Paris the day after November’s terror attacks. Photo: Wikipedia.

Europe is facing possibly the greatest threat to its survival as a society: radical Islam. From the terror attacks in London, Paris, Brussels and Madrid; to the Sharia courts established in large Muslim communities; epidemic abuses of young girls by grooming gangs; and radicalization among Muslim youths, the continent is facing a grave crisis.

What makes the threat even worse is the fact that Europe cannot unite together to fight it.

In Europe, radical Islam is seldom addressed for what it is. Certain liberals profess that attacks committed in the name of Allah have nothing to do with religion whatsoever. These are just corrupt or misunderstood people, they say. Many in Europe like to say that “terrorism has no religion,” which ignores the fact that Islamist factions were responsible for 78% of deaths from terrorism in 2014, according to last year’s Global Terrorism Index.

Many liberals in Europe are so afraid of being seen as attacking Muslims as a whole, that they refuse to acknowledge or confront the threat posed by radical Islam. And now politicians have joined in on the act. Time and time again, whenever a horrific attack occurs, or when police officers report no-go zones in Muslim communities, politicians sing the same chorus: “Islam is peaceful; this has nothing to do with religion.”

The obvious barrier inhibiting both liberals and politicians is the desire to appease minority cultures. The intent behind this is largely to prevent discrimination, and create unity and integration within a multicultural society.

At the same time, the far-Right is guilty of making the problem worse. Many use Islamism as an excuse to attack peaceful Muslims who don’t adhere to such radical beliefs. Not only does this obviously result in unjust hate crimes, but it gives those apologetic to Islam more reason to avoid accepting the reality of Islamism; it validates their misconception that anything negative towards Islam is akin to hating Muslims.

This fractured society gives the Islamists another victory. Not only are they causing disillusion — a goal of their terrorism, but they are able to carry out these attacks while their motives for doing so largely go unchecked.

Both the Left and the Right need to realize that while Islamism doesn’t reflect the values of all Muslims, it does inspire many terrorists. Both sides need to be united if this plague is to be dealt with effectively.