France’s domestic intelligence service has warned of a growing threat to Christian communities, according to a confidential report obtained by Le Figaro that links recent attacks in Europe to decades of jihadist propaganda.

The warning comes in the wake of the September 10th attack in Lyon on Ashur Sarnaya, an Iraqi Christian man in a wheelchair, which investigators say reflects a persistent jihadist obsession with targeting Christians.

According to France’s General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), Islamist organizations have consistently targeted Christians, portraying them as “infidels” or “idolaters.” This rhetoric, the report says, is rooted in long-standing propaganda that casts Christians as “crusaders” and folds together references to the Crusades, European colonization, and recent Western military operations.

The DGSI’s report shows how anti-Christian rhetoric has translated into real-world violence. In 1998, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden issued a fatwa calling for attacks against “Jews and Crusaders.” His successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri, depicted the global situation as a clash pitting “the Crusaders and their allies” against Muslims.

The Islamic State has repeatedly adopted similar language, promising in 2014 that “we will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women …They will sell your sons in the slave market.” In 2015, its French-language magazine Dar al-Islam encouraged attacks on churches to “instill fear in their hearts,” while the jihadist outlet Thabat issued a statement in Arabic condemning “Islamophobia” and urging the use of knives or vehicles as weapons, specifically targeting Christian places of worship.

The consequences have been devastating. In Algeria during the 1990s, the Armed Islamic Group killed at least 19 religious figures, while in Pakistan, al-Qaeda targeted local Christian communities in the 2000s. In 2015, Islamic State executed 21 Egyptian Copts in Libya.

Europe has also suffered attacks: the 2016 Berlin Christmas market killing of 12 people, the 2016 murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, and the 2020 Nice basilica attack all underline the continent’s vulnerability.

Data from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) indicate that Europe faces a growing wave of anti-Christian violence. In 2024 alone, Germany recorded 337 anti-Christian offenses, including 33 church arsons. France saw multiple assaults on worshippers and historic sites, including arson in Saint-Omer and tear gas attacks during Adventist services in Dijon.

The post French Intelligence Warns of Rising Islamist Threat to Christians appeared first on American Renaissance.