Islamic violence, blamed on ‘youth’, clouded Euro-holidays

Special to WorldTribune.com

Disgruntled youth, most said to be Muslim, burned 804 vehicles in France on New Year’s Eve as a recent trend continued.

Burning cars on New Year's has become a trend in France. /AP
Burning cars on New Year’s has become a trend in France. /AP

In the European media, such incidents are typically described as “youth violence” as a synonym for actions attributed by security officials to militant Islamists.

The 14.5 percent decrease in vehicles burned from the previous year was due to a heavy police presence after the Nov. 13 Paris terror attacks, officials said. The 2014-2015 celebrations saw 940 cars burned.

French authorities also reported taking 622 people into custody over New Year’s, twice as many as a year before.

In Belgium, Brussels canceled its fireworks display this year out of concerns of a possible terrorist attack.

In a video posted to a Belgian blog site, Muslim youth are heard screaming “Allahu Akbar” as they bomb a Christmas tree. In another reported incident, a small car was pushed down the steps of a subway station as terrified Belgians looked on.

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