Paris Killings Seen Fueling Europe’s Anti-Islam Movements [View all]

[Purveyor]

By Patrick Donahue Jan 7, 2015 12:34 PM ET

The killing of at least 12 people at a French magazine that received threats because of its depiction of Islam stands to exacerbate already burgeoning anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe.

The shooting by masked gunmen at the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in eastern Paris adds to a tense environment, with an anti-immigrant party dominating in France, mosque burnings in Sweden and thousands marching in Germany decrying the “Islamization” of the west.

“Any incident like the one in Paris will only be fuel to the fire,” Joerg Forbrig, the senior program director at the German Marshall Fund of the U.S., said by phone from Berlin. “It will be welcomed as a ‘told-you-so’ episode by radical movements saying Islam is a threat to our countries.”

The attackers -- at least one of whom shouted “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great” in Arabic -- are at large and no motive has been confirmed. Charlie Hebdo’s offices were firebombed in 2011 when it featured the Prophet Mohammed as a “guest editor.” The magazine sparked worldwide outrage among Muslims in 2012 after publishing cartoons mocking the prophet.

The leader of the anti-Islam Freedom Party in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, took aim at the Dutch and European political establishments and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-07/paris-killings-seen-fueling-europe-s-anti-islam-sentiment.html