France suffering ‘intifada,’ says Jewish lawmaker after fatal stabbing in Paris
Meyer Habib writes ‘it’s time to finish off radical Islam’ following attack by man reportedly shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’
Following the stabbing of five people in central Paris by a man who reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar,” a French-Jewish lawmaker said France was experiencing a “knife intifada.”
One victim died from a wound to the neck and two were severely wounded in the attack Saturday near the Paris Opera, which French authorities are treating as a terrorist attack. The remaining two victims were lightly wounded, the paper reported.
The assailant, a man in his twenties, was killed by police. His name was not immediately released for publication by authorities.
“Knife intifada in the center of Paris, at Opera,” Meyer Habib, a member of the National Assembly, the French parliament, wrote on Twitter. Habib, a former vice president of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities, expressed his condolences and expressed his appreciation for police’s rapid response.
“It’s time to finish off radical Islam. It’s them or us,” Habib wrote on Twitter.
A series of attacks beginning September 2015 in Israel and the West Bank, many of which involved knifes, was dubbed the “knife intifada.” Intifada, Arabic for “uprising,” is the name Palestinians have given their struggle against Israel, which features many terrorist attacks against civilians.
In France, several people have died in recent years from attacks attributed to radical Muslims, including knifing attacks.
In October, two women were murdered in Marseille by a Muslim extremist who slit their throats. In June, police officers were assaulted by another Muslim extremist wielding a hammer near the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris.
Since 2012, hundreds of people have died in a series of terrorist attacks across France featuring explosives, firearms and vehicular ramming.
French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed sorrow over the incident at the Paris Opera and thanked police, adding: “We will cede nothing to the enemies of liberty.”
The assailant, whose victims have not yet been named, shouted “Allahu Akbar” before stabbing them. The Arabic-language phrase means “God is the greatest.”
