a young Moroccan boy was beheaded and his head was put on display at a busy street in Amsterdam.⁸⁾Beheaded Man Found in Amsterdam Wasn’t a Career Criminal Source NlTimes 2016-03-10

This approach can only be understood if we assume that European governments warrant the behavior of their Muslim citizens in Syria and Iraq. The Dutch authorities are fully aware that the Jihadists from the Netherlands not only fought against the Assad army, but also  blew themselves up at a market in Baghdad somewhere in 2013. European authorities turn a blind eye to their fellow Muslim citizens who committed war crimes in Syria and Iraq. 

2. Europeans allow foreign governments to meddle in their affairs

Europe is not only confronted with a violent and cruel enemy that shows little respect for life, but it has also created an environment on the continent where Muslim extremism could blend into Muslim communities. A big part of the European Muslim community supports the Jihad in Syria. It is remarkable that Salah Abdeslam, one of Europe’s most wanted terrorists, could live in Brussels without anybody informing the authorities about him. While European authorities try to integrate minorities into the European society, governments in Muslim countries try to undo this effort.

Countries like Turkey, Saudi-Arabia and Qatar blatantly interfere in European domestic affairs. By financing mosques, Muslim foundations and providing the European Muslim community with imams, these countries try to exert their political and religious influence deep into the European heartland. Their political and religious message undermines the integration of the European Muslim community into the European society.

According to the UK-based website Independent, the Belgium King was personally involved in the policy that has led to the current situation in Brussels: “Keen to secure oil contracts, Belgium’s King Baudouin made an offer to Saudi King Faisal, who had visited Brussels in 1967: Belgium would set up a mosque in the capital, and hire Gulf-trained clerics. The 1967 deal gave the Saudis a 99-year, rent-free lease. The pavilion was refashioned by the Saudis, opening in 1978 as the Great Mosque of Brussels, as well as the seat of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium (ICC).”⁹⁾Brussels attacks: How Saudi Arabia’s influence and a deal to get oil contracts sowed seeds of radicalism in Belgium Source Independent 2016-03-23

Moderate Moroccans were handed over to the Saudi Salafists by the European elites. Since 1967 not much has changed. During the opening of a mosque in 2014 in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, its mayor criticized the appointment of an imam from Qatar instead of one from the Netherlands. Also, the German media reported the involvement of Saudi Arabia in a similar situation: “The Berlin Al-Nur organization is considered an offshoot of the Lebanese part of the Muslim Brotherhood, which campaigns for an Islamic character of the states in the Middle East.”

The Al-Nur mosque is influenced by Salafists and is a venue for people of different nationalities with different political and ideological environment. Close relations exist with Saudi Arabia. A Saudi sponsor enabled the purchase of the mosque building and supported the community financially.”

Also Turkey’s government tries to prevent the Turkish population from integrating into the European society. Turkish nationalism is not limited to “Blut und Boden” (blood and soil) but it also includes religion. Recep Erdogan likes to address the Turkish people abroad as the “Turkish diaspora”. While the Europeans are told to become “multi-cultural”, immigrants get the opposite instruction from Turkey and the Arabic rulers. The Europeans decry France and German nationalism while at the same time extreme Turkish nationalism in Europe is encouraged by Erdogan, the de facto ruler of Turkey.¹⁰⁾Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan Fransa’da Sahneye Bu Türküyle Çıktı.! Source youtube 2015-10-04

3. European residents will take matters into their own hands

The slaughtering of Theo van Gogh by a radical Muslim in 2004, the execution of the Charlie Hebdo publishers, are a message to Europe’s intelligentsia: “Do not interfere with our religion.” Especially the murder of Theo van Gogh reminds of the Salman Rushdie case. Theo van Gogh was killed for his artistic criticism of the role of woman in Islam. European left oriented intelligentsia are still grappling with the fact that precisely they became the targets while they are most sympathetic towards marginalised Arabic groups. In Europe, no publisher is willing to publish a genuine Islam critique without prior consultation of an Islam expert. The publishing of a seemingly innocent book can turn out to become a deadly endeavour. We think it is a matter of time before the next generation of young academics and artists is willing to confront Islam the way they confronted Christianity.

The danger for European states is not only the terror attacks but also their consequences. After every terror attack, the number of incidents against mosques increases. The European ruling elite is terrified of their own people and are extremely sensitive to everything that can incite violence against Muslim minorities. Two days before the Brussels attacks, Geert Wilders stood trial for chanting “We want fewer Moroccans”. But even his party (PVV) is afraid of the populace at large. The party has strong connections with the Israeli lobby and demands of its followers a 100% loyalty to Israel¹¹⁾PVV-er Van Roon: I expect Jewish Minister Rosenthal to support Israel Source Volkskrant 2011-11-23 . The Jewish community is at risk to become itself the victim of angry European mobs. The party does not accept members to such an extent that an attempt by one of its leaders to create a youth movement resulted in him being expelled¹²⁾A democratic PVV needs time, says Wilders after MP breaks ranks Source Dutch News 2010-05-11.

Groups, like HoGeSa (Hooligans gegen Salafisten, Hooligans against Salafists) are ready to take the “burden” of revenge for the attacks on their shoulders, seeing that the German state structures are not able anymore to ensure the security of their nation. This can result in a carnage of Muslims in German cities, especially if one of the victims of a terror attack were be a member of a far-right group.

HoGeSa was losing its popularity among radicals because of internal disputes, but it could be quickly revived amid terror attacks¹³⁾Hooligan: “Hogesa hat uns verarscht Source Heute 2015-10-25“. This group has already proven that it does not renounce violence: at the Cologne rally in October 2014 and during the Essen demonstration last September they showed up with baseball bats.¹⁴⁾HoGeSa greifen Demonstranten mit Baseball-Schlägern an? Source Faszination-Fankurve 2015-09-12. In Germany violent threats are now mainly limited to refugee camps, but this can change overnight. If Germans lose their faith in the ruling establishment (as it is happening slowly with a growing popularity of the AfD party), groups like HoGeSa, or Hoolizei, might gain traction. The harbinger of the threat of violent uprising against Muslims haunts Germany. In Connewitz, near Leipzig, an Arab restaurant was demolished. According to Mail online “The mayor of a German city has spoken of ‘terror on the streets’ of his city after far-right thugs ran riot in scenes reminiscent of the anti-Semitic Kristallnacht attacks in 1938. Burkhard Jung, mayor of Leipzig, has condemned the ‘naked violence that took place’ after doner kebab fast food restaurants-were destroyed, cars were set ablaze and shop windows were smashed by around 250 hooligans of LEGIDA, the local branch of PEGIDA, an anti-migrant, anti-EU organization.” These hooligan groups are not widely supported: the highest attendance of the HoGeSa demonstration was recorded in Cologne in 2014, when about 4000 people took to the streets. The Pegida movement (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West), though not radical, is able to attract even more than 20 thousand people.

The 2011 proxy war against Russia, China and Syria backfires. The first people have been killed in the streets of Brussels and Paris. Amsterdam and Berlin will follow suit while in Leipzig we saw the first signs of a pogrom. We feel Mogherini, a member of the European ruling elite, and fully responsible for the mess, had all reason to break down in tears.

 

European “respected” Jihadists who traveled to Syria
Omar Ismail Mostefai – died at the Bataclan	The Frenchman born to Algerian parents was a known radical and is believed to have trained with ISIL inside Syria last year.
Bilal Hadfi – died in suicide bomb at Stade de France	He fought with Islamic State in Syria as recently as this spring, using the names Abu Moudjahid Al-Belgiki and Bilal Al Mouhajir.
Ahmad Al Mohammad	The real name of the suicide bomber apparently carrying a fake Syrian passport when he detonated a bomb at the Stade de France remains a mystery, but officials say he entered Europe as an asylum seeker less than two months earlier.
Samy Amimour – died in a suicide bomb attack at Bataclan	French police issued an international arrest warrant in 2013 after he went missing and was suspected of having travelled to Syria to join Islamic State.
Abdel Hamid Abaaoud – mastermind of the attack who died in a police raid in Saint-Denis	He claimed in the Isil English-language magazine Dabiq to have rejoined the group in Syria, and featured in Isil propaganda videos and their magazines, boasting of how he had evaded the police.
Ibrahim el-Bakraoui died in a suicide bomb attack at the  Brussels airportt	In June 2015, Ibrahim el-Bakraoui was detained in Gaziantep, Turkey, at the border with Syria. The Turkish authorities said they notified Belgian officials that they had detained him, warned them that he “was a foreign terrorist fighter,” and put him on a plane to the Netherlands, at his own request. Before Ibrahim el-Bakraoui and his brother converted to radical Islam they were involved in shoot-outs, robberies, kidnappings and hijackings. Only Ibrahim was convicted.
Najim Laachraoui died in a suicide bomb attack at the  Brussels Metro	He traveled to Syria in 2013, recently traveled abroad with Salah Abdeslam, authorities say