By David Lega
Across the Western world synagogues are once again being attacked, while we continue to pretend that each incident is somehow isolated.
In recent days alone a new series of attacks has targeted Jewish houses of worship. In the United States a synagogue was attacked when a perpetrator drove a vehicle directly into the building. In Belgium an explosion damaged a synagogue in Liège. And last night a synagogue in Rotterdam was attacked.
Each time the same explanation quickly appears. Politicians and commentators describe lone actors, local grievances and isolated incidents, as if every attack were simply the result of an individual radicalised by the latest headline.
But reality tells a different story.
What we are witnessing is not a series of random acts. It is part of a broader pattern of threats and violence directed at Jewish life, a pattern that for decades has been encouraged, financed and ideologically driven by the Iranian regime and its international networks.
When Israel confronts Iran today, many Europeans seem to believe the conflict has only recently begun. In reality Israel’s confrontation with the Iranian regime started decades ago, when the Islamic Republic made the destruction of Israel part of its state ideology and began constructing a global system of proxy organisations, militias and operational cells.
One of the most striking symbols of that ideology stood quite literally in the centre of Tehran. On a central square the regime installed a digital countdown clock that counted the days until Israel, according to its own declarations, would be erased from the map.
This was not a metaphor and it was not internet propaganda. It was a physical installation in the capital of a state that possesses ballistic missiles, commands proxy militias across the Middle East and operates intelligence networks far beyond the region.
The clock was later destroyed in an Israeli strike. But imagine for a moment how Europe would react if a giant digital clock stood on Red Square in Moscow counting down the days until a European nation was to be destroyed. No European government would dismiss that as symbolism or rhetoric. It would be recognised immediately as a threat.
Yet when the same rhetoric is directed at Israel and the consequences spill over onto Jewish communities across Europe, we too often choose to ignore the connection.
At the same time European authorities know that the Iranian regime has long conducted operations on European soil. Governments across the continent have warned about assassination plots and attempted attacks targeting dissidents, journalists and Jewish institutions. In Sweden authorities recently revealed that individuals linked to Iranian intelligence services are suspected of planning the murder of Jewish representatives.
These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a method.
When the regime in Tehran feels pressure it does not retreat. It escalates. A regime struggling to maintain its grip on power destabilises countries across the Middle East while activating networks and operatives in Europe.
Seen in that light the attacks on synagogues in Detroit, Liège and Rotterdam are no longer inexplicable. They are the predictable result of an ideology that for decades has declared Jewish life a legitimate target.
Synagogues are not chosen by coincidence. Jewish institutions are attacked precisely because they symbolise Jewish life.
As long as European leaders continue to treat each attack as a disconnected event we will remain permanently surprised when the next synagogue is targeted.
The problem is that those organising these attacks do not see them as isolated incidents.
They see them as part of the holy war.
A former member of the European Parliament, David Lega is Secretary General of the European Jewish Association (EJA) which represents hundreds of Jewish communities across Europe.