Millions took to the streets of Paris on Jan. 11. World leaders locked arms in solidarity. For a moment, it seemed the whole world stood strong against terror and for freedom and democracy.
Then everybody went home.
Though horrified by the terror attacks in France, the West still seems unwilling or unable to affix blame squarely where it belongs: on the spreading virus of radical Islamist jihad.
French leaders such as President Francois Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls spoke eloquently about the evils of anti-Semitism, with Valls saying a France without Jews would cease to be France. This is a stirring message we hope resonates across Europe.
But in the wake of the slaughter at Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket, Hollande said “these terrorists and fanatics have nothing to do with the Islamic religion.”
This is absurd. Whether or not the ideology that drove the Paris attacks is a perversion of Islam, jihadists act in the name of Islam, and their beliefs and actions are supported by a wide swath of the Muslim world.
Not only supported in spirit. The terror is materially supported by well-funded, well-organized groups such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (operating in Yemen and Saudi Arabia) and the Islamic State group (ISIS). Its proponents share the same bloodthirsty creed as Boko Haram of Nigeria, the Taliban of Afghanistan and Lashkar-e-Taiba of Pakistan. We could go on.
Yes, Islamophobia is a problem. If anyone can relate to the perils of prejudice and collective blame, it is the Jews. But it is disingenuous to avoid or ignore obvious truths about global terror simply because one wishes not to offend.
To combat the sort of mayhem that killed 17 last week, the world must call out radical Islamic terror as the source. It must start seeing it not as a Jewish or Israeli problem, but as a threat to the values underlying Western democracy.
Then governments must get tough: increased surveillance and intelligence gathering, beefed-up security, and harsh penalties for plotters and disseminators of hate.
For those worried about infringements on civil liberties, consider Germany. There, Holocaust denial is a crime punishable by imprisonment. Yet the country remains a bastion of democracy and free expression.
Holocaust denial is not free speech. It is hate speech, and so is the venom spewed by the leaders and foot soldiers of radical Islam.
It must be stopped. We in the Jewish community got that message a long time ago. Now it’s time France, Europe and the West got the message as well.