RSS
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.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.