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Bloodstained Holidays: Why Does Terror Strike During Festive Seasons?
A member of the National Guard Military Police stands, in the area where people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year’s celebrations, in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, Jan. 2, 2025. PHoto: REUTERS/Octavio Jones
On New Year’s Day 2025, a horrific vehicular attack in New Orleans claimed the lives of 15 and injured at least 35. This heinous act, carried out by a lone terrorist, shocked the city’s residents and the world at large. New Orleans, renowned for its vibrant nightlife and as a cradle of jazz and blues music, now mourns the loss of its people. This tragedy adds to a grim series of deadly terrorist attacks that have become alarmingly common during the Christmas and New Year’s season.
In recent years, holiday-season terror attacks have become a global phenomenon. In 2015, a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, left 14 dead at the hands of an ISIS-inspired couple. The timing during the holiday season magnified the attack’s symbolic resonance. The assailants were apprehended within hours. In 2016, a terror attack at a Christmas market in Berlin sent shockwaves across the globe. Anis Amri, a Tunisian national and ISIS operative, drove a truck into the market, killing 12 and injuring dozens. The attack targeted not just innocent civilians, but also one of the most iconic symbols of Christmas – the holiday markets. Similarly, in 2018, a gunman opened fire at a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France, killing five and injuring many others.
These attacks are far from random; they reflect a profound hostility toward the values and symbols of Western culture. Christmas symbols – the tree, Santa Claus, the Star of Bethlehem – are viewed by jihadist terrorists as representations of Christian-Western culture, which they consider an enemy to be eradicated. The festive crowds, dazzling decorations, and capitalist atmosphere of the season provoke these extremists and fuel their violent motivations.
Jihadists often draw inspiration from religious texts, including verses in the Quran emphasizing the struggle against unbelievers. For example, Surah 9:29 states: “Fight those who do not believe in Allah… and do not forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden… until they give the jizya willingly while they are humbled.” This verse, which underscores armed struggle and Islamic supremacy, is used as a religious justification for such attacks. Other verses, depicting disdain for non-believers, provide the ideological framework for their actions.
The link between Christmas and New Year’s holidays and acts of terror is not limited to Western countries. In Israel, this connection also manifests in disturbing ways. Just a week ago, Sheikh Raed Salah delivered a sermon in an Israeli mosque that included blatant incitement against Jews.
Interpreting Islamic eschatological visions, Salah described Jesus as one who foretold the coming of Muhammad and claimed, “Allah raised Jesus alive after the wicked (Jews) conspired to kill him.” The sermon further attacked “the deceitful Western leaders,” accusing them of supporting Israel while blaming them for the suffering in Gaza, thus portraying the Western world as complicit in Palestinian suffering.
Incitement and acts of terror during Christmas and New Year’s highlight the extreme expression of inter-religious conflict between the capitalist Western world and radical Islamic ideologies. This conflict is ideological and cultural, not merely a security challenge. Christmas symbols, embodying culture, liberty, and universality, are seen as a threat to the core tenets of extremist religious traditions. The Western world must prepare not only in terms of security but also by intensifying its cultural and ideological response. Promoting tolerance, interfaith dialogue, and strengthening its identity are crucial to countering these threats.
During this festive season, as we also celebrated Hanukkah – a festival of light and the pursuit of freedom, commemorating our victory against Hellenistic forces attempting to impose foreign culture upon us – it is vital to deepen our understanding of this struggle. Addressing these threats requires a multifaceted approach that encompasses military, cultural, and ideological efforts to confront the challenges posed by radical terrorism.
Itamar Tzur is an Israeli scholar and Middle East expert who holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Jewish History and a Master’s degree with honors in Middle Eastern Studies. As a senior member of the “Forum Kedem for Middle Eastern Studies and Public Diplomacy.” Tzur leverages his academic expertise to enhance understanding of regional dynamics and historical contexts within the Middle East.
The post Bloodstained Holidays: Why Does Terror Strike During Festive Seasons? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.